If the Houston Rockets don't make the playoffs this year, it won't be because Eastern Conference teams haven't done their best to get them there.
The Rockets are 23-4 against teams from the East. They have positively pummeled teams from the right side of the league.
But their 16-29 record against the West likely will banish them to a postseason of watching games on TV.
It also underscores just how much better the NBA West is than the NBA East.
Folks from the East don't like to hear this, but the gap between conferences has gotten wider this season. So wide that it's hard not to think that the Eastern Conference playoffs are little more than a battle for the right to lose to whichever team emerges from what promises to be a grueling Western Conference playoff.
The only way the Eastern representative will have a chance is if the Western champ is so beat up it won't have anything left. A more likely scenario is that the West titlist will have had to play so well that it will be at the top of its game heading into the finals.
Think this is exaggeration? Through Friday's games, the top seven teams in the Western Conference had winning percentages of .600 or better. Only two teams in the East could say that.
If the playoffs were held today, the No. 8 spot in the East would go to either the Celtics or Pacers, who have winning percentages of .458 — six games below .500.
A couple years ago, Eastern Conference supporters defended their teams by saying they didn't get to play as many weak teams. They pointed to Eastern parity as making for a stronger conference, while the West powers feasted on such down-on-their-heels franchises as the Clippers, Warriors, Grizzlies, Mavericks and Nuggets.
Well, those first three teams are still on the outs, but former West patsies such as Dallas and Denver are now more than respectable. And the West's worst would walk all over the East's least — the Bulls and Wizards.
Some still might argue that overall winning percentages mean little because teams play the majority of their games against teams of their own conference. But the West has absolutely pounded on the East in head-to-head competition this season.
Through midweek, the West held a 242-149 advantage over the East in head-to-head games. Seven West teams had 20 or more wins against East foes, while not a single East team had 20 wins against the West.
The best team in the East, Philadelphia, is 16-12 against the West this season and one of only three East teams with a winning record vs. the West.
Ten West teams have winning records against the East.
Of course, this situation could change virtually overnight. One of the things that has made the West stronger has been the sudden popularity of such free-agent destinations as Dallas, Portland and Phoenix.
But MVP candidate Chris Webber seems likely to end up in the Eastern Conference next season, and Shaquille O'Neal recently has talked longingly of a return to Orlando.
A few moves like that and the East could be back on a par with the West.
For now, though, the East is definitely not on a par with the West, even at the top. Spurs guard Derek Anderson was asked where Philly would finish in the West, and he said, without hesitation, "Sixth, seventh."
That might be an exaggeration, but it might not, too. The No. 6 team in the West now is Dallas, and the No. 7 team is Phoenix — both explosive offensive teams.
Dallas coach Don Nelson was more succinct in evaluating the difference between the two conferences, telling the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "it's a joke."
Eastern types have made similar — though kindlier — observations. Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy was so impressed with the rapidly improving Clippers he said, "If you put them in the East, they'd fight for a playoff spot. I don't know if they'd make it, but they'd fight for one."
You would think that losing a player the caliber of Grant Hill for the season would doom any team's playoff chances, but Magic coach Doc Rivers figured his team would be able to weather it.
"If we were in the West, we'd be in trouble right now, but we're not," Rivers told the Journal-Sentinel months ago. "We're fortunate to be in the East."
As of now, the Magic are still without Hill but playoff-bound anyway, as the No. 7 seed. Meanwhile, two West teams with as many or more wins than the Magic — the Rockets and Sonics — are distant longshots to reach the playoffs.
As Rivers said, he's fortunate to be in the East.
E-MAIL: rich@desnews.com