We are now in the last days of the regular NBA season 2024-25 and teams in the league are preparing for a post-season fight to remember.
Especially in the western conference, the race for the playoffs has never been closer, and the number 3 to 8 seeds flipped almost every night, which are only separated from just 1½ games.
Keep your attention to the Minnesota Timberwolves, La Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, all neck and neck for this seed No. 6 and the opportunity to avoid the game tournament.
While the Los Angeles Lakers have been on the edge of the first top-Six seeds since the 2019-20 campaign, the Phoenix Sun fluctuates on the line of elimination while they want to catch the Sacramento kings on the track to at least make the game.
The drama of the Western Conference – including what Kevin Durant and who Stephen Curry and the Warriors want to avoid in the first round, could come until the last day of the regular season on Sunday.
Here is what our NBA insiders Michael C. Wright, Brian Windhorst, Dave McMenamin, Ohm Youngmisuk, Tim Macmahon, Kevin Pelton and Zach have to say about this wild west.
What's next for yes Morant and the grizzlies will come when you fight under an interim coach for the advantage of the home court?
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Memphis got the difficult part out of the way on Thursday by finally winning his first game under Tuomas Iisalo. Morant took a summer building to end a 30-point performance at Miami Heat. With so little time in the regular season, the grizzlies must now have the elements of Iisalo's system at home at home, which the team best position for success in the playoffs. It is clear that Iisalo wants to show more morant in the offensive end, but the grizz has to find a way to do this and at the same time optimize Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane. The expectations of the post -season seem to be low internally, and General Manager Zach Kleiman says he is looking for “clarity of the direction” under Iisalo. But when Memphis finds a way in the playoffs to stabilize a shaky situation between the team and the morant, which is caused by the abrupt fire fire from Taylor Jenkins. – Michael C. Wright
Which team in the West is the greatest threat to the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The Oklahoma City Thunder are bound 2-2 with the Denver Nuggets for the regular season series. (Photo by Martin McGrew/Nbae about Getty Images)
The Denver Nuggets, the last western team that won the NBA title (2023), is most likely to be a surprise against a squad of Oklahoma City, which will end the best point in the league history. For everyone, Nikola Jokic presents a massive Matchup problem, even a team that can play together in Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein together a few 7-foot rim protection. Jokic remembered on March 10 in Oklahoma City when he registered 35 points, 18 rebounds and 8 assists in a win, which was supported by Jamal Murrays 34 points to secure a 2-2 split in the regular series of season. The nuggets need this type of production from their option No. 2 to get through Oklahoma City, which will be a bit of a challenge with Murray's team Canada teammate LUE that leads the high-ranking defense of the Thunder. – Tim Macmahon
What's next for the sun when you miss the game completely?
What is worse than being a second apron? As one who missed the playoffs with a salary statement of 400 million US dollars, including luxury taxes. What is worse than that? If you have the player, you have to act in Bradley Beal who have a no-trade clause and quote quotes on the record of all cards. Ok, another question: do the suns want to act Kevin Durant this summer? No not really. But the reality is that the Suns ways of getting out of the second apron – to ensure that they have flexibility – all seem to lead to durant. You cannot act BEAL and will not act Devin Booker. For this reason, the Suns led to the conversations with a handful of teams about Durant -Trades, discussions that will probably lead to actions this summer. One of the reasons why there was no Durant trade in February -except Durant itself, which made it clear that he didn't want -was that the Suns Pro search for a massive train.
Regardless of how much Durant in the tank has not yet left, this may not be in the cards. Durant will be 37 years old at the beginning of the next season, and although he is absolutely worth the $ 55 million he will earn next season, the two-year maximum expansion of $ 120 million, for which he may have been looking for, could not wear more freely. Teams that want to want to be Durant will be title candidates who generally already have high salary bills. If the suns come to a crossroads where you have to move Durant, you may have to make a decision whether you get what you want, what a beautiful package of players and capital designs, and what you need is to choose what flexibility is. Last summer, for example, the Clippers decided in all other flexibility when Paul George let. It was a difficult decision, but it changed its entire horizon. The sun could examine this decision closely. – Brian Windhorst
Kevin Durant is in the league in the league this season with an average of 26.6 per game in the league. Joe Camporealeal-Medent Pictures
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A courteous draw. With a handful of playing in the regular season, La could end up everywhere between 3rd place and No. 8 in the west. Avoiding the game tournament and securing space number 6 or better would give the Lakers a week to prepare for the playoffs and to afford some of their banged players (LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Rui Hachimura to exceed this list) to heal. If you can end No. 4 or better, you would start organizing your first round in the Crypto.com Arena, where you have the second best home record in the west. “We want to be among the top 4,” said coach JJ Redick on Thursday. “We want to have a home courtyard [advantage]. I think it's nice for our boys to only play well at home to end [the regular season] In Portland and then be able to be at home nine or ten days. “From the teams among them, the grizzlies would be the preferred matchup if in 2023 Las Playoff success against you and your 3-1 mark for the regular season series. Then there was another team like Denver. The Gates of the Intuit Dome for” Road “game can be an advantageous series to start the Lakers
LeBron James scored an average of 24.6 points and 8.4 templates per game this season. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The team that the warriors want to avoid in the first round is: _______.
Oklahoma City. It would be devastating for the Warriors after having followed a large part of the last two months in the past two months and then held in sixth place to fall into the play-in tournament in the last week of the regular season. When the Warriors fall under sixth place, they lose a valuable week before the first round and have to fight in the game. Stephen Curry (37 years), Draymond Green (35) and Jimmy Butler III (35) could then face a young and sporty Thunder squad. The Warriors believe that in view of the family tree of Curry, Green and Steve Kerr, they can compete against every opponent, not to mention “Playoff Jimmy”. But although it was 2-1 against the thunder before the Butler trade, it would be a difficult Matchup to see Oklahoma.
In addition to a way to curb the MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the warriors would have to deal with emerging stars Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. With one of the top defense in the league, the thunder can send several defenders at Curry, starting with the physical Lu there and Alex Caruso. Inside, Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein can cause trouble to the smaller warrior. Curry said ESPN in January that he and the warriors feel like he and the warriors in a series with seven games. Butler's arrival only improves this trust. But the Warriors would rather avoid the best team in the league in the first round and use their free time to prepare their star players. – Ohm Youngmisuk
What is behind the Timberwolves increase in the late season and is it sustainable?
Minnesota basically maintained a top 10 defense throughout the season, but the offensive jumped on the track. At the end of February, the Timberwolves took 13th place in the offensive rating. But since the beginning of March they had the third best offensive, only behind the Clipper and Boston Celtics. Much of this improvement results from hot shooting on the background: Mike Conley has made astonishing 53.2% of his 3-horses above this route, while Donte Divincenzo shoots 43% of deep. Jaden McDaniels (38.2%) and Julius Randle (36.6%) have also increased their efficiency that surrounds Anthony Edwards at a lot of distance.
We shouldn't expect Minnesota's role players to stay so hot for the rest of the season. Nobody in the NBA does 53.2% of their 3 Series over a long period of time. During this route, the Timberwolves also benefited from a relatively simple enemy products: In March they went 10-1 against the opponents of documents and 3: 2 compared to teams with profit records. They now look better than how they searched for most of the campaign while they have difficulty integrating Randle and Divincenzo. – Zach stuff
What do the forecasts say that the likely matchups will be in the first round in the West?
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There are bad news for Western Playoff teams who hope to scot their opponents in the first round: With less than a week in the regular season, nothing more than Oklahoma City is shortly before the determination. In contrast to the Eastern Conference, where the 4-5 matchup could essentially only affect the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks, no single western Matchup takes place in more than 27% of the simulations of the ESPN basketball index.
Even the most likely western series between the Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets will only be determined after the first night of the game facility, since Houston will most likely compete as No. 2 seeds to the winner of the opening game. – Kevin Pelton
