Interesting scheduling quirk...

[NC Axeman]

It seemed to me that the Cavs have lately been playing lots of games against opponents on the second day of a back to backs, while at the same time the C's have not seen many tired opponents recently... so I did a little research:

In the 20 games leading up to the All Star break, Cleveland plays 9 games (45%) against teams who are on the 2nd game of a back to back.  In the same time span the Celtics played 2 teams, the Clips and the Mavs (10%). Think this might have made the Cav's recent winning streak a little smoother?

Although I will admit to loving a good conspiracy theory, it seems to me that this is statisticly unlikely to be random chance. It does make me wonder about the frequency of playing opponents on the 2nd day of their back to backs across the league, for the full season (but I'm too lazy to do that kind of research).  While its been said many times that everyone has to play the same number of games, home and road, as an argument against scheduling bias, it seems to me that this would be a great way to influence a teams record on the down low.  Lets face it, any team on the 2nd day is going to be more vulnerable than on the first and this is not a category of scheduling that has to even up over the course of the season.

[MattG12]

I love conspiracy theories and this looks like a good one... if only you would finish that research.   

I wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics play the least teams on their second night of a back to back over the course of the entire season. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Cavs and Lakers play the least.

TP for the topic!

[Fan from VT]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/237418-nba-scheduling-fairness-for-the-2009-2010-season

[Fan from VT]

So far Boston and Cleveland have played the same number of back-to-backs. Cleveland has had 21 opponents on their back-to-back and Boston has had 15. This favors Cleveland, but not much.

Interestingly, lakers have played 20 back to backs but have caught a lucky break on opponent back to backs only 9 times.
Maybe it'll even up later.

Charlotte's had a good schedule so far, catching 31 opponent back to backs and 6 opponent's 4th game if 5 days.


But no, it doesn't really look like the lakers or cavs are being favored.


Interestingly enough, i did see a Raptors blog about how a huge percentage of their back-to-backs have been on the road.

[guava_wrench]

It seemed to me that the Cavs have lately been playing lots of games against opponents on the second day of a back to backs, while at the same time the C's have not seen many tired opponents recently... so I did a little research:

In the 20 games leading up to the All Star break, Cleveland plays 9 games (45%) against teams who are on the 2nd game of a back to back.  In the same time span the Celtics played 2 teams, the Clips and the Mavs (10%). Think this might have made the Cav's recent winning streak a little smoother?

Although I will admit to loving a good conspiracy theory, it seems to me that this is statisticly unlikely to be random chance. It does make me wonder about the frequency of playing opponents on the 2nd day of their back to backs across the league, for the full season (but I'm too lazy to do that kind of research).  While its been said many times that everyone has to play the same number of games, home and road, as an argument against scheduling bias, it seems to me that this would be a great way to influence a teams record on the down low.  Lets face it, any team on the 2nd day is going to be more vulnerable than on the first and this is not a category of scheduling that has to even up over the course of the season.

"it seems to me that this is statisticly unlikely to be random chance."

Why?

Usually when we talk about "statisticly [sic] unlikely", we don't use the phrase "it seems to me". That kinda defeats the whole point of having inferential statistics. It is supposed to keep us from making conclusions based on gut reactions.

[MattG12]

So far Boston and Cleveland have played the same number of back-to-backs. Cleveland has had 21 opponents on their back-to-back and Boston has had 15. This favors Cleveland, but not much.

Interestingly, lakers have played 20 back to backs but have caught a lucky break on opponent back to backs only 9 times.
Maybe it'll even up later.

Charlotte's had a good schedule so far, catching 31 opponent back to backs and 6 opponent's 4th game if 5 days.


But no, it doesn't really look like the lakers or cavs are being favored.


Interestingly enough, i did see a Raptors blog about how a huge percentage of their back-to-backs have been on the road.

I stand corrected. TP for the info!

[NC Axeman]

It does look like the Lakers actually have about the least number of times catching the opponent on the 2nd day of the back to back, and as a conspiracy theorist I find that surprising (a disappointing blow to my theory that the quirk is deliberate!).

Boston also has a low number scheduled for the year at 14, while the Cavs, Magic and Atlanta have at least 50 % more of these games against tired opponents (between 20 and 23 by my count).  I'm not sure why the earlier poster indicated that this was not a significant advantage for those 3 Eastern teams in the hunt with the Cs as they each have 6-9 more of these games than the Celtics.  These are the games we expect good teams to win more often than not, and this scheduling quirk is giving these other horses quite a nice headstart.