Man, looking back at the NBA 2016 17 season standings is like opening a time capsule from a completely different era of basketball. It was the year Kevin Durant decided to break the internet—and maybe the league's competitive balance—by heading to the Bay Area. We all knew the Warriors were going to be a problem, but seeing those numbers on paper at the end of April was something else. It wasn't just about the superteam in Oakland, though. This was the year of the triple-double, the year the Celtics finally climbed the mountain in the East, and the year we saw some truly weird stuff at the bottom of the lottery.
If you weren't watching every night, you might just see a bunch of wins and losses. But those standings tell a story of a league in massive transition.
The Absolute Buzzsaw in the West
Let’s talk about the Golden State Warriors. They finished 67-15. Honestly, they probably could have won 74 if they cared enough, but they didn't. They had already done the 73-win thing the year before and lost the ring, so 2016-17 was all about efficiency. They finished with a +11.6 average point differential. That’s absurd. It’s like playing a video game on "Rookie" mode.
Behind them, the San Antonio Spurs were quietly doing Spurs things. They won 61 games. Imagine winning 61 games and being a "quiet" second seed. Kawhi Leonard was at the peak of his powers before the Zaza Pachulia incident in the playoffs, and Gregg Popovich was still squeezing every bit of juice out of a roster that was starting to age.
Then you had the Houston Rockets at 55 wins. This was the birth of the James Harden "Point Guard" experiment under Mike D'Antoni. It changed everything. They shot 40.3 threes per game, which was a league record at the time. People thought they were crazy for shooting that much. Little did we know, they were just from the future.
The Race for the Eighth Seed
The bottom of the Western Conference standings was a mess. The Portland Trail Blazers grabbed the 8th spot with 41 wins, barely beating out the Denver Nuggets (40 wins). This was the year Nikola Jokic started to become Nikola Jokic, but the Nuggets just couldn't get enough stops to leapfrog Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Portland went on a tear after trading for Jusuf Nurkic, which basically saved their season.
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Chaos and the King in the East
The Eastern Conference standings were top-heavy but weirdly competitive at the very peak. For the first time in forever, LeBron James didn't have the number one seed.
The Boston Celtics finished 53-29. Isaiah Thomas—the "King in the Fourth"—was a legit MVP candidate at 5'9". It was one of the most inspiring individual seasons I've ever seen. They secured the top spot on the final day of the season.
Cleveland? They finished 51-31. They looked bored. They spent the second half of the season coasting, resting LeBron and Kyrie Irving, and generally not caring about home-court advantage. They knew they could flip the switch. And they did. But looking at the standings in April, people were actually questioning if the Cavs were vulnerable. (Spoiler: They weren't, at least not in the East).
The Middle Class Struggle
The Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards were right there. Toronto won 51 games, Washington won 49. John Wall was playing the best basketball of his life, and Bradley Beal was finally staying healthy. The 2016-17 season standings showed a really distinct "Big Four" in the East, and then a massive drop-off to the Atlanta Hawks at 43 wins and the Milwaukee Bucks at 42.
The Triple-Double That Broke the Standings
We can't talk about these standings without talking about the Oklahoma City Thunder. They finished 6th in the West with 47 wins. On the surface, that’s mediocre. But Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double for the entire season. 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists.
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He dragged that team to the playoffs by sheer force of will after KD left. Every single Thunder game felt like a life-or-death struggle. Without Russ, that team probably wins 25 games. The standings say 47 wins, but the context says it was a one-man miracle.
Meanwhile, over in the East, Giannis Antetokounmpo was leading the Bucks in every major statistical category. Points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks. Everything. He was the first player ever to finish in the top 20 in the league in all five. The Bucks' 42-40 record was the first real sign that the "Greek Freak" was coming for the throne.
The Tanking Wars of 2017
The bottom of the standings was a race to the bottom. The Brooklyn Nets were a disaster. They finished 20-62. The worst part? They didn't even own their pick because of the infamous Celtics trade. They were playing hard, they just weren't good.
The Phoenix Suns (24-58) and the Los Angeles Lakers (26-56) were deep in the "Process." The Lakers were trying to figure out if D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram were the future. The Suns were just letting Devin Booker shoot 50 times a game—including that famous 70-point game in a loss to Boston. It was a strange time where half the league was terrified of the Warriors and the other half was terrified of winning too many games and missing out on Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball.
How the 2016-17 Standings Changed the Game
This season was the tipping point for the "Three-Point Revolution." If you look at the league-wide standings and team stats, the average team was taking 27 threes a game. Fast forward to today, and that number is nearly 35.
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The 2016-17 season proved that you couldn't just have one star anymore. If you didn't have a "Big Three" or at least a very high-level "Big Two," you were stuck in the middle of the standings. This led to the "arms race" that dominated the late 2010s.
Why It Matters Now
When we look back at these standings, we see the blueprint for the modern NBA.
- The Warriors Dominance: Forced teams to either tank or go "all-in" on superstars.
- The Harden/Westbrook Statistical Explosions: Changed how we value individual impact vs. team success.
- The Rise of the International Star: Giannis and Jokic appearing in the middle of the standings before taking over the league.
Actionable Insights for Basketball Historians and Fans
If you're digging into the 2016-17 season for research or just to settle a debate with friends, keep these specific factors in mind to understand why the standings looked the way they did:
- Check the "Net Rating" vs. Record: The Warriors' Net Rating was nearly double the next best team. This tells you the gap between the 1st seed and the 2nd seed was way larger than the 6-game difference suggests.
- Look at the Post-All-Star Break Splits: The Miami Heat started 11-30 and finished 30-11. They ended 41-41 and missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker. They are the ultimate example of why a final record doesn't always tell the whole story of a team's talent.
- Factor in "Rest" Games: This was the peak of the "Load Management" era starting to take hold. Several 50-win teams dropped 2-3 games late in the season specifically by sitting starters, which shifted the final 3-6 seeding spots in both conferences.
- Analyze the 3PA (Three Point Attempts) Column: Compare the standings to three-point volume. You'll notice a direct correlation between high-volume shooting and teams that over-performed their preseason win totals (like the Rockets and Celtics).
The 2016-17 season wasn't just another year on the calendar. It was the year the NBA decided it was going to be played at 100 mph, behind the arc, and fueled by superstars. Knowing the standings is one thing; understanding the desperation and innovation behind those wins is another entirely.