The Gap is Closing in the NBA

The NBA is in a precious spot right now. In the past few years, the neutral fan has criticized the NBA for having super teams. We have seen the same matchup in the NBA Finals the last four years with the last two becoming very lopsided with Curry out dueling King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The last nine games resulting in Golden Sta

te having a 8-1 edge. The rivalry had become stale. I'm glad James moved on to Los Angeles. It will be very refreshing to see a different team in the Eastern Conference. Toronto, Philadelphia and Boston, all have a equal shot.

The landscape of the NBA its starting to change. Curry is 30 and might not be able to have the same success as he does now. The thing that is going to be interesting is who is going to be the next super team.

Boston and Philly have a chance. They both feature young cores that should compete for the NBA Title for the next decade. Milwaukee is strong and Toronto is nearing the end of their window if Kawhi Leonard leaves as a free agent this summer.

In the West, there are not many teams that are building a strong threesome. Denver, Portland and Memphis have had good starts but neither seem to be on the rise. Sacramento, Dallas and Phoenix all have a shot but are still a lottery pick a way from being in serious contention.

I feel the NBA parity gap is getting super tight after the Top 4 teams. The Western Conference is one Curry sprained ankle away from things getting very interesting.

I hope the parity continues.

Here's a look at the current standings:

Eastern Conference

1Toronto Raptors 2Milwaukee Bucks 3Indiana Pacers 4Boston Celtics 5Philadelphia 76ers 6Charlotte Hornets 7Detroit Pistons 8Brooklyn Nets Orlando Magic Miami Heat Chicago Bulls New York Knicks Atlanta Hawks Washington Wizards Cleveland Cavaliers

W L PCT GB HOME AWAY DIV CONF PPG OPP PPG DIFF STRK L10 12 1 .923 - 7-0 5-1 3-0 6-1 117.9 108.1 +9.8 W6 9-1 9 3 .750 2.5 6-0 3-3 1-0 6-1 121.7 109.3 +12.3 L1 7-3 8 5 .615 4 3-3 5-2 2-1 6-2 105.9 102.1 +3.8 W1 6-4 7 5 .583 4.5 3-1 4-4 2-1 5-3 106.1 103.8 +2.3 L1 6-4 8 6 .571 4.5 7-0 1-6 0-3 7-5 111.9 112.9 -0.9 L1 6-4 7 6 .538 5 4-2 3-4 4-0 7-5 116.5 109.2 +7.4 W1 5-5 6 6 .500 5.5 3-3 3-3 2-0 6-6 110.1 111.3 -1.2 L1 4-6 6 7 .462 6 3-2 3-5 2-1 4-3 108.8 109.3 -0.5 L1 5-5 5 7 .417 6.5 3-5 2-2 2-1 4-4 102.6 109.7 -7.1 W1 4-6 5 7 .417 6.5 3-4 2-3 1-5 3-6 110.6 110.6 0.0 L2 4-6 4 9 .308 8 2-5 2-4 1-2 4-4 106.5 113.1 -6.5 W1 4-6 4 9 .308 8 2-4 2-5 1-3 3-8 107.7 111.3 -3.6 L1 3-7 3 9 .250 8.5 2-4 1-5 1-1 2-7 109.6 119.3 -9.7 L3 3-7 3 9 .250 8.5 1-3 2-6 1-2 2-3 110.5 119.3 -8.8 W1 3-7 1 11 .083 10.5 1-5 0-6 0-3 1-8 103.3 113.1 -9.8 L5 1-9

Western Conference

1Golden State Warriors 2Portland Trail Blazers 3Denver Nuggets 4San Antonio Spurs 5Memphis Grizzlies 6LA Clippers 7Oklahoma City Thunder 8Sacramento Kings Utah Jazz Los Angeles Lakers New Orleans Pelicans Houston Rockets Dallas Mavericks Minnesota Timberwolves Phoenix Suns

W L PCT GB HOME AWAY DIV CONF PPG OPP PPG DIFF STRK L10 11 2 .846 - 7-1 4-1 1-0 6-1 121.9 110.8 +11.1 W1 9-1 9 3 .750 1.5 6-2 3-1 1-0 6-1 117.2 107.2 +10.0 W3 7-3 9 3 .750 1.5 6-1 3-2 1-0 6-2 109.6 102.1 +7.5 L2 7-3 7 4 .636 3 5-2 2-2 3-0 7-1 109.5 107.9 +1.6 W1 6-4 7 4 .636 3 5-0 2-4 0-0 4-3 103.1 101.1 +2.0 W2 7-3 7 5 .583 3.5 5-1 2-4 0-0 4-4 116.3 111.7 +4.6 W1 6-4 7 5 .583 3.5 4-2 3-3 0-0 4-4 109.0 106.6 +2.4 L1 7-3 7 6 .538 4 3-3 4-3 0-1 3-4 115.3 116.8 -1.5 L1 6-4 6 6 .500 4.5 2-4 4-2 0-2 5-5 111.6 109.9 +1.7 W2 5-5 6 6 .500 4.5 3-3 3-3 2-0 6-5 117.0 116.4 +0.6 W2 6-4 6 6 .500 4.5 5-1 1-5 1-1 4-6 117.7 117.0 +0.7 W2 4-6 4 7 .364 6 0-4 4-3 0-2 1-7 101.6 107.7 -6.1 L2 4-6 4 8 .333 6.5 4-2 0-6 0-1 2-5 110.8 113.7 -2.9 W1 3-7 4 9 .308 7 4-1 0-8 1-1 2-7 110.5 117.7 -7.2 L5 3-7 2 10 .167 8.5 2-5 0-5 0-2 2-7 101.2 114.4 -13.2 L3 1-9