With regular season almost over and only one playoff berth in the Western Conference that still under contention, the NBA playoffs seem to get a bit clearer each day. So it’s time to review the teams qualified for the postseason and take a look to the possible playoff matchups.
Click Here to Bet on the 2013 NBA Playoffs at SportsBettingOnline.ag
Eastern Conference:
All eight playoff berths in the Eastern Conference are filled in, with the Heat taking the No.1 place overall with a 65-16 record. Division leaders, the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers sit in the No. 2 and 3 spots, while the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks all clinched their ticket to the post season, leaving the Bulls and Hawks battling for the No. 5 and No. 6 spots.
Possible Playoff Matchups:
The way things are, the Heat will play the eight-seed Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round of the playoffs. Brooklyn will take on either the Hawks or Bulls and Indiana will play the other team. The No. 2 seed New York Knicks will play against the Boston Celtics.
Eastern Conference Standings:
No. 1: Miami Heat (65-16), Won Southeast Division, No. 1 in East, No. 1 overall seed in playoffs)
No. 2: New York Knicks (53-28, Won Atlantic Division, No. 2 in East)
No. 3: Pacers (49-31, Won Central Division, No. 3 in East)
No. 4: Nets (48-33, No. 4 in East)
No. 5: Hawks (44-36, 1/2 game ahead of Bulls for No. 5 in East with 2 games left)
No. 6: Bulls (44-37, 1/2 game behind Hawks for No. 5 in East with 1 game left)
No. 7: Celtics (41-39, No. 7 in East)
No. 8: Bucks (37-44, No. 8 in East)
Western Conference:
In recent weeks, the Oklahoma City Thunder surprised most NBA fans and bettors thanks to an 11-5 record in March, and a 5-1 record this month. Oklahoma’s effort was enough to dethrone San Antonio as the dominating force in the Conference and also gave the team home court throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
Things remain unclear in the West, and the the remaining spots and final positions will finally take shape in the last days of the season. Perhaps the biggest question in the Conference is if whether the Lakers or Jazz would get into the playoffs. The Lakers play the Rockets on Wednesday with one goal in mind: Win the game and get into the playoffs as the No.7 seed. But if Houston upsets the Lakers, then the Jazz can clinch the eight-seed with a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. If Utah loses the game, the season is over.
Possible Playoff Matchups:
If the Western Conference playoffs started today, Oklahoma City would face the Lakers, the L.A. Clippers would play the Memphis Grizzlies, the Denver Nuggets would play Golden State and the Spurs would play the Rockets.
Western Conference Standings:
No.1: Oklahoma City Thunder (60-21,Won Northwest Division, No. 1 overall in West)
No. 2: Spurs (58-23, Won Southwest Division, No. 2 in West)
No. 3: Nuggets (56-25, No. 3 in West; but could move down to No.4)
No. 4: L.A. Clippers (54-26, Won Pacific Division and clinched at least No. 4 in West)
No. 5: Grizzlies (55-26, No. 5 in West)
No. 6: Warriors (46-35, No. 6 in West; could move down to No. 7)
No. 7: Rockets (45-36, 7 in West; could move up or down one spot)
No. 8: Lakers (44-37, No. 8 in West; with one game left (April 17 vs. Houston). Could move to No. 7)
No. 9: Jazz (43-38, 1/2 game behind Lakers for No. 8 seed; can clinch No. 8 spot)
DENVER: The Nuggets are assured of home court in the first round, but their seeding can still change. Denver can clinch No. 3 in the West if the Clippers lose Tuesday night against Portland. Denver can also clinch No. 3 with a win Wednesday against Phoenix OR if the Clips lose either of their last two games. If the Clippers and Nuggets finish with the same record, the Clippers own the tiebreaker advantage; although the Nuggets won the season series with the Clips, the Clippers’ division title trumps a head-to-head series win. In this case, the Clippers would be the No. 3 seed and the Nuggets would be the No. 4 seed.
L.A. CLIPPERS: By virtue of winning a division, they can’t fall further than No. 4. However, they can lose home court in the first round despite the division title. Memphis is locked into the 5th seed and can’t pass Denver, and the Clippers are guaranteed a top 4 seed. But, if Memphis finishes with a better record than the L.A. Clippers, they would host a Grizzlies-Clippers series despite being the lower-seeded team.
GOLDEN STATE: They can clinch the No. 6 spot by winning their season finale in Portland on April 17. But if they lose and the No. 7-seeded Rockets win their season finale against the Lakers, Golden State loses the tiebreaker with Houston and falls to No. 7 in the West.
HOUSTON: The Rockets can finish anywhere from No. 6 to No. 8 in the West. Here’s how:
They climb to No. 6 if: They beat the Lakers in their season finale and the Warriors lose in Portland. Houston won the season series with Golden State 3-1.
They stay at No. 7 if: The Warriors win their season finale in Portland. The Rockets would be unable to catch Golden State in the standings.
They fall to No. 8 if: They lose to the Lakers in their season finale on April 17. With a victory, the Lakers would tie the season series with Houston and, by virtue of the next tiebreaker (record against conference foes), would leapfrog Houston. In that scenario, the Warriors would be the No. 6 seed, the Lakers would be the No. 7 seed and the Rockets would be the No. 8 seed.
L.A. LAKERS: First things first — they control their own playoff fate. Win on April 17 against the Rockets (or have Utah lose in Memphis earlier in the night) and L.A. clinches the last playoff berth still available. A victory by Utah coupled with a loss to Houston means L.A. misses the playoffs by virtue of the Jazz winning the season series, 2-1.
They will be No. 8 if: They lose, but the Jazz lose to the Grizzlies, too.
They will be No. 7 if: They defeat Houston in their season finale.
They miss the playoffs if: They lose to Houston in their season finale and the Jazz defeat the Grizzlies.
UTAH: The Jazz need to win their season finale in Memphis … and then hope the Lakers lose at home to the Rockets (who, as you can read above, could fall to No. 8 if they lose). If the Jazz get in, they can’t move up higher than No. 8, even if the Warriors and Rockets lose their final games. Both teams would finish with better records than the Jazz.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.