NBA 2011: Here's What Remains

The NBA playoffs are right around the corner - Action begins Saturday, April 16. A lot has already been determined regarding seeds, and a lot remains to be decided. For this post my focus is going to be on the Western Conference. Will there be an Eastern Conference Post? Probably not.

Onward!

San Antonio has clinched the #1 seed. The Lakers, Mavericks, and Thunder have clinched home court advantage in the first round (i.e. no worse than a 4-seed). OKC apparently owns the tiebreaker with Denver since I heard it announced following their win last night that they had clinched no worse than #4 - especially since these two play tomorrow night for the 4th time this season, and OKC up 2-1.

The rest is where it gets complicated. Denver has a strong grip on the 5-seed, barring worse than a 2-2 finish in their last 4. This is a good time to visualize what's left:


Click to enlarge!

Obviously with Portland, New Orleans, and Memphis within a game and a half of each other, a lot can happen. But Memphis can take a lot of fate into their own hands since they still get to play both Portland and New Orleans. Not only that but New Orleans has to go to Dallas, and Portland has one more game against the Lakers.

Chances are the Spurs/Lakers game next Tuesday will be a bench-fest. I fully expect Popovich to start resting starters, and giving the bench some experience. Yeah the franchise best record of 63-19 is within reach, but after that stupid 6-game losing streak, it cannot be broken - only tied. Steve Novak, Danny Green, and Da'Sean Butler need time!

I also expect the Lakers to begin resting people. They have hobbled off the court this week - trying to catch the Spurs - and lost. Denver is the only other team who I think might take it a little easy over this next week - since they're fairly settled into the 5-seed. Everyone else will be going all-out! And it's gonna be great!

The Lakers probably don't want to face Portland. So I expect them to take it easy against them, and if they lose - that's one more step towards avoiding them. But it's conceivable that Dallas could still overtake LA for that #2 seed with only 2 games separating the two. I actually think Memphis has an easier final 4 games than New Orleans - which means I expect them to vault into the #7 spot or even the #6 spot - depending a lot on today's game between LA and Portland.

As a Spurs fan, all three of these teams in the 6-8 spots beat us twice, (Portland 2-1, Memphis 2-2, and NO 2-2), but the Hornets, having lost David West for the season, prove to be our best first round match-up.

We shall see what happens! Pay attention!