The NBA season officially wraps up in 12 days, and a plethora of questions have yet to be answered and are still on the table: Will the Philadelphia 76ers fend off the Brooklyn Nets and head into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference? Are the Phoenix Suns, fresh off of claiming their first postseason berth in 11 years, capable of getting the top seed in the West and keeping it away from the Jazz long enough in the coming days to enter the playoffs with the NBA’s best record? Are the Lakers, who just got LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol back (while missing Dennis Schroder – Health and Safety protocols) good and consistent enough to keep the 5th seed and avoid the play-in tournament? Can teams like the Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors muster enough wins to qualify for the play-in tournament?
And with the Knicks essentially locking up the fourth seed and claiming their first winning season since 2013, what will the plan be for Tom Thibodeau’s team – rest or continuous effort to try and nab a higher seed? These next two weeks will answer all questions for all 30 teams heading into the final stretch of the season.
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1. Utah Jazz (47-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)
While finishing the season with the league’s best record sounds enticing, actually having an all-healthy roster sounds just as sweet, if not sweeter. They got the first seed in the Western playoffs back with a 110-99 home win against the Spurs last night, and are certainly up to the task of defending the No. 1 seed if need be. But with Utah staring down a potential showdown with the winner of the Lakers or Clippers’ 4/5 matchup that’ll likely determine the course of action for Quin Snyder’s gameplan down the final stretch of the season, making sure that Donovan Mitchell (sprained ankle) and Mike Conley Jr. (hamstring) are good to go seems like the ideal way to go. They’ll have another duel with the Spurs at home before they have to defend home court against Denver and Houston and from there, they’ll finish off their 2020-21 regular season next week.
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2. Phoenix Suns (46-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
With a playoff seed all to themselves, seeding is the only thing that matters to the Suns. Sure, prioritizing health and optimal performance is a necessity, but these Suns are shooting for the moon. Full speed ahead is the agenda for Monty Williams, Chris Paul and Devin Booker (who will finally make his postseason debut!) and if the No. 2 seed in the West can relegate the Jazz to the No. 2 seed, they’ll have to do so with an increasingly difficult schedule; Cleveland, Atlanta, New York, and the Lakers are up next this week.
If the Suns can claim the No. 1 seed the rest of the way and pull off the impossible, since literally, no one saw this type of season emanating from the lowly Suns who were projected to just miss out on the playoffs with an “aging” Chris Paul, the inexperienced young duo of Booker and DeAndre Ayton, and impressionable-yet-still-developing young core with guys like Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, then the Phoenix Suns will have made it to the postseason with the top record out West for the first time since 2005. The other time they pulled off that feat? 1993 – the year Charles Barkley won MVP and the Western-best Suns went on to battle the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.
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3. Philadelphia 76ers (44-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)
Thanks to saving themselves from an embarrassing loss to the Spurs on Sunday evening from an OT tip-in game-winner by Ben Simmons as well as a “handled business” type of win over Chicago on Monday night, the Sixers strengthened their grip on the East’s No. 1 seed with a near two-game lead (tiebreaker included) over the Brooklyn Nets. And with eight games left to play, they are in prime position to snag that home-court advantage all throughout the playoffs. Additionally, the 76ers’ schedule isn’t too hard to finish off: only one of their final games are against Miami, and the rest are against teams that aren’t even in their respective playoff seeding.
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4. Brooklyn Nets (43-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)
Sunday’s loss to the Bucks wasn’t one of worry to the Nets, since those types of losses can be taken with a grain of salt. The atmosphere of that game was palpable enough to give off a playoff feel, and since it’s likely the two teams cross paths in the playoffs, we got a small simulation of how the spacing will look, and what matchups will happen when the two teams play each other in a few weeks.
But, a loss is a loss, and with the Sixers gaining momentum with a 1.5-game lead over the Nets, Brooklyn is in a bit of a pickle. Milwaukee is gaining ground and is in striking distance of getting the second seed, and should the season end today, the second-seeded Nets wouldn’t be able to avoid either Milwaukee or Miami in the second round. So, health is wealth, but make no mistake about it: rest is out of the question.
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5. Milwaukee Bucks (40-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)
A massive win over Brooklyn on Sunday with your MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo giving the Nets’ frontcourt all they can handle and more does a lot for your team’s confidence heading down the final stretch of the season. And they’ll have another chance to crack a jab at the East’s No. 2 team again on Tuesday, and this time, the stakes are a little bit higher. Should they win, they’ll move up an official game behind the Nets in the loss column, and in the final 12 games of the season, could play spoiler and threaten the Brooklyn Nets’ hopes of maintaining a top-two spot and perch atop the Eastern Conference.
However, Milwaukee will have the same plan B if losses start piling up down the stretch, and resting key guys like Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday might become a possibility if a third-place finish is in their cards.
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6. Denver Nuggets (43-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)
Since losing Jamal Murray to a season-ending ACL tear nearly 12 days ago, the Nuggets had yet to truly feel the side effects of his absence with their initial 9-1 record without him on the court entering Monday night’s contest against the slipping Lakers. And then the game happened, where MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic had arguably one of his worst games of the season (if you consider 32 points on 12-28 shooting “bad”) where he couldn’t score much at all when the returning Marc Gasol was matched up with him during the game’s final two minutes, leading to a tough 93-89 loss when LeBron James wasn’t even active. Those are the type of games the Nuggets will look back and scratch their head at, and ponder what’s next for them.
Even with Jokic having an all-world season while carrying the offensive load every night for an average of 26.1 points on a nightly basis, the lack of a true No. 1 option off the dribble who can maneuver wherever and attack any matchup against space-anemic defensive schemes will be felt all the more in a playoff setting, and nary made more so than last night during their loss to the Lakers.
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7. Los Angeles Clippers (43-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
Los Angeles is going through it right now, with a three-game losing streak looming over their heads like a black cloud. Their most significant loss of the skid came by way of the Nuggets, where Denver not only won the four-game season series against the team they came back down 3-1 in the bubble last year to advance to the Western Conference Finals, but they currently have the tiebreaker advantage over them and the third seed in the West, even with both teams having the same record. Seeding is important, but Tyronn Lue’s goal this season wasn’t to grab all the regular-season accolades and fight to get the West’s best record, but rather to make sure that both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are healthy enough to share the same floor with one another. Also, should they stay in fourth place in the West, it’s likely that the battle of Los Angeles will take place in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs.
Luckily for them, getting healthy is getting easier. Serge Ibaka is returning as is Patrick Beverley soon enough, and since the NBA universe knows how indomitable of a force they can be when 100% healthy, it might make sense to dial back a few levels and rest some key starters.
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8. New York Knicks (37-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)
Though the Knicks have dropped three spots in the weekly rankings, it’s still inconceivable to consider that they’ve survived to maintain their spot in the postseason picture for this long. They’ve won nine of their last 10, are winners of 12 of their last 13, are clear favorites to lock up the fourth seed with only 12 days to go in the regular season with a 1.5-game lead over the Hawks, and are by far the hottest team in the Eastern Conference.
Another thing of note: when Derrick Rose suits up for them, they win. They’re 21-8 with him in the rotation, and Rose scored a season-high 25 points in their win over Memphis off an efficient 11-15 shooting performance. Still, a hard Western voyage awaits the Knicks, for they’ll have to play the Nuggets, Suns, and Clippers all on the road this week.
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9. Los Angeles Lakers (37-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)
And just like that, crisis mode may be over for the LakeShow.
Marc Gasol and Anthony Davis resembled their playoff-succeeding selves during a huge win over the Denver Nuggets Monday evening, and defensively, kept the Jamal Murray-less Nugs to only 89 points while LeBron James didn’t even suit up as a preventative measure to rest his healing sprained right ankle on the second night of a back-to-back.
The muscle is back for the Lakers, and while they weren’t able to muster any prior resemblance of their former selves with consecutive losses to the Kings and Raptors during LeBron James’ return, they got the fifth seed back from the Mavericks, thanks to their upset win on Monday night. A slew of eight tough-but-winnable games awaits the defending champs with only a week and 1/3 left in the season.
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10. Dallas Mavericks (36-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)
Sacramento handed Dallas all three of their losses in their last nine games, and with the Lakers winning on Monday night and reclaiming the fifth seed, that puts the Mavericks in the tough spot of having to work their hardest to avoid the play-in tournament. And due to the three-way tiebreaker rules, they’d have to enter the playoffs as the sixth seed if things don’t go their way in the final 12 days of the regular season. They’ll have to get past the finish line as efficiently as possible if they want to avoid that scenario altogether, and hope that Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic can, at the least, man the charge and stay healthy. Porzingis missed the Mavericks’ last five games due to a sprained left ankle and sore right knee.
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11. Portland Trail Blazers (36-29, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)
Barring a loss to Atlanta that many could see forthcoming, (it was a weird day for the Hawks and Blazers, who almost had their game canceled due to tornado warnings) Portland is hitting their stride at the most convenient time. They are 4-1 in their latest stretch of games, all on the road, Damian Lillard isn’t quite struggling much anymore, and CJ McCollum is starting to look like his pre-injury self. They have a likable schedule in their future, with only Cleveland, Los Angeles, and San Antonio coming up next on the schedule, which means their optimism at a deep playoff run and the chances of potential avoidance of the play-in tournament are relatively high.
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12. Atlanta Hawks (36-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)
Atlanta at one point in the season was staring down another finish out of the playoff picture, and when Lloyd Pierce as their head coach, Atlanta was 11th in the Eastern Conference with what felt like forever until the end of the season. And when Nate McMillan replaced Pierce as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, what a quick turnaround of aspirations it was for a Hawks team that hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2016. Now six games over .500 with a chance to earn home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, they’re in a dead heat with the Celtics and Heat for the fourth and fifth spots in the East. A win over Portland kept their momentum afloat, and games against the Suns at home and Pacers on the road can keep that momentum going even stronger heading down the chute of the final 12 days of the season.
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13. Miami Heat (35-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)
With four wins in five games, Miami is getting back into that mode of ferocity that earned them a trip to the NBA Finals last October. Bam Adebayo continues to rake in All-NBA Defensive First Team votes and game-by-game improves as a confident scorer at all three levels with 19.4 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists over his past five games. The same, ironically, can be said for Kendrick Nunn, who is additionally rounding into shape as a reliable option at the guard spot. Nunn, during that same stretch, has averaged 20.4 points. Currently, the Heat are locked in a battle with the Atlanta Hawks for the fifth seed, and want more in the waning weeks of the regular season; they’re a whole 2.5 games away from blowing past the fourth-seeded Knicks for their seed and home-court advantage.
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14. Golden State Warriors (33-32, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)
With a resounding and comfortable double-digit win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday Evening, a game in which Stephen Curry (41 points off 14-26 shooting, eight threes 46 Hero Points) and Draymond Green (10 points, 15 assists, 13 rebounds, 47 Hero Points) traded places as the nightly leader in Hero Points during ESPN2’s exclusive Marvel’s Avengers-style broadcast known as the “Arena of Heroes”, Draymond Green got to call himself an Honorary Avenger while being “recruited” by Dr. Strange.
The Dubs stand a whole one-game lead ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, who lost on Monday night to the Knicks and currently, it’s quite obvious that no one team will want to play the Golden State Warriors come play-in tournament time. With 41 points against the Pels last night, Stephen Curry will likely be the league’s scoring champion this season, and the oldest player in league history to win the award since Michael Jordan in 1997-98.
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15. Boston Celtics (34-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)
When it seemed like things were getting back on track for Boston, off went the wheels again. Far greater concern has to lie in the health and ability to put your most integral pieces on the floor to compete on a nightly basis, and that prerequisite was severely challenged when in the final moments of the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scrambled for a loose ball inching towards the scorer’s table and subsequently collided with one another. Tatum was fine, but Jaylen Brown’s condition has still not been addressed and publicized.
Both of Boston’s best players had to leave the game, a loss to the Blazers during a 2-2 week that saw the Celtics both historically erase a 32-point deficit to the visiting San Antonio Spurs in which Tatum became only the second Celtic ever to score 60 points in a single game and become a point shy of breaking a record that’s lasted for 36 years while simultaneously racking up the most points by a Celtic in a three-game span ever…and embarrassingly lose to a tanking Thunder team. But, no matter how Boston does over their final seven games, potentially not having Jaylen Brown for an extended period of time does more harm than good for a team that’s clawing to get out of a play-in tournament berth.
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16. Memphis Grizzlies (32-32, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)
Now a whole game and more behind the Golden State Warriors, Memphis is trying their best to get back into the postseason picture, and stay there, but must do better as losers of four of their last five. Also, they’re still fixing out the kinks of etching Jaren Jackson Jr. back into the minutes rotation, an adjustment that’s hindered their chemistry a little as the Michigan State product is still finding his way back from missing most of the season due to a torn meniscus suffered in the bubble last season.
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17. Charlotte Hornets (31-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)
As losers of six of their last ten with new concerns about Health and Safety protocols that Miles Bridges must undergo as a result of the third-year forward potentially testing positive for COVID-19, Charlotte won’t have the luxury of coasting into the playoffs with a comfortable lead over anyone in the standings and will be playing in the play-in tournament as the eighth seed.
However, LaMelo Ball’s return to the court gave Charlotte a much-needed jolt in the arm as the rookie guard returned to the floor for the first time since March 20, and threw a litany of full-court passes while playing in the rhythm of the offense while averaging a little over 12 points with 6.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists in his last two games.
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18. San Antonio Spurs (31-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)
The Spurs would like to forget what was a pretty forgettable week as a team that’ll probably struggle down the stretch of their final eight games. They’re 1-4 in their last five contests, and likely will need all the help they can get, both by themselves and with the help of others as the West’s current 10th seed, as they’re 1.5 games out of the ninth-seeded Grizzlies’ spot and 2.5 games away from the eighth-seeded Warriors.
Their previous week included some doozies: After outlasting the Washington Wizards on the road, they suffered a five-point loss to the Heat, a loss (and blown-32-point lead) to the Celtics, and an OT loss to the Philadelphia 76ers by way of a Ben Simmons putback tip-in at the buzzer. And on Monday night, they were vociferously beaten by the Utah Jazz, and even worse: they found out prior to that game that Derrick White won’t be able to come back this season due to a sprained right ankle.
Whew.
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19. Washington Wizards (30-35, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)
Washington is 11-2 in their last 13 games, with only two losses coming by way of San Antonio and Dallas. And oddly enough, the team that had the most adversity of any other squad in the league, due to their COVID outbreaks that kept the Wizards – as a team – off of the hardwood for weeks that turned into what felt like months, is the team with the likeliest odds of beating out everyone else for the final playoffs spot as the winners of the first-ever Eastern play-in tournament.
Their first win of a two-game series against Indiana Monday night was significant; Russell Westbrook racked up his 178th Triple-Double of his career with the most Russell Westbrook stat line imaginable — 14 points, 21 rebounds, and 24 assists — during Washington’s 154-141 win over Indiana, and their 30th win of the year.
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20. Indiana Pacers (30-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)
There was some good history on the Pacers’ side this week. Indiana gave the Oklahoma City Thunder their worst loss in franchise history, a 152-95 road win that saw Doug McDermott lead the Pacers in scoring with 31 points off 11-14 shooting with six threes to boot. But on Monday, momentum was halted as they game up a season-worst 154 points to Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal’s Washington Wizards, and only possess a slim lead over Washington for that ninth seed, with their only advantage being one less in the loss column than Washington.
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21. Toronto Raptors (27-38, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)
Despite their impressive road victory over the Lakers on Sunday night, the Raptors still have a long way to go to qualify for the play-in tournament, as they are 2.5 games behind the Wizards with nine games left.
What will definitely matter most to the Raptors, in the end, is where they finish in the NBA draft lottery with the Bulls and Kings for positions seven through nine.
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22. New Orleans Pelicans (29-36, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)
Zion Williamson is having one of the most offensively impactful seasons in NBA history, as the 20-year-old is having the greatest volume shooting season in NBA history. But, the Warriors are four games ahead of the Pelicans in the running for the play-in tournament, and those two teams play each other in the final contests of the regular season. With the Warriors beating the Pelicans in the first of two games this week, New Orleans can start getting ready for the offseason.
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23. Sacramento Kings (37-47, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)
Sacramento is 4.5 games behind the Spurs, who have lost three in a row, for the final play-in spot after two wins in a row, including Sunday’s victory over the Mavericks. While it’s possible the Kings could fix up a quick solution to get into the postseason, Tyrese Haliburton’s status is up in the air due to a bad knee, which he injured in the win over the Mavs. That could seriously jeopardize the team’s playoff drive.
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24. Chicago Bulls (26-39, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)
The Bulls are three games behind the Wizards for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in spot. And more importantly, the Bulls’ high expectations following the acquisition of Nikola Vucevic have vanished. Because of COVID-19 protocols, Zach LaVine hasn’t played since April 14. The Bulls are 4-11 in their last 15 games, and they have a tough final two weeks of the season ahead of them, which includes Monday’s game against the Sixers (they lost, 106-94) and two games against the Nets.
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25. Minnesota Timberwolves (20-45, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)
Despite the fact that they don’t have anything to play for, the Timberwolves are aiming to win a few more games in the coming weeks as winners of six of their last 10. They might rest starters in the hopes of securing another top-three selection, but the Wolves want to start building a winning mindset and momentum heading into next season.
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26. Cleveland Cavaliers (21-43, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)
With eight games remaining, the Cavs are still in contention for a play-in slot, trailing No. 10 Washington by eight games. But, with Cleveland’s record of 1-9 in its last ten games and the Wizards’ record of 8-2, it’s unlikely they reach the play-in tournament.
Additionally, given the Cavaliers’ odd week, that was the least of their worries. Kevin Love had to apologize to his teammates for carelessly batting a ball inbounds against the Raptors and then attempting zero shots in 22 minutes the next game.
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27. Orlando Magic (21-44, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
Cole Anthony’s buzzer-beater to defeat the Grizzlies on Saturday night was one of the best highlights of a tough season. Anthony had a total of 26 points. The 20-year-old rookie guard’s pairing with Markelle Fultz next season will be fascinating to watch.
The Magic are well out of the playoff picture and are hoping for lottery luck; they own the Bulls’ first-round pick in 2021 should it land in the top four.
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28. Detroit Pistons (19-46, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)
The Pistons’ late-season struggles — they’ve now lost nine of their last 12 games — do have a silver lining: they’re already out of playoff contention, ensuring they’ll retain their first-round selection in 2021. As part of the November sign-and-trade deal for Christian Wood, the Pistons owe Houston a first-round pick, but it is a top-16 pick secured this year. Pistons general manager Troy Weaver will have that selection, plus three second-rounders, to work on the rebuild this offseason.
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29. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-44, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)
The Thunder’s 57-point loss to the Pacers was likely their lowest point of the season, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. They’ve been playing fewer and fewer NBA rotation players in recent weeks, instead opting for a more developmental and experimental approach. They’ve made significant strides toward achieving top-4 lottery chances, and are ranked fifth-worst. So, in a way, things are looking up for Sam Presti’s Thunder.
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30. Houston Rockets (16-49, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)
The Rockets are almost likely to finish in the bottom three, which means they’ll be among the teams with the best draft lottery chances. The Rockets’ young core, especially 20-year-old guard Kevin Porter Jr., will be developed for the rest of the season.
In a stunning success against the Bucks, he became the youngest player in NBA history to record a 50-point double-double. He’s been a bright spot in what’s been a dark year in the history of H-Town’s franchise.
Photo cred: Fox Sports 1430
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