There's a very real possibility that the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix will play in the bj-league's Western Conference next season, as the league's preliminary scheduling blueprint for 2012-13 has shown. It's not official yet, but the expectation here is that it's a done deal.
The two-time reigning champions, an Eastern Conference powerhouse and winners of 138 of 182 regular-games since entering the league in the fall of 2009, would add another big-time challenger to the West.
Through Sunday, four West teams had 20 or more wins: Ryukyu Golden Kings (25-7), Osaka Evessa (22-8), Kyoto Hannaryz (21-9) and Rizing Fukuoka (20-12).