All but one of the franchises involved in the Western Conference play-in battle are either on multi-game winning or losing streaks. The Los Angeles Lakers continued to be on the right end of the play-in race on Sunday with a win over the Houston Rockets.
LeBron James and Co. are just a half-game back of the Los Angeles Clippers, who are one of five teams from sixth to 12th in the West on a multi-game losing streak. No losing run is in the spotlight more than the Dallas Mavericks’ skid. Dallas is 3-10 in its last 13 games after Sunday’s overtime defeat to the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta needed the win for its own play-in round battle in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks lead the Toronto Raptors on a tiebreaker for the No. 8 spot in the East standings. The Hawks and the Miami Heat will have a hard time catching the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 6 seed. Atlanta, Miami, Toronto and the Chicago Bulls should be the play-in quartet, but the order of those teams still needs to be determined.
Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee (56-22)
- Boston (54-24)
- Philadelphia (51-27)
- Cleveland (48-30)
- New York (46-33)
- Brooklyn (43-35)
Play-In Race
- Miami (41-37)
- Atlanta (39-39)
- Toronto (39-39)
- Chicago (38-40)
Atlanta picked up a vital victory in the race to be the eighth-best team in the East on Sunday. The Hawks pulled out a 132-130 win over Dallas thanks to two late Trae Young free throws after Kyrie Irving fouled him with less than two seconds on the clock.
Atlanta’s win kept it in front of the Raptors and in a position to have some cushion in the play-in round. The No. 8 seed visits the No. 7 seed in the first round of the play-in games. If the No. 8 seed loses, it would host the winner of the No. 9-versus-No. 10 clash.
- Atlanta can solidify its eighth spot with a win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Chicago remained in 10th with a win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
- Both the Bulls and Hawks have two left against teams fighting for playoff seeding and one versus squads on the outside.
- Toronto could gain some ground on the Atlanta-Chicago loser on Tuesday with its second straight win over the Charlotte Hornets.
However, the Raptors finish with two road games in Boston and a home clash with the Milwaukee Bucks. Toronto has to hope that Milwaukee and Boston are locked into their respective playoff seeds, so there is potential for rest in those contests.
Boston is two games back of Milwaukee for the top seed and three games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 2 seed.
If Boston beats Philadelphia on Tuesday, it should lock into the second spot since Milwaukee will be expected to beat the Washington Wizards and Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday. A Sixers win on Tuesday would hurt Toronto because Philadelphia would still be within striking distance of the Celtics.
Miami should remain clear of its three play-in rivals because it has games left against the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards. The Heat’s only remaining contest versus a team in a playoff spot comes on Thursday in Philadelphia.
Despite the easy schedule, Miami may have trouble closing the two-game gap to Brooklyn since the No. 6 seed also plays Detroit and Orlando. One win against either Philadelphia or the Minnesota Timberwolves could secure Brooklyn’s spot in the top six, assuming it beats the Pistons and Magic.
Prediction: 7. Miami, 8. Atlanta, 9. Chicago, 10. Toronto
Western Conference
- Denver (51-26)
- Memphis (49-29)
- Sacramento (47-31)
- Phoenix (43-35)
- Los Angeles Clippers (41-38)
- Golden State (41-38)
Play-In Race
- Los Angeles Lakers (40-38)
- New Orleans (40-38)
- Minnesota (39-40)
- Oklahoma City (38-41)
- Dallas (37-42)
- Utah (36-42)
The West play-in conversation is dominated by the Lakers’ three-game winning run and the Mavericks’ three-game losing streak. The Lakers are just a half-game back of the Warriors and Clippers after they beat the Houston Rockets and the Warriors fell to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Mavs are a full game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 10 seed. Dallas’ saving grace right now is that OKC is on a similar losing run. The Lakers could drag the Clippers or Warriors into the play-in round with victories in their next few games. They visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday and are the road team against the Clippers on Wednesday.
Darvin Ham’s team finishes with the Phoenix Suns
Who might be locked into the No. 4 seed by Friday, and the Jazz at home in its final two games. The Lakers’ path to a top-six seed is through a 4-0 finish that includes the head-to-head win over the Clippers, who just have three games remaining on their schedule.
The Clippers lost their last two games without Paul George in Memphis and Oklahoma City, and they could be vulnerable against a full-strength Lakers team. Golden State is not out of trouble yet, but it has the benefit of playing OKC at home on Tuesday and then on the road in Sacramento and Portland.
The Kings may be locked into the No. 3 seed by Friday and the Blazers are eliminated from playoff contention.
- A 3-0 finish would keep the Warriors out of the play-in round. Dallas needs to root for the Warriors to beat the Thunder so that the path into the play-in round is clear.
- The Mavericks finish with a three-game home stand against Sacramento, Chicago and San Antonio.
- Dallas needs to beat its first two opponents to be in a position to clinch a postseason berth with a win over the Spurs on Sunday.
- But it is hard to trust the Mavericks at this point because they have not clicked with Luka Doncic and Irving on the same floor. Dallas is 1-7 in its last eight games.
Minnesota, New Orleans and OKC could deliver a mixed bag of results in the next week, which would benefit Dallas’ pursuit of the No. 10 seed.
The Wolves are on a three-game losing streak, fell to Portland on Sunday and visit Brooklyn on Tuesday. The Pelicans are at home for their next three, but they come against the Kings, Grizzlies and New York Knicks. Minnesota and New Orleans meet each other next Sunday.
OKC could be vulnerable because of its road trips to Golden State and Utah before hosting Memphis on Sunday.
There is a real possibility that Minnesota, New Orleans, OKC and Dallas produce below .500 records in the next week, and with all of them on multi-game losing streaks, it is difficult to figure out which team will land in which spots. New Orleans is in the best shape right now because it sits 3.5 games ahead of Dallas with four games left.
Play-In Prediction: 7. LA Clippers, 8. New Orleans, 9. Minnesota, 10. Dallas