Western Conference Sets Record with 3 40-Win Teams at All-Star Break

With the Golden State Warriors (48-4), San Antonio Spurs (45-8) and Oklahoma City Thunder (40-14) all playing at an extremely high level, the NBA has three 40-win teams from the same conference at the All-Star break for the first time in league history, per NBA.com/Stats.

Long viewed as the better of the two conferences, the West actually hasn't been as dominant this season as in recent years, but it's undoubtedly been better than ever up at the top.

A .500 record is typically more than enough to earn a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, whereas the Western Conference has had at least one team miss out with a winning record in every season since 2006-07.

This season, the bottom of the playoff picture looks very similar in both conferences, but the East just doesn't have the same caliber of teams at the top, with the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-14), Toronto Raptors (35-17) and Boston Celtics (32-23) owning a combined 105-54 record, good for a .660 winning percentage.

The West's top three teams are a combined 133-28, which works out to a remarkable .826 winning percentage.

The fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers (35-18) are also enjoying an impressive campaign, whereas the East's No. 4 team (the Atlanta Hawks) sits at just 31-24. 

There's also an unusual amount of separation at the top of both playoff pictures, with each of the East's top-three teams sitting at least three games apart, and the same being true for each of the West's top five squads.