Numbers Prove How Even The NBA Is Becoming

We are currently in the final stage of this year’s NBA postseason, as the Golden State Warriors are battling it out with the Boston Celtics to win the Finals and finish the season on top.

There are a lot of unknowns about this series, including who will be the eventual champion.

But one thing is for sure: the Finals, currently tied at 1-1, won’t be a sweep.

And that’s part of a trend within the league.

Sweeps in the playoffs:

2017 — 5
2018 — 3
2019 — 3
2020 — 3
2021 — 2
2022 — 1

League’s getting more competitive. pic.twitter.com/fFi9xpLfjD

— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 6, 2022

StatMuse pointed out that the number of sweeps in the playoffs have dwindled over the last few years.

Back in 2017, there were five teams that lost in four games during the postseason.

That got less in 2018-2020, when there were only three per postseason.

Last year, there were only two sweeps, and this year: only one.

So, what’s changed within the association to make everything so even?

So Long, Sweeps

When this postseason is over, the Brooklyn Nets will be the only team that got swept in the playoffs.

They got taken out in the opening round with total ease by the Celtics, who obviously pushed forward to go all the way to the Finals.

A couple of other series have been close to sweeps (the Dallas Mavericks only won a single game against the Warriors, for example) but no other sweeps have occurred.

This just shows how competitive these teams are, and how they really are the best in the NBA.

Talent is evenly spread across the teams who made it into the playoffs.

Most notably, all of them have been strong with both offense and defense – key assets to shutting down competitors.

Whatever the reason, NBA fans should be happy about how even the league is now.

No one likes watching a complete blowout, especially in the playoffs.