Push for the Playoffs
The NBA regular season is just 3 weeks away from being over. Some teams off-season destiny has already been decided and for others the NBA Playoffs awaits them. It has been a surprise to see how things are about to finish up for both conferences. The Toronto Raptors making a late push for the number one see and the Golden State Warriors injury plagued starting line-up was not expected. Lets take a look at both of the conferences as the regular season is close to being over.
For the Western Conference my projected playoff picture is:
1. Houston Rockets
2. Golden State Warriors
3. Portland Trailblazers
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
5. New Orleans Pelicans
6. San Antonio Spurs
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
8. Utah Jazz
With just 3 weeks of basketball this is subject to change, especially for the last two seeds. The Minnesota Timberwolves could actually swap places with the Utah Jazz. The Timberwolves are just 1 loss clear from the 8th seed. This also opens up room for the Denver Nuggets to sneak in and grab the spot from the Timberwolves. The Nuggets trail 2 games behind the 8th seed but it will be harder for the Timberwolves if it comes down to the tiebreaker. Best case scenario for either two teams if either 3 teams make it, it will be a rough serious for the 7th and 8th seed to compete against the Golden State Warriors even if they are suffering from big injuries. To even face the Houston Rockets will definitely be tough as they have bullied all three teams all year. The second round of the playoffs will be tough for the top seeds as this season the head for head battle has been tit-for-tat.
Out in the Eastern Conference my projected playoff picture is:
1. Toronto Raptors
2. Boston Celtics
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Philadelphia 76ers
5. Indiana Pacers
6. Washington Wizards
7. Miami Heat
8. Milwaukee Bucks
Toronto as said earlier have really surprised the Eastern Conference with their late push for the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference. Early in the season it was projected that the 1st seed would either go to the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics. The Toronto Raptors made silent runs defeating Eastern Conference foes and even tough Western Conference teams. The bigger surprise although has to be the Philadelphia 76ers. They have had a similar season as the Cleveland Cavaliers sadly. Currently on a 6 game winning streak and could take the 3rd spot from Cleveland if they find themselves cooling off as the playoffs creep up. The Milwaukee Bucks also might want to get things together beyond their front office. The Bucks just have not clicked as they did in the beginning of the season. Giannis Antetokounmpo brought lots of hype to the Bucks early but then things got streaky. Jason Kidd was soon fired and now the Bucks are looking to just brings things together as they expect a big first round match-up. Th Indian Pacers have silently made their way to the 5th seed and look to take the 4th spot of it comes to a tie breaker. No Paul George was stopping Indiana as Victor Oladipo has taken over.
20 days are left for the quest to the Larry O'Brein trophy and the story lines linked to these teams could not make this quest any better. Check out the first set of NBA Playoff games on April 14th.
