NBA standings ordered by assists: Golden State's ball movement is elite

Sports are a team endeavor (except for a handful). It takes a collective effort to achieve a common goal.

In the NBA, assists are one way to measure a squad's cohesion. They are a way of tallying contributions to scoring via passing. Player/ball movement is imperative to generating buckets, so you want to be a positive asset in this department.

However, high assist totals and winning aren't always linear. For example, a pair of the last four champions to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy ranked in the top five in the category. Conversely, the other two were closer to the middle of the pack.

The varying nature of the stat makes you wonder how the league would look if standings got ordered by assists instead of win-loss record. Are there any stark contrasts to the current lay of the land under these circumstances?

Below, we rearranged the Eastern and Western Conference playoff pictures based on assists per game averages.

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NBA Western Conference standings ordered by assists

The Golden State Warriors lead not only the West in assists, but they're first in the Association. Regardless, sitting at 12-3, the Dubs are the No. 1 seed. But if dimes determined postseason positioning, they'd maintain their status atop the conference.

While the Houston Rockets have been one of the more exciting, pleasantly surprising stories of the 2024-25 campaign, their success is mostly tied to defense. Veteran point guard Fred VanVleet is the only group member averaging more than five assists per game (6.2).

As long as three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is around, the Denver Nuggets will always be at or near the top of the league in assists. The superstar center is one of the greatest passers ever, and his facilitating skills are infectious.

NBA Eastern Conference standings ordered by assists

Oddly enough, the Toronto Raptors are near the top of the East in dimes. They haven't had starting point guard Immanuel Quickley for much of the season thus far. Not to mention, do-it-all franchise wing Scottie Barnes has missed time through the early goings. Yet, it's been a floor-general-by-committee approach, with RJ Barrett and Davion Mitchell at the forefront of it all.

Even though they're a juggernaut and widely favored to defend their title, the Boston Celtics would be a play-in team in this hypothetical standings scenario. With incredible isolation scorers like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard, they don't rely as much on ball movement as other contenders might.

Fittingly, the Philadelphia 76ers are dead last in the East in nightly assist output and only a spot above that in the actual standings. Nothing has gone right for them this year, but more specifically, their offense has been a disaster. With their star trio of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey barely coexisting, that would presumably encourage a more inclusive, evenly spread attack. Head coach Nick Nurse has failed to adjust accordingly, which is surely part of the ongoing problem(s).