Catching up on the NBA standings? Where issues stand in bustle for postseason spots
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ESPN Insiders
Feb 12, 2024, 11: 00 AM ET
The NBA replace time restrict has passed as groups head into the final stretch of the season.
The bustle for the pause of the Western Conference is tight, as the Minnesota Timberwolves, LA Clippers, Oklahoma Metropolis Bellow and Denver Nuggets are separated by staunch half of a game as they jostle for living.
Within the Jap Conference, the NBA-most efficient Boston Celtics bask in separated themselves from the leisure of the contenders. Which personnel can fight for the No. 2 predicament to living itself most efficient for the postseason?
Will the New York Knicks knock through opponents within the East? Can the Los Angeles Lakers or Golden Insist Warriors salvage their seasons within the West? And can the Miami Warmth slay one more gorgeous flee?
To accumulate spirited for the 2023-24 long-established season’s final two months, our NBA insiders smash down the largest races to deem about in each and every convention.
The bustle for No. 1 within the West, the attach the champs are lurking
If anybody goes to knock the defending champs off their throne within the West, dwelling-court docket advantage will seemingly be most important.
The Nuggets are 21-4 at dwelling this season — and went 10-1 inner Ball Enviornment final postseason on their technique to their first championship. They’re practically unbeatable in Denver when it issues most. Add the altitude advantage, and Denver would be unstoppable within the playoffs.
Can the Timberwolves and Bellow take hold of the West and per chance power Denver to must take hold of on the road within the playoffs? Anthony Edwards is one in every of the league’s subsequent brightest stars, and personnel president Tim Connelly’s gamble on pairing Karl-Anthony Cities and Rudy Gobert is paying off. The acquisition of Monte Morris stabilizes the Wolves’ bench play that intention more.
OKC is spirited to expose that the future is here. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is attempting to close an MVP-indispensable marketing campaign stable, and Chet Holmgren would be Rookie of the Year. The Bellow’s addition of Gordon Hayward, if he’s wholesome, would per chance take hold of them the convention’s prime seed.
Where the Nuggets would per chance lack depth, they slay up for it with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and championship expertise. They also accumulated bask in arguably the most efficient starting 5 within the league. Coach Michael Malone staunch has to salvage more consistency from his 2nd unit and retain his starters wholesome.
The Clippers per chance bask in never been better geared as a lot as take hold of a championship. The wholesome duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George has been bolstered by broken-down league MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook. The Clippers entered this season vowing to select the long-established season more seriously, and their rise to the pause of the West has been gorgeous following a 3-7 initiating. The alternate? They set no longer leisure avid gamers or select nights off anymore.
“It manner the skill for this season paid off,” George acknowledged Saturday about what it manner for the Clippers to be first within the West. “We haven’t [always done that] in years previous, however more so luminous what’s at stake and the importance of the long-established season.
“We staunch bask in the roster, we bask in the personnel, and now we’re staunch hanging it all together and we had been wholesome.”
As of Saturday, all four groups are separated by a single game within the standings. The West’s prime seed would be made up our minds by the reality that Denver faces Minnesota three events within the final month of the season, twice at dwelling. Their meeting at Denver on April 10 would be season inspiring. The Wolves also play the Clippers three more events, starting Monday.
— Ohm Youngmisuk
The bustle to close far from the West play-in
The subsequent four groups fighting for positioning within the Western Conference are doing so to accumulate a smash — no longer to fight for his or her doable playoff lives.
Within the play-in tournament’s historical previous, the seventh seed has never neglected the playoffs. Though final season the Warmth entered as the No. 7 seed, lost the first play-in game to the Atlanta Hawks, sooner than winning to enter as the eighth seed… and at final going to the NBA Finals.
Nonetheless the No. 8 seed has been split — three events No. 8 has made the playoffs, and three events that personnel has did no longer slay it the least bit (Golden Insist Warriors in 2021, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Clippers in 2022).
Profitable the fifth and sixth seed also has one more built-in relieve of per week of leisure and after an 82-game season, having 5 or six days off between games is correctly a plus.
Of the neighborhood, the Dallas Mavericks made a actually worthy push in all places in the replace time restrict shopping P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford — who mixed for 33 parts and 14 rebounds of their Dallas’ debut in a 146-111 take hold of over the Bellow on Saturday — while sending out Grant Williams, Seth Curry and Richaun Holmes.
The Phoenix Suns traded for Royce O’Neale and David Roddy in a 3-personnel take care of the Brooklyn Nets and the Memphis Grizzlies. The New Orleans Pelicans stood pat while the most helpful deal the Sacramento Kings made became to alter for Robin Lopez, who became instantly waived for cash.
The Pelicans and Suns play twice within the season’s final two weeks — in New Orleans on April 1 and in Phoenix on April 7. New Orleans will then select on the Kings on April 11 in Sacramento.
Dallas has to walk back and forth to Sacramento for a rare relieve-to-relieve with two off days in between within the identical city on March 26 and 29. The game against New Orleans is the most helpful time the Suns play any of the opposite three groups in March or April.
With the Western standings so shut, the tiebreakers between the groups will turn out to be vital — making the final long-established-season head-to-head matchups the entire more vital.
— Andrew Lopez
The basic particular person-studded fight — staunch to achieve the postseason
On the time of final season’s replace time restrict, the Lakers had lost four out of six games. About seven hours after the time restrict, with several of their original acquisitions on the sideline in avenue dresses, they lost over again, to tumble to 25-31 — 13th within the Western Conference.
The flurry of trades the Lakers orchestrated fueled an 18-8 flee to shut the long-established season to achieve the No. 7 predicament within the play-in tournament, the attach they beat the No. 8 Timberwolves to invent the seventh seed within the first round. The turnaround persisted with a berth within the convention finals.
While this year the personnel has did no longer pick the momentum of that playoff flee but, the conditions had been much less dire when time ran out on replace season. L.A. had gained 5 out of seven heading into the time restrict. Even with a loss to the Nuggets to cap the time restrict day, the Lakers’ fable became 27-26 — ninth within the West.
“We with out a doubt treasure the avid gamers on our personnel and we’re assured on this neighborhood of avid gamers,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations and total manager Clutch Pelinka acknowledged Thursday after L.A. didn’t complete any deals.
To apply up final year’s playoff flee with one more play-in look would be disappointing in a approach, however no longer nearly as devastating as ending 11th and out of the image fully.
Per chance it’s foolish to purchase they can replicate their efficiency final spring at some stage in over again, however it with out a doubt’s no longer staunch the Lakers themselves believing they can attain it. “I accumulate no longer want any portion of them within the playoffs,” a Western Conference govt told ESPN this week.
Which is same to the phobia that the Warriors accumulated instill of their opponents thanks to their dynastic historical previous. This season has been inspiring sledding for them, however would anybody volunteer to play Steph Curry for a series, no matter who is surrounding him?
While we’re talking about four groups going for 2 spots, the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz set no longer bask in nearly the identical worries as the Lakers and Warriors. Particular, there would be moderately of a sting for Utah after having such a promising stretch — going 12-2 from mid-December to mid-January — handiest to fade within the pause. And naturally, coach Ime Udoka would obviously fetch to fritter away a Finals look in his final season in Boston with at least a play-in predicament in his first season in Houston.
The Lakers? They’re enjoying with the additional weight of turning in passable exhibiting to slay LeBron James must close in L.A. to shut out his occupation.
The Warriors? They’re enjoying with the burden to expose that the curtain hasn’t approach down on their show staunch but and the core of 1 in all the NBA’s supreme groups — Curry, Draymond Inexperienced and Klay Thomspon — accumulated must no longer be messed with.
L.A. and Golden Insist bask in played handiest as soon as so far this season and it became an immediate classic, with James’ personnel edging out Curry’s, 145-144, in double time previous regulation.
With three more games on the time desk between them — Feb. 22, March 16 and April 9 — their matchups figure to handiest grow in intensity as they jostle with one one more for play-in spots.
— Dave McMenamin
The bustle for East No. 2, the attach the Cavs bask in taken charge
The Celtics bask in the most efficient fable within the NBA and sit with ease (5 games coming into Monday) on the pause of the Jap Conference. Nonetheless whichever personnel finishes within the relieve of them with the No. 2 seed would per chance pose the most efficient mission to Boston approach playoff time.
For the time being, that predicament belongs to the Cavs, winners of 9 in a row and 17 of their previous 18 games and arguably the freshest personnel within the league. Cleveland is accumulated browsing for its first playoff series take hold of with out LeBron since 1993, however with a defense that ranks 2nd and Donovan Mitchell enjoying even better than final season, the Cavs bask in the makeup of a contender within the East.
On the initiating of the season, the Milwaukee Bucks had been regarded as on the identical tier as Boston. But, issues bask in no longer long previous simply within the first year of the Giannis Antetokounmpo–Damian Lillard pairing and the Bucks replaced their first-year coach Adrian Griffin with Doc Rivers, who has started 2-5 since taking the job.
After the replace time restrict, the Knicks garnered the most leaguewide praise for a stable time restrict of savvy strikes. They’ve space themselves up for a deep playoff flee within the relieve of Jalen Brunson, who made his first All-Primary particular person personnel and whose ascension has modified the trajectory of this franchise.
Claiming the No. 2 seed within the East has its portion of advantages: a optimistic first-round matchup against what appears to be like treasure a doubtlessly ragged play-in area (no longer at the side of lurking Miami), dwelling court docket till at least the convention finals and fending off an early matchup with Boston.
— Jamal Collier
The bustle for East Nos. 5-6, starring the convention’s supreme wild card
When the season began, the storyline surrounding the Jap Conference became its depth. As a replacement, it’s been about basic particular person injuries as groups embark on the final two months of the long-established season.
That’s in fact the case for the neighborhood of groups fighting for the Nos. 5-8 spots within the East, a quartet led by the Philadelphia 76ers.
There’s no bigger ask across the NBA over the leisure of the long-established season than if the league’s reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, will seemingly be ready to return to the floor for Philadelphia this season. If he can, the 76ers bask in a bet to contend for a title. If he can’t, it’s unsure if they’re going to even slay the playoffs.
The opposite personnel lurking on this vary is the defending East champion Miami Warmth,who, treasure final year, are for the time being sitting in a play-in predicament. The prospects of replicating a Finals flee from there are slim, so the aim will seemingly be to push up into the pause six.
Nonetheless, Miami has handled injuries all season, at the side of a shoulder hurt to Josh Richardson on Sunday that had him in a sling postgame and what regarded treasure a doubtlessly serious knee hurt to no longer too prolonged ago received Terry Rozier.
And then there are the younger upstart groups on this mix: the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic. Both had been out of the playoff mix no longer too prolonged ago, both are powered by younger All-Stars in Tyrese Haliburton and Paolo Banchero and both would treasure to accumulate into the pause 6 within the East and close far from the play-in.
Making the playoffs for either of these groups will slay this season a a hit one. And with the injuries in Philly and Miami, coming into into the pause 6 is one day of the realm of possibility.
— Tim Bontemps
The bustle for the bottom of the East bracket
Even after searching on the Warmth beat the prospects to achieve the 2023 NBA Finals from a play-in predicament, this season’s bustle for the bottom of the East’s play-in bracket isn’t any longer the most compelling fight we bask in considered.
The Chicago Bulls, Hawks, Nets and Raptors had been among the many supreme “will they or would per chance no longer they?” groups on the replace time restrict. All four bask in shedding records and detrimental earn ratings, that manner they would just’ve opted to dump skill and receive draft picks.
The Raptors, for the time being in 12th, had already was the internet page by dealing OG Anunoby (to New York) and Pascal Siakam (to Indiana) to originate round All-Primary particular person Scottie Barnes. The free-falling Nets, in 11th, bask in dropped 16 of their final 21 games. Chicago and Atlanta, in ninth and 10th, respectively, stood pat on the time restrict, even supposing they’ve many events landed within the center of the pack — without a splendid threat of rivals — the previous few years.
For the reason that Bulls and Hawks for the time being preserve the final two play-in spots, and both saved their rosters exactly the identical, they would just be the most receive picks to close there, too. Chicago and Atlanta attain bask in the toughest final schedules of these four groups.
The NBA’s center is an unenviable attach to be, however on some stage, with Chicago and Atlanta having a spread of expertise operating from this very predicament, it practically appears gay.
— Chris Herring
