@FlameRaptorRaven

Which franchises play the best regular season teams (69+ wins) best?

Let’s start with which franchise has been the best at beating these juggernauts. If we exclude the playoffs, it is the Knicks. They beat the 72 Lakers once, 96 Bulls once and the 97 Bulls twice. If we include the playoffs, the Knicks are still #1 with 6 wins combined. Let’s see who is the Kryptonite. Starting with the Warriors, the Pistons and Bucks gave them the most trouble and finished with a +4 point differential against them while getting a win. The player is easy, Damian Lillard. The Blazers were just 1 of 2 teams to beat the 2016 Warriors by more than 20 points. They beat them by 32 where Lillard put up 51. A player put up 38+ points against the 2016 Warriors just 6 times. 3 of them were Damian Lillard who averaged 36.5 ppg. 97 Bulls: The team is easy, the Knicks had a +3 point differential in 4 games. For the player, it’s rookie Allen Iverson. He never managed to beat the Bulls, but he used the Bulls as a way to establish himself. He put up 15, 32, 37 and 44 on good efficiency, giving him an average of 32 ppg. For context, the Bulls only gave up 16 32+ point games in 1997. 96 Bulls: The team feels obvious as the Pacers were the only team to beat them twice. However, they beat the Bulls by a combined 8 points. Their point differential was mid with -28 in 4 games, so this is debatable. As for the player, it’s Damon Stoudamire because he had 2nd most points and the most assists despite not having Shaq to lean on. 72 Lakers: The Phoenix Suns won 2 games against the Lakers and one of those was the 2nd biggest win behind the Bucks’ 16-point win which gave them the 4th best point differential and easily the best for any team that played them 6 times. For the player, another easy choice. Kareem averaged 40 ppg against a Wilt-led defense, including a 50-point bomb. Other fun facts: The Knicks, Heat and Raptors were the only ones to beat the 96 and 97 Bulls and the Raptors scored the most points. Lillard and Kareem put up the only 50-point games.

NBA