December 12, 2011; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) types on the computer for Twitter during media day at the Golden State Warriors Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Of the four major sports leagues, the NBA has embraced has embraced social media the most tightly.  In that spirit, it seems fair to evaluate the influence each team’s social media holds over its audience.  Klout, while not perfect, is the most well known method for measuring such social media impact.

Klout scours social media accounts, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, and measures their data to create a “Klout Score.” Klout scores range from 1 to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a broader online social influence. The data below are broken up by NBA division, with measurements taken in June 2011 and May 2013.

A few notes:  Klout has reformulated its algorithms and measurement scales since 2011, so the scores of 2011 are not directly comparable with the scores of 2013.  Also, the scales aren’t linear — in fact, they’re probably closer to something logarithmic — so a score of 89 is actually better than a score of 88 by a good bit more than 1%.

Atlantic Division

Central Division

Southeast Division

Pacific Division

Northwest Division

Southwest Division 

Other team-based notes and trends:

• There is likely a fair bit of playoff bias in measurements taken in June and May; for example, in 2011, the Mavericks and Heat topped the league during their respective runs to the NBA Finals.  Out of the playoffs in 2013, Dallas finished with a score much closer to the league average.
• With a score of 95, Chicago finished with the highest 2013 score; Portland finished last with a mark of 84.
• Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Utah finished in a surprising tie for the sixth-highest score, following five teams from bigger markets with more television exposure: the Bulls, Lakers, Celtics, Knicks, and Heat.

Mar 12, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter (25) reacts after making a basket during the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Dallas won 115-108. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Vince Carter just wasn’t going to let the Mavericks lose.

After the Bucks stormed back in the fourth quarter, down 14 at one point, Carter buried shot after shot. The Bucks had trimmed the lead to five for a short while but Carter was too much.

But the Bucks were missing one of their biggest stars.

Brandon Jennings had completely disappeared. He wasn’t dishing the ball (five assists) in double digits like he had vowed he would from here on out. Jennings scored four points, played 25 minutes and was -21 while in the game.

It’s what we’ve seen from Jennings his whole career. His three games of 40 plus assists were extremely promising. Yet, he has now had two bad games in a row.

Sometimes he knocks down threes like we saw in the Golden State game, sometimes he has four points.

Monta Ellis continued his hot play, shooting 50 percent and scoring 32 points and dishing out 9 assists. The more Ellis attacks the rim, the better chance the Bucks will have to win games. Except, there is one problem.

Regardless of Ellis’ play and the addition of J.J. Redick, it seems that this team can’t win games without Brandon Jennings playing well. Ersan Ilyasova is on the cusp of being a premier player on this team. However, tonight he didn’t have it all going. He seemed to not be the same old Ersan, only grabbing three rebounds and scoring seven points.

Mar 12, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Chris Kaman (35) shoots against Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) during the first quarter at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

We can expect Ersan to get better as he feels healthier, but Jennings? That’s a problem the Bucks will just have to deal with for the rest of the way. Larry Sanders looked like his old self and that will be important going forward. Ellis and Sanders are the only two true game changers the Bucks have. One offensively, the other defensively.

The Bucks will have a quick turnaround tomorrow against John Wall and the Wizards. Wall, who apparently thinks he’s worth a max deal, will be a tough matchup for Jennings. However, this game is a must win for the Bucks. With the Miami Heat looming on Friday, it’s essential that the Bucks knock off a bad team.

Of course, many thought that tonight’s game was a must win. Take care of the bad teams, give the tough teams a good fight, and we’ll be ok. With disappointments aside, the Bucks are still 6-3 since the All-Star break and just came off a 2-1 West Coast trip.

For tonight, they’ll get a free slide. But they better win tomorrow.