With the NBA regular season concluding on 16th May, which of the teams are poised for success in the best-of-seven elimination play-offs? Will the defending champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, be spared the play-in tournament?
Well, questions abound, and the answers to all will be known in the weeks ahead. But, in descending order, here’s a tentative league table of who looks the strongest ahead of the play-offs, and who looks the weakest.
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- 1- The Phoenix Suns
These titans already have excellent prospects ahead. With a win-loss record for the 2020-21 season of 46-18, the Suns are aiming for the stars. They’ll need to beat off the Jazz (see below) to claim the top seed trophy if they’re to reclaim the form they last showed in 2005, when they fell at the last hurdle in the conference finals. But during the current regular season, they’re on fire.
- 2- Utah Jazz
Tying with the Suns in the win-loss category (46-18 to date), the Jazz are focusing intently on the high probability that the Lakers and possibly the Clippers will be dueling with them in the 4-5 matchup. With the team’s toes and fingers crossed that they’ll all be healthy and in premium shape heading into the play-offs, they’ll be nurturing their two fallen All-Star guardsmen Donovan Mitchell (with his sprained ankle) and Mike Conley (with his perilous hamstring tightness) back into full match readiness. Hopefully they’ll be ready to take part in the final few games of the regular season, but their current injuries place the team in second place to the Suns at the time of writing.
- 3- Philadelphia 76ers
An impressive regular season win-loss balance of 43-21 has just pipped the Nets to third position ahead of the Brooklyn Nets, placing them in a commanding (though not unassailable) position to take the critical top seed in the East. And another bonus in their favor is that only one of their concluding eight games (at Miami) pitches them against a team in the top eight of either West or East conferences.
- 4- Brooklyn Nets
Squeaking in just below the 76ers with a win-loss balance of 43-22, the Nets are still in with a chance of seizing the coveted No 1 seed position. And if they succeed, they’ll gain the advantage of being up against the 4-5 winner (at the time of writing, either the Knicks or the Hawks) instead of the more grueling 3-6 adversary (presently the Bucks or the Heat).
- 5-Denver Nuggets
Denver ties with the 76ers with a win-loss balance of 43-21. But their prospects have been weakened by the loss of Jamal Murray after his season-ending injury. With that said, they’ve fared remarkably well not only without this star player, but minus Will Barton and Monte Morris, too (Nikola Jokic’s stewardship can take much credit for that). The latter two are said to be close to returning and, if so, there’s a strong prospect of Denver clinching the third seed.
So, these are the top five at the time of writing. But what of the teams in the lower end of this league table? Here are the last five of 30 who’ll need a miracle:
- 26-
Orlando Magic
With 47 losses overwhelming their 21 wins, the Magic still have a few positives to take with them. Newbie point guard R. J. Hampton is in top form, scoring 19 points against the Timberwolves recently and achieving double figure scores in six consecutive games. And there’s center Mo Bamba’s winning streak: achieved 50 points and 48 rebounds in three consecutive games over the last week.
- 27-
Detroit Pistons
With a win-loss tally to date of 20-49 and with Jerami Grant in sick-bay over the last 12 of 18 games due to stubborn knee soreness, things aren’t looking great for the Pistons. Currently just a pip above Minnesota’s win-loss tally of 20-47, they’ve narrowly avoided winning the gong for worst record in the league. Even so, rookie Killian Hayes has come into his own, scoring 21 points against Chicago recently, plus 8 assist, 7 rebounds and 7 turnovers.
- 28-
Cleveland Cavaliers
The humiliation of losing 127-97 against the Mavericks recently just added to the nine consecutive defeats the Cavs have suffered toward the close of this season. Prospects rise of losing over 50 games for the fourth time in seven seasons.
- 29-
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder, frankly, have had an atrocious time since their All-Star break, “achieving” a net rating of minus-16.1 and the worst margin of defeat (being outscored by 490 points over their last 25 games) in NBA history. Ouch.
- 30-
Houston Rockets
Houston has the dubious honor of being the league’s worst record holder by four games. Double ouch.