Taking a closer look at the six NBA teams that will be facing the most pressure heading into the push toward the postseason.
The 2024 NBA All-Star festivities are officially in the book. In the end, the NBA's All-Star Weekend will be remembered as hot and cold, but now that it's officially over, the push for the postseason is right around the corner. There are still a few off days before the NBA gets back in full swing. Before the action returns, we explore six teams that will be facing the most pressure to perform as we enter the official push toward the playoffs.
Boston Celtics
Even though it may seem somewhat of a surprise to see the Boston Celtics on this list, it shouldn't be. The Celtics have easily been the best team in the league all season long. If they were to completely flop in the postseason, they would go down as one of the biggest postseason disappointments in recent history. The Celtics are the most talented team in the NBA and will most likely have the best record going in.
If the Celtics don't win the championship this season, there are no excuses. At least no legitimate ones. This appears to be the Celtics' year and there's little standing between them and winning the title in June. At the very least, the Celtics have to win the Eastern Conference. It may not feel like it at the moment, but the Celtics are a team that is going to head into the playoffs with a ton of pressure to win.
Milwaukee Bucks
Aside from the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference, the other contending team that is faced with quite a bit of pressure to win in the playoffs is the Milwaukee Bucks. And it's not even the fact that they have a roster built to win the championship after the acquisition of Damian Lillard during the offseason. Part of the Bucks' pressure of winning big is also tied to the fact that they fired head coach Adrian Griffin months into his tenure with the Bucks to make way for Doc Rivers to come in and "save the day."
The early returns in the regular season haven't been great. Since making the change from Griffing to Rivers, the Bucks are just 3-7 and the vibes around this team haven't been good at all. The hope is that these are just growing pains and somewhat of a learning curve. But even before making the change to Rivers, Milwaukee was arguably the most inconsistent of contenders.
Over the course of the final two months of the regular season and into the playoffs, the Bucks are facing a ton of pressure, perhaps even greater than the likes of the Celtics considering how bold they've been with their recent moves.
LA Clippers
This may be somewhat of a polarizing opinion, but I do believe that the LA Clippers are facing quite a bit of pressure heading into the push toward the postseason. This is a team that has time and time again fallen short in the postseason in the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era. While most of that has been due to injuries, this is a team that has to break through eventually if this core is going to stay together. And this may be their best chance of doing so in the Western Conference.
The Clippers are the best version of themselves after the early-season move for James Harden. Kawhi and PG have been relatively healthy all year long and over the past three months, this is a team that has performed like one of the best teams in the league. If not now, it's hard to imagine it ever happening for the Clippers.
Add in the fact that George has yet to sign an extension with the team and that Harden will also need to be re-signed during the offseason and it becomes even easier to see that there is plenty at play for the Clippers heading into the stretch run.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are another team that has to be facing quite a bit of pressure down the stretch. Over the last year, the Suns have made a handful of all-in moves that have led them to a core of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Jusuf Nurkic. The front office made all these moves over the last year to win a championship, not to make the second round of the playoffs. Heading into the push toward the playoffs, this Suns team needs to find another gear to help them elevate toward contender status in the Western Conference.
Right now, even though they've shown flashes of brilliance, I'm not sure there are many that expect them to emerge as a true contender down the stretch. And if that remains true, that the Suns have burned roughly all their movable assets to assemble a high-profile team that isn't considered a contender, that would be viewed as a huge mistake for the team.
Let's also not forget that Durant is 35 years old and is not getting any younger. If this core is going to win a championship, it almost has to happen in the next 1-2 years.
Los Angeles Lakers
This might be beating a dead bush but there's no question that the Los Angeles Lakers are facing a significant amount of pressure heading into the push toward the playoffs. For one, this is a team that elected to not make a move at the NBA Trade Deadline, at least in part, because they believed that the team had yet to play its best basketball of the season. If they were to completely fall apart over the last six weeks of the regular season, leading up to the playoffs, it would be a bad look for the front office.
And that's not a place the front office wants to be as it attempts to re-sign LeBron James to an extension during the offseason. I don't think it's realistic for the Lakers to win a championship this season with their current roster. However, if they were to not make the postseason, perhaps losing in the Play-In Tournament, or not being competitive in a seven-game series, this will be remembered as another lost season for LeBron in Los Angeles.
The Lakers are in a tough spot but this is kind of what they outlined for themselves when they decided to not make any big moves dating back to last offseason, leading all the way to inactivity at the NBA Trade Deadline.
Golden State Warriors
Much like the Los Angeles Lakers, the Golden State Warriors are a team that has some big questions to answer. While many of those will be ultimately decided once the offseason rolls around, you'd have to imagine that much of what the Warriors end up doing this summer will largely be based on how this season ends. That's why as the push toward the playoffs begins, there is very much at stake for the Warriors.
Realistically speaking, we could be watching the end of the Warrior's core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. This could very well be their last run together. If the Warriors miss the postseason altogether, I can't imagine there won't be big changes coming this summer for Golden State.
There are so many uncertainties revolving around the Warriors. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how this season ends for Golden State or even what awaits them during the offseason. What I am sure of is that how they end the regular season and how they look in the playoffs, if they even make it that far, will largely determine the team's overall next steps.