What Were the Final NBA Standings for the 2020-2021 Season?
Looking back at the 2020-2021 NBA season, I still get chills thinking about how dramatically different it felt from any other season in recent memory. Having followed the league for over fifteen years, I can confidently say this was one of the most unpredictable campaigns we've witnessed. The condensed schedule, COVID-19 protocols, and empty arenas created a perfect storm of chaos that made every game feel like a playoff battle. What fascinates me most is how these unusual circumstances revealed the true character of teams – some crumbled under pressure while others discovered unexpected resilience.
When the final standings settled, the Western Conference told a story of established dominance meeting rising challengers. The Utah Jazz surprised many by clinching the top seed with a 52-20 record, proving that their team-first approach could thrive even in chaotic conditions. I've always admired Quin Snyder's system, but even I didn't expect them to finish with the league's best record. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns' 51-21 record marked one of the season's best narratives – Chris Paul transforming a young roster into genuine contenders. The Los Angeles teams followed closely, with the Clippers at 47-25 and the defending champion Lakers at 42-30, though I'd argue LeBron James and Anthony Davis' injuries cost them at least five additional wins. The Denver Nuggets (47-25) demonstrated remarkable fortitude after Jamal Murray's season-ending injury, while Luka Dončić somehow dragged the Mavericks to 42-30 despite what I considered mediocre supporting cast. The Trail Blazers (42-30) and Grizzlies (38-34) rounded out the West playoff picture, though Portland's defensive issues made me question their ceiling from the very beginning.
Over in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers' 49-23 record secured them the top seed, though I remain convinced they benefited from the weakest division in basketball. Joel Embiid was magnificent, but their playoff shortcomings later proved my suspicions correct. The Brooklyn Nets' 48-24 record never told the full story – with their big three playing only eight games together, they were essentially coasting through the regular season. The Milwaukee Bucks (46-26) felt like they were conserving energy all year, while the New York Knicks' 41-31 resurgence under Tom Thibodeau was my favorite storyline of the entire season. The Atlanta Hawks (41-31) and Miami Heat (40-32) represented the conference's middle tier, though Miami's first-round exit confirmed my doubts about their offensive consistency. The Boston Celtics (36-36) and Washington Wizards (34-38) claimed the final playoff spots, with Bradley Beal's scoring title being the only bright spot in what I considered a deeply flawed Washington roster.
What many casual observers miss when reviewing these standings is the international context that makes basketball truly global. While analyzing the NBA standings, I came across the Philippine Basketball Association's unique season structure, where teams like Meralco improved to 6-5 as it capped its elimination round campaign. This parallel reminds me how different leagues approach competition – while the NBA uses win percentages in shortened seasons, other leagues maintain traditional win-loss records across distinct tournament phases. Meralco's journey to 6-5 reflects the same competitive spirit we saw in NBA teams fighting for positioning, just within a completely different basketball ecosystem. I've always found these cross-league comparisons fascinating because they highlight how various cultures approach the same game.
The play-in tournament added another layer of drama that significantly impacted how teams approached the final stretch. Golden State's 39-33 record left them in the play-in spot, and watching Steph Curry carry that roster was both magnificent and heartbreaking. The Memphis Grizzlies' victory over them in the play-in proved that regular season records sometimes mask a team's true potential. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs' 33-39 record marked the end of their playoff streak, signaling what I believe is the necessary beginning of a full rebuild. The New Orleans Pelicans' 31-41 record was particularly disappointing given their talent, while Sacramento's 31-41 season continued what feels like the longest playoff drought in professional sports.
Reflecting on these standings months later, what strikes me is how they captured transition moments for several franchises. The Lakers and Heat demonstrated how difficult repeating has become in today's NBA, while the Suns and Knicks showed how quickly fortunes can change with the right leadership. The standings also concealed important context – Brooklyn's record didn't reflect their terrifying potential, while Utah's dominant performance didn't convince everyone of their playoff viability. Personally, I believe the true measure of this season won't be the standings themselves, but how they set the stage for the dramatic playoff moments that followed. The compressed schedule created unusual injury patterns that affected multiple contenders, making this perhaps the most asterisk-worthy season in NBA history, yet somehow producing one of the most memorable playoffs we've ever seen.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
