In the West, the Mavericks, who had once dropped to third in the conference, went on a winning streak after mid-December and returned to the top of the league with a record of 21 wins and 6 losses. The second-place Spurs were at 20 wins and 7 losses, followed by the Suns with 19 wins and 8 losses, and the Jazz Team at 16 wins and 11 losses. The Rockets had 17 wins and 10 losses, but because they were in the same division as the Mavericks and Spurs, they could only rank fifth. The sixth to eighth slots were held by the Lakers, Warriors, and Clippers, all with 15 wins and 12 losses.
Having played only 27 games, Zhang Yang had already noticed the disparity in strength between the Eastern and Western Conferences. The West might need 45 wins to compete for a playoff berth, while the teams beyond the top five in the East might not even reach a winning percentage of fifty percent, and that included the Nets.
