NBA PLAYOFFS
Western conference playoff race: What teams have tiebreak advantage?
As we enter the last week of the NBA’s regular season, the regular season table order is yet to be decided, with many possibilities for the teams involved.
Things are getting overheated in the NBA’s Western Conference get-in playoff battle, especially in the contest for the 3rd-10th position.
Denver Nuggets
The leading team in the West, the Denver Nuggets, will play their last three season games against Houston, Phoenix, and Utah. Neither of these teams has a chance of upping the Nuggets on the table.
NBA:
Memphis Grizzlies
The second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies will have more hardships in the finish. They are three games behind Denver, six in total, with three away games, two against New Orleans, and one against the Bucks. They need to be in good form and focused because, after a hypothetical string of bad results, they can end up in the 3rd position and give their seed to Sacramento.
Sacramento Kings
Sacramento is playing three of its last four games on the road at New Orleans, Dallas, and Denver, with a home game against the reigning champions - the Warriors. After finishing out in March by clinching its first postseason appearance since 2006, it seems the Kings are just about confirmed into the third seed, while number four Phoenix has four games deficit.
Phoenix Suns
With Denver holding firm as number one in the West, Thursday’s matchup at Phoenix means more to the Suns than to “Mile High Basketball.” Phoenix has a confirmed tiebreaker against the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz, who are in the ninth and 12th position in the standings and could potentially catch the Suns. The Suns previously kept a tiebreaker on the No. 6 seed Golden State Warriors.
LA Clippers
The worst thing for the LA Clippers happened when Paul George had to go on the injury list after having lingering knee problems, and he will not be present until way into the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard’s contributions must be immense in his absence, but Russell Westbrook’s performance will also be needed, foremost against the Lakers. This will be first Westbrok’s appearance against his former team after the free agency deadline.
Golden State Warriors
Inconsistency is the only word that can be used to describe the reigning champions, Golden State Warriors, and their season. They are fighting to stay out of the Play-In Tournament with three remaining games, two on the road against the Kings and the Blazers and a home game against Thunder. The concern comes when we discover Warriors have the worst score against away teams among the teams fighting in the West.
The Warriors also have a tie with the Clippers, who are currently leading. If it stays like this, Clippers clinch with one of the following three results: Clippers beat Lakers, Kings beat Warriors, and Clippers beat Suns. Otherwise, the Warriors clinch with all 3 of the following results: Lakers beat Clippers, Warriors beat Kings, Suns beat Clippers.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Since Karl Anthony-Towns returned to the roster, things are improving for the Timberwolves. With a standoff between seventh and 10th seeds in the West, the Timberwolves need to win all games to get into the postseason. That should be plausible with Anthony Edwards coming off a 37-point night and Karl-Anthony Towns back in the lineup.
In the end, to see the more stunning picture of the Wolves’ playoff situation is to know their potential tiebreaker situation. The Wolves are 2-2 vs. the Warriors, 2-1 vs. the Clippers, 2-1 vs. the Lakers, and 1-1 vs. the Pelicans, with a potentially massive final game vs. New Orleans on the last day of the regular season.
New Orleans Pelicans
On Saturday, New Orleans defeated the number six on the West, the LA Clippers, to come within a half-game of them in the Western Conference standings. But it’s not all over, knowing they will face the two of their conference teams this week, both involved in the playoff shootout. Presently positioned in eighth place, with three of the remaining games at home, they could still make a late run at securing a sixth place and avoiding the play-in tournament.
They also have two potential three and four-team tiebreakers. The first is with the Clippers and the Lakers at a combined head-to-head. The Pelicans are currently 4-3, Clippers 3-3, and the Lakers 3-4, with one Clippers-Lakers game remaining.
The second one is with the Clippers, Warriors, and Lakers on the combined head-to-head records. The Pelicans and Lakers are each 6-5, the Clippers are 5-5, and the Warriors are 5-7. Clippers-Lakers is the only remaining head-to-head among this group.