Thoughts on Playoffs ? (3/20/14)

        The NBA playoffs are slowly approaching as we are nearing the end of the regular season.  The best eight teams from each conference are going to separate by East and West and the winner of the conferences will then meet in the finals.  Although the eight spots are pretty much locked in, I still believe that some teams in the Western Conference can still make a late season run and clinch the 7^th or 8^th seed in the playoffs.

        When you think off playoffs, what come to mind should be the best teams in the league.  Not going by record, I believe that in terms of talent I think that the best teams in the West are the Spurs & Thunder and the best teams in the East are the Pacers & Heat.  All the teams I just listed were in the playoffs last year and have the same aspirations of winning an NBA championship.  They are all relatively experienced teams and are likely to make it deep into the playoffs.

        Although the Eastern conference is pretty much locked in, in terms of the eight teams that will advance to the playoffs, I believe that the West race is very tight and some teams still have a chance to take that 8^th seed.  The Phoenix Suns for example, have been hotlately and their record is 39-29, which is 9th place in the West.  If they were to play in the Eastern Conference they would be the 4^th seed.  It amazes me how good the Western Conference teams are that how they are 10 games above .500 and they aren’t in the playoff picture but if they were in the East they would have a comfortable spot in the conference.

        I have a feeling that the Western Conference picture could change down to very wire towards the end of the season as I see Dallas playing good and they have veterans on their team and a championship mentality as they won the title three years ago.   The Phoenix Suns I think can clinch the 8^th seed as Memphis, which is the current 8th seed, has a tough schedule ahead.  We have about 15 games to go till the end of the season and I think that Phoenix, Memphis, or Dallas will shift positions, as one of them will be eliminated.

        The playoffs are just a few weeks from now and whoever makes it there clearly deserves it and has the will to win.  I don’t think we can predict the finals yet because there are a lot of teams that have gotten better this year like the Clippers, Blazers, and Warriors.  All 16 teams that will make it are going to perform at a high level and will make for another exciting playoff like every year.  We just have to wait to see what unfolds in the weeks to come.

Who do you think is will make it to the next round ?