It’s an interesting stat, but also have to consider the floor for these things
Celtics didn’t win with 7.44, and won with a 5.84
Teams that are currently +5.84 or better: Celtics, 76ers, Thunder, Timberwolves
Nuggets also sitting at 5.16 and Bucks at 4.82
These are the 6 contenders right now since it’s extremely rare that a team outside a top 3 seed wins the finals. I think it’s just 2 teams ever, the 1995 Rockets (6) and 1969 Celtics (4). Sometimes a lower seed can make the finals like the Heat last year and 2020 or the Cavs in 2018 but they rarely win it all.
I’d be curious what the highest a team was and didn’t win it, and the lowest that they did win it, but this checks out that it’s basically these 6 teams as of today. Obviously end of year the standings can shift.
When you take it a step further, almost every championship team has a current or former MVP. This would exclude the Wolves, Thunder and us, but as mentioned before any team can get to the finals. It’s winning it that’s hard. So assuming we get out of the East, if it’s anyone except the Nuggets I think we win it. If it is the Nuggets, that is by far our hardest matchup on paper. But I like our chances in the East because of how we’ve matched up with Philadelphia and Milwaukee. We *should* come out of the East with the way we’re playing right now but like most years I think it’s us, Miami, Milwaukee and Philadelphia that have any real shot at winning the East depending on how injuries and luck plays out. Might be kind of disrespectful but Orlando, Cleveland, New York, Indiana, or anyone else going on some Cinderella run would get destroyed in the finals.
Bill Russell on the ‘69 Celtics and Hakeem on the 1995 Rockets were 2 of the best players of their generation and top 10 players all time, so I’d also extend the list to the Lakers (LeBron) and the Warriors (Curry). 2 extremely experienced teams that despite their age check boxes that even with depleted teams, they are truly dominant forces and top 10 all time players and should not be disrespected if they coast and are a 6 seed and make the finals.
But back to the point about SRS, it’s a good measuring stick for what are typically the best teams but like any stat, isn’t necessarily a hard rule.
9bfjo6gvhy7u8
beating the pacers by 50 without haliburton and before that team even attempted playing defense will certainly have an effect on these types of ratings.
madisacheskaa
Damn, those are some impressive stats. Hopefully this year’s team can keep up that winning trend and bring home another title for Boston! #CelticsNation
celticsfan34
Worth noting that since this stat uses strength of schedule it’s likely going to go down over the rest of the season even if we keep the same w:l ratio. The point differential is definitely something we’ve excelled at but I could see a few bad losses turning that around as well. We’re comparing essentially a two-month stretch to other full seasons, I’m sure the best 2 month stretch in 2008 was higher than 10 for instance.
SinibusUSG
I have done extensive research, crunched the numbers, analyzed every single NBA game, player, and team in history with R, and visited the Oracle at Delphi to seek the truths of the universe.
5 Comments
It’s an interesting stat, but also have to consider the floor for these things
Celtics didn’t win with 7.44, and won with a 5.84
Teams that are currently +5.84 or better: Celtics, 76ers, Thunder, Timberwolves
Nuggets also sitting at 5.16 and Bucks at 4.82
These are the 6 contenders right now since it’s extremely rare that a team outside a top 3 seed wins the finals. I think it’s just 2 teams ever, the 1995 Rockets (6) and 1969 Celtics (4). Sometimes a lower seed can make the finals like the Heat last year and 2020 or the Cavs in 2018 but they rarely win it all.
I’d be curious what the highest a team was and didn’t win it, and the lowest that they did win it, but this checks out that it’s basically these 6 teams as of today. Obviously end of year the standings can shift.
When you take it a step further, almost every championship team has a current or former MVP. This would exclude the Wolves, Thunder and us, but as mentioned before any team can get to the finals. It’s winning it that’s hard. So assuming we get out of the East, if it’s anyone except the Nuggets I think we win it. If it is the Nuggets, that is by far our hardest matchup on paper. But I like our chances in the East because of how we’ve matched up with Philadelphia and Milwaukee. We *should* come out of the East with the way we’re playing right now but like most years I think it’s us, Miami, Milwaukee and Philadelphia that have any real shot at winning the East depending on how injuries and luck plays out. Might be kind of disrespectful but Orlando, Cleveland, New York, Indiana, or anyone else going on some Cinderella run would get destroyed in the finals.
Bill Russell on the ‘69 Celtics and Hakeem on the 1995 Rockets were 2 of the best players of their generation and top 10 players all time, so I’d also extend the list to the Lakers (LeBron) and the Warriors (Curry). 2 extremely experienced teams that despite their age check boxes that even with depleted teams, they are truly dominant forces and top 10 all time players and should not be disrespected if they coast and are a 6 seed and make the finals.
But back to the point about SRS, it’s a good measuring stick for what are typically the best teams but like any stat, isn’t necessarily a hard rule.
beating the pacers by 50 without haliburton and before that team even attempted playing defense will certainly have an effect on these types of ratings.
Damn, those are some impressive stats. Hopefully this year’s team can keep up that winning trend and bring home another title for Boston! #CelticsNation
Worth noting that since this stat uses strength of schedule it’s likely going to go down over the rest of the season even if we keep the same w:l ratio. The point differential is definitely something we’ve excelled at but I could see a few bad losses turning that around as well. We’re comparing essentially a two-month stretch to other full seasons, I’m sure the best 2 month stretch in 2008 was higher than 10 for instance.
I have done extensive research, crunched the numbers, analyzed every single NBA game, player, and team in history with R, and visited the Oracle at Delphi to seek the truths of the universe.
My conclusion: The Celtics are pretty good