A little research into the situation of the top 9 teams in the West:

Only three of the top 9 teams in the West have convincing winning records against the other 8:

Lakers 13-8
Hornets 13-9
Jazz: 12-8

Four teams are chugging along at around .500 against their playoff competition:

Mavericks 11-10
Warriors 9-9
Spurs 11-11
Rockets 10-11

And two teams are strugg-a-ling:

Nuggets 7-12
Suns 6-15

Now how is the East doing against similar competition? Two teams are killing it:

Celtics: 8-3
Pistons: 9-5

But the next three teams are god-awful. No chance at all:

Magic: 5-11
Cavs: 6-11
Raptors: 4-8

So, the Magic are 13-12 against the West. Especially remarkable is their ability to go 8-1 against teams in the West that WON’T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!!! Need I say more?

-Lysol