Against each other, the top 9 teams in the West have the following records: 1. New Orleans 16-10 (.615) :: Seeded 1st (SW Division Leaders) 2. Utah 14-9 (.609) :: 4th (NW Division Leaders) 3. Los Angeles Lakers 16-11 (.593) :: 3rd (Pacific Division Leaders) 4. Houston 13-13 (.500) :: 2nd 5. San Antonio 12-13 (.480) :: 5th 6. Dallas 11-13 (.458) :: 7th 7. Golden State 10-12 (.455) :: 8th 8. Denver 9-14 (.391) :: 9th 9. Phoenix 9-15 (.375) :: 6th These aren't too far off their current complete standings; Utah looks better, Phoenix looks worse. Hard to say whether this has any predictive value in the playoffs beyond overall records.
Considering the massive personnel changes among those teams and injuries I don't think those stats mean very much.
Both the overall and head-to-head were affected by injuries and personnel changes, so that point is mute. Look at Dallas for instance. They have about a .500 record with Kidd since the trade, but they haven't beaten a team in the top 8 since acquiring him as well. .500 ball isn't bad, but when you can't beat a good team it loses a little luster. I would say a team that does pretty well in the overall and even better in the big games (Utah for instance) has a pretty good chance at advancing past the first round.
