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2021-22 NBA midseason grades: Suns, Grizzlies, Cavs get highest marks; Lakers, Knicks disappoint in first half
CBSN
Here is how CBS Sports' NBA experts think every team stacks up at the midway point
One of the most common criticisms lobbed at the NBA is its predictability. Only a few teams enter each season with a chance to win the championship, the detractors say. Where is the parity?
Waiting for 2022, apparently. With a little more than half of the 2021-22 season in the books, only a single team (the Phoenix Suns) is on pace to win 60 games. The bottom of the standings are just as sparse. The Orlando Magic are the last team stuck in single digits in the win column. If you're looking for a middle class, boy, is this the season for you.
The top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference have won 27 games. The No. 10 seeded Boston Celtics have won only four fewer. The gap between No. 5 and No. 9 in the West is just three losses, and only the Houston Rockets are more than four games out of a play-in spot in that conference. If the season ended today, the 2020 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers would need to earn their way into the playoffs through the play-in round, and the 2021 Eastern Conference runner-up -- the Atlanta Hawks -- wouldn't even get that chance. Good luck finding a less predictable season of professional basketball than this one.