The 2013 – 2014 NBA playoffs are just about a week ahead and several teams around the league are still fighting for a better seed in either conference. Let’s have a look at the updated NBA playoffs picture as of April 12th.
In the East, the Indiana Pacers have now regained the top seed of the conference, after Miami’s latest loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The two teams will meet in South Beach on April 11 and the winner of this game could be the one to finally clinch the top spot along with the home court advantage in the playoffs.
The Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls are going head to head in the conquest of the third seed. Both teams are playing well and they lie 7.5 games behind the Pacers. We might not learn the third-seeded team in the East until the very last game of the season. The Brooklyn Nets have locked their fifth seed and they are also considered one of the strongest underdogs in the league at the moment. Brooklyn is one of the few teams capable of topping the two powerhouses in the Eastern Conference.
The Charlotte Bobcats made a late push during the past week, winning their last five games. In combination with the Washington Wizards’ recent losses, the Cats have now climbed to the sixth seed of the West. The Wizards won’t rank lower than the seventh spot for sure, but they will definitely want to regain that sixth spot, because if they don’t they will meet either the Miami Heat or the Indiana Pacers in the first round. The Atlanta Hawks seem to be the ones who will get the last playoff ticket in the East, as the New York Knicks have now fallen two games behind them.
Heading west, things are not that clear. The San Antonio Spurs will most probably be the winners of the conference title. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and their company now stand 3.5 games ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nonetheless, OKC is the team which holds most of the momentum. Thanks to Kevin Durant’s monster performance almost throughout the season and given that Russell Westbrook will continue to be healthy, the Thunder really look unstoppable.
The Los Angeles Clippers will finish third, winning their second consecutive division title. The Clips hope to have all their pieces available come playoff time and they are also a very strong favorite for the title in the West.
In their first season with Dwight Howard on-board, the Houston Rockets did well. The Rockets currently stand at the fourth spot of the West, a position they will most probably hold. The Portland Trail Blazers follow 1.5 games behind but they don’t seem to be as dangerous as they were during the first months of the season.
Unfortunately for Golden State Warriors, the Dubs will most probably miss their star power forward David Lee for the entire playoffs. Their chances for a solid course in the postseason have just been diminished.
The fight for the seventh and the eighth spot continues. The Dallas Mavericks currently rank seventh but they are just half a game ahead of the Phoenix Suns and one and a half game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies. We’ll most probably have to wait till the last games of the season to find out which team will stay out the playoffs.
Ron Leyba is the content manager of Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues – premier source of fantasy basketball updates, rankings and rumors. For more of his fantasy basketball updates, follow Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues Google+ account.