The NBA season is close to wrapping up, so it’s time to take a look around the Western Conference and see where things stand as we enter the postseason.
Good
Kings: The Kings are one of just a few teams (Thunder, Jazz, and Magic are probably the others) who have had a more or less pleasant, fun season from start to finish. A common theme is that those teams are young and had limited expectations, and exceeded them. But the Kings are in a different class, not just because they are by far the best team at 47-30, but because they just broke the longest current postseason miss streak by clinching a playoff appearance last week. There are questions about the Kings’ defense and level of playoff experience, but their offense is fantastic and their home court edge is going to be huge. What a fun team and great story.
Lakers: I hate giving credit to the Lakers, but their season seemed dead on arrival after their 0-5 and then 2-10 start. Well, since then, they are 38-28, and have surged to 7th in the Western Conference, just a half-game back of the Warriors and Clippers in 5th and 6th. They’ve been even better since the trade deadline, where they made major acquisitions, and their roster all of a sudden makes sense. I’m not sure I buy them as true contenders, not with LeBron and AD’s health and their position in the standings – but it’s no longer laughable to say they can make a run. It’s been an impressive 65+ games for the Lakers, and they have the most momentum of any of the play-in teams down the stretch.
Bad
Wolves: The Wolves just had one of the worst losses of the season yesterday, falling to the hard-tanking Blazers at home in a must-win game. Losers of three straight, the Wolves are at the precipice of falling out of the Western Conference play-in, but have been saved by the Mavs’ horrendous slide (more below) and the Jazz’s lack of effort on a true postseason push. In terms of a longer run, the wrist injury to Naz Reid is extremely costly; Reid has been awesome this season, and the Wolves really don’t have a replacement 3rd big to step into his place. With Towns missing nearly the entire year, the Wolves haven’t really had time to gel him with Rudy Gobert, putting them in a similar space to the Clippers (who would be in this bad category if I didn’t already write and talk about them enough) in terms of lack of chemistry and cohesion. It’s been a rough season for the Wolves, and while they’ll probably make the play-in, they certainly had higher expectations than that.
Ugly
Mavs: Schadenfreude is wonderful. I’ve rooted against the Mavs for a lot of my life for various reasons, but have really stepped up my dislike of them since they hired Jason Kidd as head coach and traded for Kyrie Irving this year. To my delight, they’ve fallen apart down the stretch, losing six of their last seven games and falling to 11th in the Western Conference. Their defense is absolutely abominable, with no rim protection, defensive players that can’t stick on offense, and two huge negative defenders in their two stars. The Mavs could still secure a play-in spot, but the odds are not in their favor, and that makes me happy.
Blazers: The Blazers are once again out of the postseason and hardcore tanking to get to as close to the bottom of the lottery as possible. It’s a wasted season for Damian Lillard, who had maybe the best season of his Hall of Fame career in his 30s, and one wonders what the Blazers will do this summer. They and Lillard have professed a desire to stay together, but the path for the Blazers becoming very good in what’s left of Dame’s prime seems murky if not impossible, and the best way for the Blazers to jumpstart their rebuild would be to trade Lillard. The franchise probably doesn’t have the guts for it, but another lottery season is a tough pill to swallow.
Rooting Interests, Tuesday April 4
Raptors vs Hornets – Doesn’t matter
Heat vs Pistons – Doesn’t matter
Cavs vs Magic – Doesn’t matter
Bucks vs Wizards – Doesn’t matter
Wolves vs Nets – Does… This one matters! The Wolves have slipped a lot, but could still theoretically catch the Clippers and nab a playoff spot, so Clippers fans should be rooting hard for the Nets. The Nets also have something to play for, as they’re trying to hold onto the 6th seed (and could still theoretically catch the Knicks at 5), so this should be a fun one.
Celtics vs Sixers – Doesn’t matter
Hawks vs Bulls – Doesn’t matter
Nuggets vs Rockets – Doesn’t matter
Blazers vs Grizzlies – Doesn’t matter
Kings vs Pelicans – Go Kings! The Kings don’t really have much to play for, as they’re locked into the 2 or 3 seed in the Western Conference (and are close to out of 3), but they should still be playing something close to their regular lineups, so there’s a chance they win this one in New Orleans.
Lakers vs Jazz – It would be great if the Jazz could sneak out a win here at home, but starting center Walker Kessler is out with a concussion, and at this point, with a run at the play-in nearly gone, it seems like the Jazz aren’t trying *that hard* to win. Still, at home and with at least some of their regular players in action, there’s at least a possibility they pull this one off.
Thunder vs Warriors – This one is the Clippers’ best chance of really good news. The Warriors are 32-8 at home and the Thunder are 15-24 on the road, so the Thunder winning might seem improbable, but the Thunder really are trying to secure a play-in spot, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing heavy minutes. The Warriors will likely win, but the Thunder getting the dub is not all that improbable.
Spurs vs Suns – The Suns are close to locking up the 4 seed, and at this point, it’s actually probably better for the Clippers if they win this one, as that makes it more likely the last game of the season, Clippers vs Suns, will mean nothing to the Suns and the Clippers can pick up an easier win than they would otherwise. A Suns loss wouldn’t be bad news either, but at this point I’m rooting for the Suns to win. Also, they’re undefeated with Kevin Durant in the lineup, so a loss to a tanking Spurs team at home is highly unlikely anyway.
