The NBA season is at its All-Star break already and the playoff picture in both conferences still hasn’t really shaped up. Predicting which teams will be playing in the postseason is almost as hard as it was in the beginning of November. The biggest reason for these circumstances is the big amount of injuries throughout the league. Paul George, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Anthony Davis and many others have missed significant time and this has hurt their squads in their attempts to find a playoff spot. We will discuss which teams have the biggest chances to reach or hold on to their playoff spots until the end of the regular season.
Western Conference:
Phoenix Suns
The Suns are currently in a possession of a playoff spot, however it won’t be a surprise if they lose it the way they did it last year. Phoenix has all the chances of actually holding on to their spot, however it’s not going to be easy as the Pelicans and Thunder are just behind them. The team has a lot of talent, especially in the backcourt, but there is the thing that has been failing them mostly. They have suffered four buzzer-beating losses, which is the most since the 2006-7 Utah Jazz and the season still isn’t over.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans were looking better and better as the season went along, but their playoff hopes suffered a big hit when Davis got injured against the Chicago Bulls on 7th February. However, it’s hard to believe that even with Davis at full strength the Pelicans had real chances of taking the 8th place in the conference. Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans haven’t been consistent throughout the season and their form has been up and down. It’s just hard to see them beat the Thunder and the Suns down the stretch.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The OKC Thunder dug themselves in a quite a hole early in the season, but that was all because Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook missed a lot of time due to injuries. Last year the 8th seed in the West needed 49 wins, but this year it looks like 45-47 will be enough. However, the Thunder have been looking very competitive lately and it looks like they will be the favorites to take the 8th spot and advance to the playoffs.
Eastern Conference:
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets started the season really bad, looking nothing like the squad from last year’s campaign. Their chemistry was really broken, their offense stagnating and their defense abysmal. However, since 1st January Charlotte is the team with the best defense in the NBA and they have climbed up to the 7th place in the East. They traded Gary Neal and a second-round draft pick for Mo Williams and Troy Daniels which is a definite upgrade. They look like they have very good chances for playing in the playoffs, even though Lance Stephenson has been in a poor form and Kemba Walker is injured.
Miami Heat
The Heat have been having hard time overcoming the absence of LeBron James and all of the injuries haven’t been really beneficial. The core of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Hassan Whiteside makes them a very potent team, however injuries have been a really big problem for them. Dwyane Wade is still out and his absence is very hard to overcome. If he comes back soon and doesn’t reinjure, the Heat have really big chances of maintaining their position in the East.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are in the midst of a very strange season – they are trying to get rid of their big contracts (Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez), but as they haven’t it looks like they are fighting for a playoff position. However, their form isn’t very good and their style of play is quite awful, as they still haven’t found their identity. If the team’s vets step up in the last part of the regular season, the Nets could find themselves facing the first seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
NBA News: Predicting which teams have the chances to make a final push to reach the playoffs
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