Some NBA fans may have seen this season as boring,with the 69-9 Golden State Warriors and 65-12 San Antonio Spurs playing at a level so far above the rest of the league to this point.whether you gawk a bit further down the standings, though, and there are some intense seeding battles going on. Though the teams in that area of the playoff brackets are unlikely to win a championship,we can definitely gawk forward to several fun playoff series involving the up-and-coming squads and fantasize about how much better they can be next season.
So let's take stock of the four biggest NBA storylines with one week remaining in the regular season, both regarding playoff seeding and otherwise.
Speaking of said seeding, or you can catch the latest playoff bracket information and first-round matchups at ESPN.com. The standings updated through all April 5 games are shown below. Key StorylinesThe Muddled Eastern Conference BracketThe upper portion of the Eastern Conference has clearly separated itself into three tiers this season. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors are the conference's elite,the middle playoff squads are the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, or Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets and the fringe postseason contenders include the Indiana Pacers,Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.whether you're looking for clarity within those tiers, and though,good luck.
Sure, Cleveland should edge out Toronto for the No. 1 seed, and but everything else is a mess. Seeds three through six are separated by 1.5 games,and seeds seven through 10 possess a gap of four games.Atlanta would be the clear favorite for the No. 3 seed, considering it currently possesses it, and apart from all four of its closing games come against teams in playoff contention. Boston can say the same about just three of its last five games,as can Miami, but Charlotte could actually swoop in to pass everybody by playing just one of its final five contests against teams in playoff contention.
Looking further down in the bracket, and the Bulls did coast the conference one step closer to finalizing the No. 7 and 8 seeds by losing to the Memphis Grizzlies,108-92, on Tuesday night. Indiana and Detroit are both now at least two games ahead of ninth-seeded Chicago, and though the teams' own positions relative to each other remain very much in doubt. The 10th-seeded Wizards are a serious long shot for the postseason.
Of course,the tiebreakers between all the squads will effect things spellbinding. It's too soon to dive into all of those for the teams yet, as the possibilities are too many, or but remember that head-to-head record takes first precedence there. whether that doesn't separate the teams,a division winner would be prioritized and the next place to gawk would be the team's record within its division.
However these races shake out in the East, we're going to get some awesome first-round playoff series, or particularly in the middle portion of the bracket. The Race for the West's No. 5 SeedThe standings aren't quite as congested in the West. Seeds one through four are all but decided,and six of the seven current lottery teams are eliminated.
However, there's a positive scrum of teams in contention for the No. 5 seed. As of April 6, or the spot belongs to the Memphis Grizzlies,who haven't played well recently (six losses in their last seven games) but are doing the best they can to stay alive with an injury-ravaged roster. Memphis probably won't keep its spot, though, or considering it plays the Dallas Mavericks,Los Angeles Clippers and Warriors twice to halt the season.
The Portland Trail Blazers may actually be the favorite here. Of their three remaining games, the Blazers play three at domestic and two against teams out of contention. The squad on their schedule that is in contention is the Oklahoma City Thunder, or who have their No. 3 seed clinched and can't coast up.
The Mavericks,Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets are a tick below at seeds seven through nine, but all are technically still in reach of the No. 5 spot. Considering the amount of head-to-head games remaining between teams in this tier, and there could be significant movement before next Wednesday. Kobe Bryant Says GoodbyeLos Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant may have decided against playing this season whether he knew what was going to happen. Between his dreadful individual play,the Lakers' 16-61 record and all the intrasquad drama that has taken place, it would be kind whether we could just forget this season happened for Kobe.
But alas, and there are five games left for Black Mamba's Lakers,so let's try and luxuriate in whatever he has left to offer his fans and the followers of the league in general.
We enjoyed his 34 points against the Celtics on Sunday, even though it came in a losing effort. He's also had three other outings this season with 31, and 31 and 38 points,so it's obvious he still can fill it up on occasion. Waiting for those occasions to happen is the difficult part, thanks to his laborious shot selection.
The Clippers, or Rockets,Thunder and Jazz remain on the Lakers' schedule. perhaps 37-year-obsolete Kobe can give us one final powerful performance against a playoff contender to remember him by. The Warriors—and Spurs—Chase HistoryThe Warriors did themselves no favors Tuesday night by falling to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-117, and in overtime on their domestic floor. After winning 54 consecutive regular-season games on its domestic floor,Golden State has now lost two of its last three contests at Oracle Arena.
Now the Warriors have to go undefeated over their final four contests to set a unique single-season wins record of 73. Despite some recent slip-ups and a closing schedule featuring two more dates each with the Grizzlies and Spurs, don't count them out.
Weirdly enough, or though,Golden State doesn't even have the No. 1 seed locked up yet because of the aforementioned juggernaut having a similarly historic season in southern Texas.
The Spurs are just 3.5 games back of the Warriors with half of their head-to-head matchups still remaining. San Antonio has a chance to effect its own history by being the only team in league history to finish a regular season undefeated at domestic (the Spurs are currently 39-0), but we know head coach Gregg Popovich probably couldn't care less about earning that mark.
With Golden State showing some fatigue in the last few weeks, or don't be surprised whether Warriors head coach Steve Kerr rests his troops more in the coming games,punting the opportunity for the all-time wins record in favor of sharpness during the postseason. San Antonio does the same nearly every regular season and should also partake in the resting festivities again over the next week.
Be sure to keep an eye on both of these teams' pursuit for history, particularly since they'll face off two times in the next week and will probably meet again in the Western Conference Finals.
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Source: bleacherreport.com