Tight playoff race out West
DENVER — It’s almost hard to picture a postseason without both LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
And yet it very well could happen. They’re both on the bubble.
That’s just the strength of the Western Conference this season. As it currently stands, James and his ninth-place Lakers would host Curry and the 10th-place Warriors in the play-in tournament, with the loser being eliminated and the winner still needing to win another to actually make the postseason field.
From top to nearly bottom, the West has been a grind this season. Consider this: Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers reside in fourth and 2 ½-games out of the No. 1 seed ahead of Tuesday night’s games. They’re also a four-game slide away from falling into play-in territory.
Uncertainty reigns in a conference where the Timberwolves and youthful Thunder sit atop the standings with matching 40-17 marks.
The next several weeks are going to be a mad dash for seeding — and playoff survival.
“The depth of the West and the amount of teams that are legit threats is as deep as it’s ever been,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel, whose team has an identical record (34-24) as the Pelicans, both a half-game away from the play-in line.
A quick refresher course on the format for the play-in tournament that takes place April 16-19: The seventh and eighth seeds will play in each conference and the winning team will earn the seventh seed into the NBA playoffs.
The eighth seed still has a safety net and will face the winner of the ninth and 10th seeds to see who gets in.
Right now, the Kings sit in the seventh spot and would host Luka Doncic and the Mavericks. The loser would draw either the Lakers or the Warriors, with either James or Curry being knocked out — or both.
That’s still down the road, though.
“The West has just been a bear for as long as I can remember, and this year is no exception,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Great teams up and down. Very, very potent and capable teams on any given night.”
The path to the crown, of course, goes through Nikola Jokic and the reigning champion Nuggets after they won their first NBA title in franchise history. Jokic is putting up MVP-worthy numbers once again, averaging 26.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.3 assists.
But with Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope dealing with nagging injuries this season, Nuggets coach Michael Malone has stated he will prioritize health over chasing a particular seed.
“I’m much more concerned with getting all of our players to the finish line healthy,” said Malone, whose team is currently third. “Knowing that if we are healthy going into the postseason, I have the utmost confidence this team can go into any building in the entire NBA and win a series.”