As the saying goes in Denver these days, “1, 2, 3…six weeks!” The end of the regular season is quickly approaching and a handful of teams are positioning themselves to extend their season with the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed.
The 2014-15 NBA has reached the point where you stay up late, huddle in front of your laptop on League Pass, or put off writing assignments to watch Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder go nuclear, again, versus the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime. Of course, Westbrook is “must watch,” but the game draws you in for another reason – the game has playoff implications, something 76ers fans probably don’t know much about. Just a few minutes earlier, Anthony Davis returned from injury to lead the Pelicans to a last-minute win over the visiting Detroit Pistons. Playoff implications. We have reached that point of the season.
The mishmash at the bottom of the East isn’t pretty, with teams running as many as 13 games under .500 and still being considered in the running for the postseason. Let’s take a look at a few of those teams and make vague and likely inaccurate prognostications regarding their short term outlooks.
Miami Heat: The great news for the Heat is they grabbed Goran Dragic at the trade deadline and Hassan Whiteside has gone from the current Ghost of Linsanity to a legitimate rebound machine who scores so well inside five feet that he makes DeAndre Jordan look pedestrian. The bad news is that Chris Bosh suffered a season-ending pulmonary embolism (blood clots in his lungs). As a sports fan, it can be easy to get lost in what this means for the team, but don’t forget that a human life is being threatened by this condition. The good news for Bosh is that it was caught early, and he could possibly return to the court as early as next season. Sadly, the Heat went from a team that could have given us a dream postseason showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers to a team that should be able to hold its playoff spot but not challenge beyond that point. The Heat have 22 games left this season, including two against Cleveland, and one against Chicago, Portland, San Antonio, Atlanta and Oklahoma City. If they can split those games and win key games against Indiana, Detroit and two against Boston, they will make the playoffs.
Charlotte Hornets: Charlotte currently holds the final playoff spot and is on a three-game winning streak, just as Kemba Walker has been cleared to play. Despite all the good news in Charlotte, the edge they hold for the final playoff spot is just half a game. Charlotte is one of just a couple teams with a realistic shot to sneak into the playoffs, and one of the many factors has to be Lance Stephenson. His abysmal season continues, and, while he has not improved his numbers, still shooting at a terrible rate, his attempts per game have finally dipped into single digits. If Stephenson finds a way to contribute to other facets of the game while curbing his shooting, it could very well be the push the team needs to hold on to a playoff spot. Their remaining schedule also looks a little more forgiving than what the Heat have ahead of them, and there is only one head-to-head game between them still on the schedule.
Indiana Pacers: Few expected the Pacers to be sticking around this late in the season. Much like the Hornets, Indiana finds itself on the edge of a playoff berth thanks to a three-game winning streak, as Paul George’s return from the horrific broken leg looms on the horizon. The margin for error over the remainder of the season for any of these teams is next-to-nothing, and George isn’t expected to return any sooner than the end of March. Plus, he’ll require some reacclimation to real-game situations. This team could go either way, but the Pacers will need to tread water until back-to-back road games against Charlotte and Miami in early April. The results of those two games, along with April tilts against Boston and Detroit, will likely play a major role in determining the playoff potential of the Pacers. If they make it through those two games, they will still need to close the season by playing in Oklahoma City and Washington and hosting the Grizzlies. It doesn’t look too good for a Pacers team without a full-strength Paul George, as every April game could turn into a must-win.
Brooklyn Nets: If the Nets hadn’t pulled out an overtime win against the Golden State Warriors this week, it could be presumed that professional basketball in Gotham was dead in 2014-15. While the Knicks continue to plummet, the Nets linger. Jarrett Jack hit a clutch game-winner against the Warriors, as reports surfaced that the Nets elected not to trade him to the Wizards for a first-round draft pick, instead favoring a run at the playoffs. Currently one game behind Charlotte at 25-34, they have a real shot at the playoffs, albeit very slim with two remaining games against the Cavaliers, Hawks, Bucks, and Pacers, apiece, along with games against Portland, Washington, Chicago, Toronto, and Miami. Unless Deron Williams reverts to his old All-Star self and brings Joe Johnson with him, the Nets appear doomed.
Boston Celtics: Currently two games out of the playoffs, the Celtics have played .500 ball over their last 10 games, including wins over Charlotte and Atlanta. The downside for Boston is that it is a much worse team on the road (9-19) than at home (15-16) and has 13 of its remaining 23 games as the away side. The Celtics do still have games against Indiana, Miami, Charlotte, Detroit and Brooklyn, which will either seal their fate or make things about one-thousand times crazier heading into the final week of the season where they will have to play a back-to-back home and away with Cleveland, host the Raptors and then close on the road in Milwaukee. The only way Boston sneaks in: if they win essentially every game against Eastern Conference opponents heading into that final week.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons lost Brandon Jennings for the season, waived Josh Smith, traded away D.J. Augustin and brought in Reggie Jackson. As expected, any team that removes Josh Smith from its roster seems to improve in almost direct correlation. The loss of Jennings was much less kind, but adding Jackson helped cushion the blow. Currently 3.5 games out of the playoffs and losers of four consecutive, things don’t look too bright for the Pistons. While it is unlikely that they slip below Orlando, it also seems unlikely that they catch Charlotte given their current form. Unfortunately, the Pistons are eight games under .500 at home and not much better on the road. They have eight remaining games against the teams mentioned above. They’ll need to win at least seven, probably including all three against Charlotte.
Let’s check back on these positions in about five weeks and, a) laugh or b) wonder what hath basketball wrought.
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