One of the biggest fallers may not be the team you expect.
One of the key refrains of the NBA stretch run is that the Washington Wizards have shown their true selves: a team too thin on the wing to survive an injury, a team too overmatched in terms of strategy to beat good opponents and a team with a completely underwhelming coach. After a brilliant start, the Wizards have skidded to the point where they might just end up as the No. 6 seed.
What's interesting is that one of the Wizards' chief rivals as early-season East darling -- the Toronto Raptors -- have quietly fallen off in much the same fashion. This chart shows teams' net ratings before after the estimated midway point of the season, Jan. 16. As you can see, the Wizards and Raptors are two of three teams who were above average in the first half and have been below average thus far in the second half. The data is via NBA.com and is through Saturday's action.
The Suns are the other team falling from good to mediocre. The league's biggest divers are the Nuggets and Kings, two middling West teams who fell completely off of the table around the midway point. That, combined with a big improvement in Utah, is affecting the lottery race.
Here's a list showing the top risers and fallers.
This is *really* not going to help Rajon Rondo, is it? In net rating since the midway point, the Pacers actually rank No. 7 and the Jazz No. 9. The former is attempting to make the playoffs while the latter is well out of the race. But the improvement bodes well heading into the offseason and next year.
The Sixers' gains also look promising, especially considering the team traded away Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels. Nerlens Noel is a big difference-maker.
We talk too much about the Cavaliers already, so just suffice it to say: yep. They've also had a better net rating than the Warriors and Hawks in the second half of the season. They have figured it out.
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