The League (II): The 70s take over

74-75 Buffalo Braves battle 04-05 Phoenix Suns. McAdoo, main star of the Braves, performs a layup.

It's Christmas time in the All-NBA championship! And in this second period of The League, it is time we know groups III and IV. After these 15 games, things are getting clearer. A good initial run has proved insufficient for some teams to keep it up at a high level, while other all star teams try to catch up.

Before getting into today's two groups, let's see how our favorite teams are doing:

• 85-86 Celtics: Larry's Celtics have done a little better this games, having a 14-11 record in Group VII and reaching the 5th position, one game behind the 4th.
• 99-00 Raptors: their start was good. Maybe it was too good. T-Mac and Vinsanity are holding to the 7th position as they lose 2 in comparison to November.
  
• 89-90 Pistons: the Bad Boys are suffering the competitiveness in Group IX. However, Joe Dumars is performing terrific games and managing to keep them in the 5th place, 3 games both ahead of the 9th and behind the 2nd (they are surely dreaming of beating the 98 Lakers)
• 96-97 76ers: Allen Iverson tries to get the Sixers to the playoffs, lagging only 1.5 games behind the 8th. They are, though, in the 12th position of the group, so fierce competition awaits for them in the following months.
• 94-95 Magic: the difficulties they suffered past the 5 first games have worsened. Now, the allmighty Magic have to deal with a 4-weeks Hardaway injury. We could consider the scenario of a wounded team that holds to the 8th position (the spot they currently enjoy) hoping to get to the elimination rounds healthy. And if that happens... being the 1st of their group would be everything but something to celebrate.

Now let's turn to our two groups. Whereas in last week's groups the 00s were practicaly unbeatable (the Bullets are still in playoffs positions, let's see if they can maintain it!), in groups III and IV the 70s teams are heading the standings.

In Group III, the Buffalo Braves (which were the former Los Angeles Clippers!) are winning .741 of their games, nearly tied with the Warriors of the same year. The only representative of the 00s in high positions is San Antonio, which has to battle with an injured Ginobilli (though his injure won't keep him apart of the court for too much).

Group III standings

In Group IV, we see the first Los Angeles team at the first seed. And maybe we are talking about one of the best teams in NBA History, with a Huge, rather than Big, Three: Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West. For sure, the last one will have to prove he's worth being the NBA logo.

Group IV standings

And these are today's groups! Now we are left questioning how teams will come back to competition afther the Christmas break. We'll return with Groups V and VI in the next days.