Yesterday, we introduced the concept of projecting the title worthiness of Eastern Conference teams based on the tiers of players on their roster.
The Cleveland Cavaliers rated as the only championship-quality roster in what is largely considered the weaker circuit. We know that because the Cavs' score (32) was the only one above the historical average of 29 for the last 36 NBA champions. In the West, the class of bona fide contenders is much more robust.
Today we look at the Western Conference through the prism of tier score. Again, this is not a projection of the regular-season standings -- tune into Kevin Pelton's pecking order work for that. Think of it like this: If two teams of a similar record meet at playoff time -- in a vacuum -- the team with the higher tier score is probably the actual favorite.