NBA Playoff Picture Update: The Western Conference ties one on
With just one week remaining until the NBA postseason, every night can impact the standings. The NBA Playoff Picture Update keeps you up to date on all the most important news for all 16 berths and seeds.
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And you thought you were going to get some closure.
Squad Still Here: The Golden State Warriors may have had to dig in a little deeper than they’d anticipated, but the West’s clear top seed still managed to hold off the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves whilst working at home.
Golden State notched its 65th win of a charmed season, by a 110-101 score, despite a career-high 37 points from Wolves point guard Zach LaVine. The rookie, who was born just seven months before Flip Saunders coached his first game with Minnesota, managed 37 points on 21 shots, ably filling in at a position that has been vacated by the injury-plagued Ricky Rubio for most of the season. The onslaught triggered some fiery Twitter discussion as to whether or not Stephen Curry’s improved defense is more a product of the Golden State system than anything else, but the Wolves’ official Twitter account was more than impressed with Curry’s 34 points and seven assists:
The Wolves maintained their status as the West’s worst team, left to wonder how things would have gone had former Minnesota general manager David Kahn not passed on selecting Curry two different times in the 2009 draft:
This is Where It Gets Grizzly: The Western Conference playoff seeds below Golden State are tight bunch.
A tired Memphis squad fell in Los Angeles to the Clippers on Saturday by a 94-86 score, in a contest that could send them spiraling toward the fifth seed next week. The Grizzlies spent most of the year working with the second seed in the West, and though the team is now tied with the Spurs and Clippers for the West’s second-best record, the next few days could be brutal for the Grizz. Mike Conley is already out with a lingering foot injury that he re-aggravated on Wednesday against New Orleans, and center Marc Gasol left Saturday’s contest after just ten minutes with an apparent ankle injury.
Memphis still owns the second seed despite the loss, and their next contest against Golden State could feature the W’s resting key players – but if Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s performance on Saturday (playing Curry and Andrew Bogut big minutes down the stretch in order to secure a meaningless win over Minnesota) is any indication, the Grizzlies will be in for a battle.
A loss to Golden State or Indiana next Wednesday, with Conley, Gasol, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph all nursing injuries, could send Memphis to the fifth seed. They’d still have home court advantage in the first round, thanks to a better record than the Northwest Division-winning Portland Trail Blazers, but this is not an ideal way to end what has been a fantastic season.
The Clippers may be involved in that tie triptych, but if they lose against Denver or Phoenix this week the squad could drop to the sixth spot if the other tie-mates from Memphis and San Antonio win out.
It’s 2015, and Divisions Are Stupid: The Trail Blazers aren’t a bad team by any stretch, as the injured LaMarcus Aldridge continues to have a wickedly underrated season, but they do serve as the poster boys for the reasons why division titles shouldn’t count when determining playoff seeding. Following the team’s 111-105 loss to Utah on Saturday, PDX fell 3.5 games behind Memphis, Los Angeles and San Antonio for the West’s second best record, and yet if the season ended today the Blazers would still “earn” a fourth seed because their division-mates in the Northwest couldn’t topple PDX.
Miami Done: Well, not officially, but let’s just say Heat fans are leaving the arena midway through the fourth quarter.
Following a 107-104 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Miami is two and a half games behind Brooklyn for the final playoff seed in the East. Miami’s next two games come against the lowly Magic and 76ers, so the squad could easily win out, but it would only leave the with the 37 wins that the seventh-seeded Boston Celtics and eighth-seeded Brooklyn Nets already have.
Lou Williams nailed a crucial late-game three-pointer for the Raptors, who clinched home court advantage in the first round with the win.
Rose Back: We can hope, right?
The Bulls were at home, rested, taking on a terrible Philadelphia 76ers squad that was without its best player (they didn’t trade him for a draft pick, he just sprained his ankle) and the game was uncomfortably close for far too long prior to the 114-107 win. Rose still looked like his springy, pre-third surgery self at times, taking us all the way back to January of 2015 with his 22 points on 19 shots, with eight assists and six rebounds. He took his customary five three-pointers, making his customary one along the way, and didn’t turn the ball over. Chicago kept pace with Toronto in the race to play Cleveland in the second round for the third seed.
No: No.
Sunday’s Most Important Games
Cavaliers at Celtics, 3:00 p.m. ET: The Cavs have little to lose in this matchup, their status as the East’s second seed and the NBA’s Scariest Thing is all but assured, but the Celtics could just about wrap up a borderline-shocking playoff bid with a win here. LeBron James could sit out this contest after playing just 26 minutes in a loss to Boston on Friday.
Nets at Bucks, 3:00 p.m., ET: Brooklyn could solidify its status as the NBA’s biggest early-spring surprise with a win here, as a conquest against Milwaukee and Pacer loss to the Thunder could put the Nets up two full games over Indiana. The Nets have won 12 of 16.
Thunder at Pacers, 6:00 p.m., ET:The Thunder enters Sunday still tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the final seed in the West, but NOLA owns the tiebreaker over this snakebitten Thunder squad. The Pacers are just as desperate in clinging to postseason hopes, attempting to make the playoffs and just a game out in the East.
Pelicans at Rockets, 7:00 p.m., ET: The Rockets could move into sole possession of the West’s second seed with a win, but they’ll have to work through a Pelicans squad that is attempting to make the playoffs for the first time since changing their name to a type of vicious bird. Jrue Holiday missed six of seven shots but added five assists in his return from a lingering leg issue on Friday.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
