Sun Hao Had His Moments of Riding Coattails Too!

The Mavericks ranked fourth, finishing with 57 wins.

Deron had been saddled with criticism over the summer's "keeping his word incident," but he performed very well with the Mavericks, averaging 17.6 points and 7.9 assists per game for the season.

The Mavericks also had a well-balanced roster, giving them more possibilities in the playoffs.

The Clippers ranked fifth with 55 wins.

Kobe had not suffered the devastating injury he did in history, and his performances remained outstanding.

However, Howard's back injury had severely affected his play, while Big Gasol had never fully recovered from the trauma of his ex-girlfriend cheating on him. In the end, the Clippers found themselves in a somewhat awkward position.

Because that ranking meant they would have to face the Mavericks in the first round.

And with the strength of the Western teams this year, it was no longer a matter of playoff format. There were only four spots in the upper bracket. If you fell into the lower bracket, forget about the championship—you first had to figure out how to survive the first round.

The Grizzlies ranked sixth with 54 wins.

In the end, just like the Bulls in history, Rose's health remained a major factor limiting the team's ceiling.

Fortunately, Little Gasol had developed rapidly during Rose's absences.

And Rose recovered from injury before the end of the regular season, making their actual strength far greater than their ranking suggested.

The Thunder ranked seventh with 54 wins.

Once again, the same record but a different win-loss tiebreaker left the Thunder in seventh place.

But tell anyone in any previous season that 54 wins would only get you seventh place, and nobody would believe it!

That was just how brutal the West was this season.

Like the Grizzlies, though, the Thunder displayed even better chemistry