With the All Star Weekend now over, teams that are still in the hunt for the playoffs shift their focus into overdrive trying to make it to the postseason.
This season there are still 23 teams fighting for 16 playoff spots and with the trade deadline yet to come, there are some very interesting times ahead.
Let’s start with the hotly contested Western Conference.
There are five teams that I would consider a lock for the playoffs barring any major injuries (OKC, Spurs, Rockets, Clippers and Portland).
From there we have seven teams fighting for the remaining three playoff spots so let’s examine the prospects for each team and project their expected record.
Golden State Warriors (31-22)
The Warriors looked unbeatable in late December/early January when they went on an amazing 10 game winning streak, with seven of those wins on the road.
Since then they have been very inconsistent as their offence becomes more reliant on outside shooting. There have been injuries to Andre Igoudala and Andrew Bogut and this has only gone on to raise more questions about their bench.
This team when healthy looks a million dollars but there has to be concern over the heavy minutes being played by their starters (Klay Thompson is second in total minutes and Steph Curry is 11th).
They do have an easy schedule coming out of the All Star break but most of those games are on the road so if they drop a few expected wins then it puts them right back into the fight for a low playoff seed.
Projected Record – 49-32 (6th)
Dallas Mavericks (32-22)
Give Rick Carlisle a glass of water and he will turn it into a 50 win basketball team. While he can’t work those kinds of miracles he has managed to extract the best out of almost every team he has coached in the last 10 years including a successful title run in 2011.
The surprisingly efficient start by Monta Ellis to his Mavericks career was not predicted by anyone but it appears that Carlisle has tamed the bad shot beast and made him into a team player.
Add in the career revival of DuJuan Blair, the dead eye three point shooting of Jose Calderon and the lights out mid range efficiency of Dirk Nowitski and you have the fourth best offence in the league.
Looking ahead they still have to play the Spurs, Clippers and Thunder twice but do spend a two week stretch in March at home against some beatable opponents. Key games against Phoenix (home) and Memphis (away) to finish the season could determine their final seed.
Projected Record – 47-35 (7th)
Memphis Grizzlies (29-23)
Memphis has been on a tear of late with an impressive 14-4 record since a tough OT loss to San Antonio on January 7.
After that loss to the Spurs they were four games under .500 at 15-19 and looking likely to be in the lottery for the 2014 NBA Draft.
Part of the success has been the return of reigning DPOY stud, Marc Gasol, reuniting with Zach Randolph and forming that physical front line.
The trade for Courtney Lee has helped add depth to their backcourt but it really just has been a team effort on defence that has contributed to their good run, especially with Mike Conley sidelined with injury.
Looking ahead they have a lot of road games (17) remaining but given they have a better road record (15-9) than home record (14-14), I wouldn’t expect this to be a problem.
Projected Record – 46-36 (8th – Beat out Phoenix due to tie-break rules)
Phoenix Suns (30-21)
Many predicted doom, gloom and tanking for the Suns this season and in a refreshing surprise they have been one of the most impressive teams in the NBA.
Jeff Hornacek has this team playing much smarter basketball, led by one of the best point guards in the West in Goran Dragic.
Along with their army of long range and mobile big men (Frye, Morris Twins and Miles Plumlee) this team are not the rollovers they were expected to be.
With four expected first round draft picks in June, this team has no reason to finish in the lottery so watch out for to try and make a move around the trade deadline.
With the expiring contract of Emeka Okafor and the previously mentioned first round picks, expect the Suns to try and upgrade their roster with a star player or two.
Their schedule is very tough with multiple games against top opponents including three against the Clippers and two against both the Spurs and Thunder.
Projected Record – 46-36 (9th)
Minnesota Timberwolves (25-28)
If ever a team needed to put together a run it would have to be the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their late game struggles have been well documented (0-11 in games decided by four points or less) but they still have the talent to rock the playoffs boat.
Kevin Love is putting up monster numbers but hasn’t been consistently backed up by the rest of the starters. Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic are currently injured but when they return this team gets dangerous.
They have a capable backup at every position and a very easy run home. It is not unfathomable to see them pulling off a double digit win streak during their run home and if they do then they could threaten that eighth seed.
Projected Record – 45-37 (10th)
Honourable Mentions
Denver Nuggets (24-27) – I really don’t see the Nuggets putting together enough wins to claw their way to an eighth seed. They have a talented roster but they have a very tough stretch to finish (check out their last 11 games).
New Orleans Pelicans (23-29) – Injuries have put a big dampener on this young side with both Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday likely to miss the rest of the season. It will be almost impossible task for the Pelicans to make the eighth seed from here.
Conclusion
It will continue to be a tight race all the way to the finish in the Western Conference. That eighth seed should be open right up until the final night of NBA action but with the trade deadline approaching anything could happen that might shake things up.
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