2. LA Clippers
The LA Clippers are currently sitting in the third seed of the Western Conference, but just 1.5 games back of the second-seeded Phoenix Suns. The biggest reason why I believe the Clippers will overtake the Suns over the last few weeks of the season is quite simple – the Clippers have the third-easiest remaining schedule vs. the Suns’ sixth-most difficult remaining schedule.
Even though I firmly believe that the Suns are a good team, I simply believe that the Clippers will begin to build momentum heading into the playoffs. And they’ll do so by turning it on during the latter portion of the regular season.
After last year’s playoff disappointment, the Clippers know what’s at stake heading into the postseason. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard need to deliver. They can’t afford to flop in the playoffs again and they’ll begin to flip the switch to another level over the next few weeks leading into the postseason.