Outside of Steph Curry and the Warriors’ attempt at breaking the record for most wins in an NBA season, the race for the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference is the most exciting aspect in recent weeks.
Currently the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards are locked in an intense battle where each win and loss has huge repercussions.
The Pacers occupy the seventh seed in the East at the moment, but are a mere two wins ahead of the Wizards who are in tenth.
If that wasn’t intense enough, three of the four teams in the race are riding significant winning streaks. Both Chicago and Detroit have won their last three, while Washington has been holding its’ playoff hopes alive with a five-game streak.
It’s such a close race that when the season finishes on April fourth, a tie breaker might be required to decide which teams will be taking part in the post-season.
Indiana is behind in their season series with Chicago by one game and tied their series with Detroit, however they have won their series with Washington.
Chicago is in a precarious position as they are behind by a game in their series with Detroit and have lost their series with Washington.
Finally, Washington has emphatically won their season series with Detroit, currently ahead by three wins.
Making these tiebreakers even more exciting is the fact that there are three more games to be played in these series. Indiana and Chicago, Chicago and Detroit and Detroit and Washington will all face each other in the next few weeks.
The Pacers appear to have a relatively easy run home, facing eight teams with losing records in their final twelve games, although they do have back-to-back games against Cleveland and Toronto – the top two teams in the East.
While the Bulls are holding onto the final playoff spot, they have a tough stretch of games coming up, including six against teams who are essentially certainties to make the playoffs.
The Pistons have potentially the easiest schedule as they look to jump into the eighth seed. Seven of their last eleven games are at home and despite them playing some of the better teams in Cleveland, Miami and Atlanta, they have fared well against them this season.
Perhaps the most intriguing of all the schedules is Washington. They play two games against Atlanta as well as games against Golden State and the Clippers, but at the same time they find themselves against teams in full-force tanking mode, facing Minnesota, the Lakers, Phoenix and also Brooklyn twice.
Additionally, Washington are the team riding the hottest winning streak at the moment, so if they can take care of the easy games and ride their momentum into games against tougher opponents there’s a very good chance they may pull off a miracle and make the playoffs.
Each of these four teams have almost a completely clean bill of health, so each team is in prime position to make a final grasp at the playoffs.
Late March usually has a dearth of meaningful basketball being played in the NBA as college basketball takes over with March Madness and playoff spots are usually cemented, however the Eastern Conference playoff race is providing fans with something just as interesting.
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
Nice article Brandon. It's been easy to forget about the rest of the playoff picture with the focus on Golden State and their incredible run. Any of those teams could spring a surprise or two if they make it through. The race to the playoffs will feel like the playoffs for those teams and that can only benefit them in getting that intensity for post-season.