It is fair to say that the bottom half of the conference playoff pictures are considered something of a joke. What is just as fair to say, however, is this week’s most compelling games will be involving teams from the eighth and ninth spots, and about whether or not they will be playing in the postseason. The top of each conference has its drama, but to be honest, determining which seed which teams are is simply not as exciting. Below I break down two Eastern Conference teams and two Western Conference teams and their chances for qualifying for the playoffs.
The NBA’s Final Playoff Push
Eastern Conference: Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets
After the Nets loss to the Bulls Monday night, the Celtics were thrust clearly into the playoff picture, leaving the final spot in the East up for grabs between the Pacers and the Nets. The Nets lost the right to control their own destiny with an incredibly disappointing 27-point loss to the Chicago Bulls in which their leading scorer was Bojan Bogdanovic. The Pacers have the advantage because they have two games left to play to the Nets one, and if the Pacers can win out they will clinch the eighth seed.
While that seems simple, it isn’t a cakewalk for Indiana. They have to beat two playoff teams away (Washington and Memphis), a task that is usually made easier at the end of the season because most playoff teams are resting their starters. It is still unclear whether or not the Wizards will be playing their starters (they just locked up the fifth seed in the East Monday night), but the Grizzlies most certainly will play to win, considering they could anywhere from second to sixth in the conference, something that is very important in the wildly talented Western Conference.
The Nets may have played their season away by letting Nikola Mirotic (26 points) walk all over them, but all is not lost. They will be playing an inferior Orlando team on the last day of the season, and a Nets victory, coupled with a Pacers loss in either of the two games, would allow Brooklyn to go to the playoffs based on the tiebreaker. After playing extremely poor in two must-win games preceding their season finale, the Nets will need the Pacers to play the way the Nets have recently to have a shot at playing in the postseason.
Western Conference: New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder
This playoff scenario is a little bit simpler, made that much easier by the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz fading away in the last quarter of the season, and it comes down to two games Wednesday night. If the Pelicans win against the Spurs they are in, and if Oklahoma City beats Minnesota and the Spurs win, the Thunder will advance to the playoffs. Since San Antonio could possibly clinch the second seed in the West with a victory, it will be interesting to see who Popp plays in their final regular season game, especially with how notorious he is with resting certain players.
Oklahoma City, playing a Timberwolves team on an 11-game losing streak, will be expected to win Wednesday night, leaving it up to the Pelicans to decide their own fate. The Spur’s lineup may play a role in which team advances but regardless of who dresses, Anthony Davis & Co. will have to show up if they want to clinch their first playoff berth for the Pelicans, the first for New Orleans since 2011.
The next few days will be entertaining to say the least, and a very good appetizer for NBA fans for the upcoming postseason
