NBA Playoff Outlook
Jaime Halstuch
Staff Writer
Coming into the final month of regular season basketball we have plenty of teams that can still switch positions into a higher seed or get bumped from contention. In the East with six games, the Celtics would have to hope for a miracle in which they win all six games and the Cavaliers them all too for them to get the first seed. The New York Knicks seat right behind the Celtics in the third seed; however, they are eight victories behind the Celtics which makes it impossible for the Knicks to get that second seed.
They will be fighting with the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons for the third seed. It is the Pacers who are the ones with the best chance of taking that third seed away from New York. They are only three games behind the Knicks, with New York having the tiebreaker in their favor. This means the Pacers would need to win four out of their last six games and would need the Knicks to lose four games too.
Even though the Milwaukee Bucks have the same record as the Pistons, the Bucks cannot get a higher seed than the Knicks. With six games remaining, and a six-game difference, the tiebreaker would be head-to-head matchups in which New York has the advantage. However, the Pistons, who are also six victories behind the Knicks, do have a positive record against them, which means they could get that third seed. It is important to remember that the Pistons have a 2-1 favorable record with one game to play between them, in the case that the Knicks won that game, it would be impossible for Detroit to match their record. Both Pistons and Bucks could still fall into the play in.
However, they would need to lose every game remaining and the Magic (who have tiebreaker advantage against Detroit) and Hawks (who have tiebreaker advantage against Milwaukee) would need to win every game remaining. The Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls already secured their play in spots. This means that the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, and Washington Wizards are all eliminated from the postseason.
While the east already defined their postseason spots, the west has everyone on their feet. The west has 5 teams competing for postseason spots. The Dallas Mavericks (9th seed), Sacramento Kings (10), Phoenix Suns (11), Portland Trail Blazers (12), and San Antonio Spurs (13). The Mavericks and Blazers have five games remaining for the season. While the Kings, Suns, and Spurs have six games left. The Suns are one victory behind the Kings and three away from the Mavs.
They currently lose the head-to-head to the Kings by one game; however, they still must play each other one more time. If the Suns win that game and end the season with the same record as the Kings, the Suns will finish on top as they have a better division record. In case they have the same record as the Mavs they would also finish on top as they have the tiebreaker advantage. The Blazers are two victories away from the Kings and four away from the Mavs. As of now, Blazers and Kings are tied in the first two tiebreakers (head-to-head record and position within one’s division), the third one would be conference winning percentage in which the Kings have the advantage. If they tie their record with the Mavs, they will still finish below them as the Mavs have a better head-to-head record. The Spurs have a tougher situation, they are six victories behind the Mavs which means they could only tie their record; however, they lose head-to-head, so they would not be able to surpass the Mavs. The Spurs are four victories behind the Suns, and they are tied head-to-head, however, they still must play one game between them. Which means that the only two teams mathematically eliminated from the postseason in the west are the New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz.
There are only two teams with a direct playoff spot secured, the Oklahoma City Thunder (secured first seed) and the Houston Rockets. The Denver Nuggets (3rd seed), LA Lakers (4), Golden State Warriors (5), Memphis Grizzlies (6), Minnesota Timberwolves (7), and LA Clippers (8), are all within three victories. The Clippers as well as the Warriors have played 76 games, if the Clippers win and the Warriors lose their next game, they would both have the same record as the Grizzlies and Timberwolves who both have played 77 games. The Lakers have played one less game and are one victory behind the Nuggets. The Lakers only have one game left against a team that could end in third place, the Rockets, who have five games left and are three victories ahead of the Nuggets. The Nuggets still have three games against possible third seeds, Warriors, Rockets, and Grizzlies. The Warriors are one victory behind the Lakers, and they have one of the toughest schedules. They still must play the Nuggets, Rockets, Suns, Spurs, Blazers, and Clippers.
The Grizzlies have the same number of victories as the Warriors but one more loss, they still must play the Pistons (must win game for both), Hornets (eliminated), Timberwolves, and Mavs. The Timberwolves (same record as the Grizzlies) play the 76ers (eliminated), Bucks (most win game for both), Grizzlies, Nets (eliminated), and Jazz (worst record in the NBA). The Clippers are one victory behind both Memphis and Minnesota, each one of the games reminding for them is against a team fighting for either a direct playoff spot or a play in spot (except the Rockets who are fighting for the second seed). They must play the Mavericks twice, Spurs, Rockets, Kings, and Warriors.
There is no other term to describe the west besides the “wild west.” Only three out of the 15 teams are not fighting for anything. It is impossible to predict the order between the second and eight seeds, anything can happen. This is not the playoffs yet, but teams must play their best basketball if they want a good spot in the postseason.
Contact Jaime at jaime.halstuch@student.shu.edu