With only 16 days left in the regular season, the NBA playoff race is getting hot and heavy. Who will sneak in at the 8th seed out West?
We’re so close. The end of the regular season is upon us and the beginning of the best two months of the NBA is near. In the next 16 days, the majority of teams around the league have 10 or fewer games left to play. The window of opportunity for teams to make a late playoff push is closing.
Looking at the Western Conference, all teams are pretty much set in place (within a spot or two) of where they will end up being seeded. Right now, its Golden State with a two game lead on the Spurs who are the two seed.
Behind them is Houston, Utah, the Clippers, and the Thunder respectively. Memphis is at the 7 spot being 19 games back of the Warriors, followed by that mysterious 8th slot.
Realistically, there are three teams that could have a shot at sneaking into the playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks are one of those teams, sitting at 31-42 and four games back of the other two horses in this race. Having them gain ground with only nine games left on their schedule is not likely when we look at who they have to play.
| Date | Opponent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, Mar 29, 2017 | 8:00p ET | @ | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Fri, Mar 31, 2017 | 8:00p ET | @ | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Sun, Apr 2, 2017 | 3:30p ET | @ | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Tue, Apr 4, 2017 | 10:30p ET | @ | Sacramento Kings |
| Wed, Apr 5, 2017 | 10:30p ET | @ | Los Angeles Clippers |
| Fri, Apr 7, 2017 | 8:30p ET | San Antonio Spurs | |
| Sun, Apr 9, 2017 | 6:00p ET | @ | Phoenix Suns |
| Tue, Apr 11, 2017 | 8:30p ET | Denver Nuggets | |
| Wed, Apr 12, 2017 | 8:00p ET | @ | Memphis Grizzlies |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/27/2017.
Dallas plays six playoff teams (if the season ended today) out of those nine games. Not to mention seven out of nine games are on the road. That’s not a great formula for success when you’re trying to win out while hoping two other teams ahead of you miraculously choke. For this reason, the Mavs are ruled out of making the 2017 playoffs and getting swept by the Warriors (according to me).
Those two teams I’ve been beating around the bush to mention, you probably already know is the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets. Both teams are sitting at 35-38 and 8th place in the West. But these playoffs are not big enough for the two of them.
How sweet is it that both of these teams made a huge trade with one another that significantly improved both franchises, and now they get to battle to see who got the better end of the deal. Portland sent Mason Plumlee to Denver in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic and Memphis’ first round pick this year that is only top 5 protected.
Looking at both of these teams remaining schedules, something stood out to me right away. THEY PLAY EACH OTHER TONIGHT. Their matchup Tuesday will be a pivotal point in both of their chances of playing Steph and the boys first round.
| Date | Opponent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Mar 28, 2017 | 10:00p ET | @ | Portland Trail Blazers |
| Fri, Mar 31, 2017 | 7:00p ET | @ | Charlotte Hornets |
| Sun, Apr 2, 2017 | 6:00p ET | @ | Miami Heat |
| Tue, Apr 4, 2017 | 8:00p ET | @ | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Wed, Apr 5, 2017 | 8:00p ET | @ | Houston Rockets |
| Fri, Apr 7, 2017 | 9:00p ET | New Orleans Pelicans | |
| Sun, Apr 9, 2017 | 5:00p ET | Oklahoma City Thunder | |
| Tue, Apr 11, 2017 | 8:30p ET | @ | Dallas Mavericks |
| Wed, Apr 12, 2017 | 8:00p ET | @ | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/27/2017.
After that monster of a game Tuesday, the Nuggets have four more games in a row on the road. Out of their nine remaining games, five are against playoff teams (Portland, Miami, Houston, OKC twice). On top of all that traveling, they have two back to backs in their with limited rest.
As much as i am in love with Nikola Jokic, the Portland Trail Blazers are stealing his playoff spot right out of his mitts.
*play Drake- Portland*
| Date | Opponent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Mar 28, 2017 | 10:00p ET | Denver Nuggets | |
| Thu, Mar 30, 2017 | 10:30p ET | Houston Rockets | |
| Sat, Apr 1, 2017 | 10:00p ET | Phoenix Suns | |
| Mon, Apr 3, 2017 | 7:00p ET | @ | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Tue, Apr 4, 2017 | 9:00p ET | @ | Utah Jazz |
| Thu, Apr 6, 2017 | 10:30p ET | Minnesota Timberwolves | |
| Sat, Apr 8, 2017 | 10:00p ET | Utah Jazz | |
| Mon, Apr 10, 2017 | 10:00p ET | San Antonio Spurs | |
| Wed, Apr 12, 2017 | 10:30p ET | New Orleans Pelicans |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/27/2017.
Despite also playing five playoff teams in their remaining nine games, only two of them are on the road. The Trail Blazers don’t have any back to backs so it guarantees much-needed rest in between with almost no travel. Their last four games of the regular season are in the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
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I have Portland sliding into the 8th spot not just because of strength and convenience of remaining schedule, but they also won the Nuggets trade and it turned their whole season around.
Before the deadline, Portland was in the bottom five of the league in team defense and rebounding. Since the acquisition of Nurkic, they’ve jumped to 15th in team defense and 16th in rebounding. While it’s still not great by any means, it was a massive reason why Portland went 12-5 after the trade deadline.
As a Nugget, Nurkic averaged 9.7 ppg, 7 rpg, and 1.9 apg in only 21.1 minutes per game. A lot of that was due to Jokic and Nurkic having similar playing style and not being able to be on the court at the same time. As a Blazer, Nurkic looks like a completely different human being. He is averaging 14.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, and 3.5 apg in 29.3 minutes per game.
Portland did a phenomenal job of salvaging their season before the deadline and adding a third scoring threat to help Dame and C.J. with the offensive load. Their biggest improvement, however, still not anything to rave about, is their interior defense and rebounding.
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Their front office deserves a lot of credit for going after what they needed and doing what other borderline contenders do not do. And for this, they have a chance to get revenge from last years playoff matchup with Golden State.