In the West, they run and gun. In the East they play defense and more of a half court game.

When did this distinction start? Was it from the 80's Lakers with their Showtime game? Earlier than that?

I don't think these styles are nearly as prevalent now as they were back even a couple of years ago. I would have to say that the late 80s were the dawn of those two styles, but I think it has been changing in the last couple of years. Instead of it being just the East playing defense and the West playing offense, it's more 50/50 in the league now.

Best Run and Gun teams:
Phoenix
New Jersey
Dallas (even though their D is better)
Washington

Best Defense:
Detroit
San Antonio
Chicago
Memphis


Generally, the better defense is in the East while the better offense is in the West. That trend seems to be leveling though.

i agree that things are leveling out. i'm just curious when the distinction came to be. there must have been a point when a journalist or analyst or someone else came up w/ the difference. is it something that can be pinpointed?

I don't think these styles are nearly as prevalent now as they were back even a couple of years ago. I would have to say that the late 80s were the dawn of those two styles, but I think it has been changing in the last couple of years. Instead of it being just the East playing defense and the West playing offense, it's more 50/50 in the league now.

Best Run and Gun teams:
Phoenix
New Jersey
Dallas (even though their D is better)
Washington

Best Defense:
Detroit
San Antonio
Chicago
Memphis


Generally, the better defense is in the East while the better offense is in the West. That trend seems to be leveling though.

New Jersey is a much slower paced team now, and they play much better D. I'd say Denver is one of the better run-and-gun teams nowadays. The Mavericks are also much slower, and their D has improve significantly. Here's how I'd rate 'em.

Run and Gun:
Phoenix
Denver
Golden State
Washington
Seattle

Defensive/Grinders:
SA
Memphis
Detroit
Houston
Indiana

I think the major difference between East and West, more so than run-and-gun vs grind-it-out, is the fact that the WC teams get a lot of their scoring from their frontcourts while the EC teams are more backcourt heavy.