The Western Conference playoff race is a beautiful mess right now. Every night seeds change all over the place. The Lakers won on Tuesday and dropped in the standings. All you can do is stay updated with current seeds, matchups, tiebreaker scenarios, and projections each morning. We’ve got you covered.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of where things stand in the Western Conference playoff and play-in races entering play on Wednesday. This post will update daily throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are clinched.
Reminder on how the play-in tournament works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed.
READ: Eastern Conference playoff picture
NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and precise projections imaginable.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Nuggets have lost four straight and their once-firm grip on the top seed is starting to loosen. With 13 games to play, the Nuggets lead the No. 2 Grizzlies by an effective four games with the tiebreaker secured, and they lead the No. 3 Kings by four in the loss column with one matchup remaining. So it’s not doom and gloom. But it’s going in the wrong direction.
Projected seed: 1Current first-round matchup: TBDTiebreaker vs. Memphis: Denver has clinchedTiebreaker vs. Sacramento: Season series tied 1-1 with one to playTiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Denver leads season series 2-0 with two to play
Memphis leads the No. 3 Kings by one in the loss column.
Projected seed: 2Current first-round matchup: vs. Timberwolves-Thunder play-in winnerTiebreaker vs. Denver: Nuggets have clinchedTiebreaker vs. Sacramento: Kings currently own via conference recordTiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Grizzlies own via division leader
3. Sacramento Kings (40-27)
Sacramento has an outside shot at catching Denver for the top seed. They trail the Nuggets by four in…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-western-conference-playoff-picture-suns-losing-grip-on-top-four-seed-lakers-in-three-way-play-in-tie/
Author : Brad Botkin
Publish date : 2023-03-15 05:22:51
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