Fight for a chance or who will play the play-in from the West?

An interesting situation has developed in the NBA Western Conference: Six teams are battling to play simultaneously in the qualifying tournament. Although “Golden State” has yet to guarantee a spot in the sun – 6th place and Damien Lillard’s “Portland” has a theoretical chance to enter their relegation fights. So, instantly. Whoever likes it.

Still, I suggest removing “Warriors” from the brackets and giving them line six of the lecture. After all, no one canceled his championship potential. And almost every team in the league dreams of playing Sacramento in the first round. But then – a very confusing and therefore interesting story. Seven teams are still in the game. Evaluate their chances to continue their championship fight after the end of the regular season.

13th place – Portland

The Blazers hold the record for worst win/loss to date with 32/42. So, in the team there are Dame and Simons, matches with direct opponents – New Orleans and Minnesota. After all, another victory over Utah. But the challenge for Chauncey Billups’ wards is that the team doesn’t lose. By the way, in general. Because now to line 10 – 5 wins. But 8 games left.

Portland’s longest winning streak this season was five games (at the beginning of the season). The team finished their last 14 games with a score of 3/11. And not only Lillard and Simons, but even Grant and Nurkich have missed the last two games due to injuries. Can the Blazers turn up their last losing streak with injuries? Are they ready to pre-qualify with the current roster? Basically the answers are questionable, but the character is built exactly in such situations.

12th place – Utah

Danny Ainge’s men have frankly disappointed their manager. The ex-president of “Boston” dreamed of fighting for Vembanyama. But he only fought for the playoffs. No matter how much the manager tries to devote the roster to assets for trade and the gradual restructuring of the team, the Jazz’s new head coach, 35-year-old Will Hardy, won’t let him do that. And Markkanen and Clarkson helped coach, scoring almost 47 points in two.

The Utahs have eight games left in the regular season and will face Phoenix, Denver, and the Lakers, which LeBron joined twice. The calendar is not the easiest. However, in the last 11 games, the Jazz have lost to their main rivals Oklahoma (twice), Dallas and Portland. Why are there opponents, the team recently even lost to San Antonio. Will they be able to prove their ability to play with higher-level opponents: with Phoenix and Denver still waiting for them?

11th place – Dallas

After Irving’s transition to Mevs, the team started to have problems. Jason Kidd’s wards have moved out of the playoff zone and are out of the play-in zone after recent defeats. This is a complete failure for the organization Mark Cuban and Luka Doncic are talking about.

Last year’s Western Conference finalist has all the resources to overcome a lingering crisis: the talent of the players, a well-chosen roster, an easy schedule (Eastern Conference tour) and Luke’s own responsibility. That should be enough for the final streak that will continue the title fight.

It could be argued that a team that lost twice to Charlotte at the end of the regular season does not qualify for the play-in zone. But first, Mikhailyuk plays (and plays well) in the Hornets, and secondly, the team broke after a close match and loss to Golden State. Can Doncic and company come together at the critical moment of the season? The organization in Texas is famous for its character. So we’re waiting for Kidd’s team to enter the game.

10th place – Los Angeles Lakers

Rob Pelinka’s work on commercial deadlines is influential. Californians dream of not getting into Dallas in the final ticket challenge on the way to the playoffs. But they haven’t succeeded yet.

A lot will depend on when LeBron James returns. And to avoid such defeats as in the Houston game (one more meeting ahead of them). Also, a face-to-face match with Minnesota for maybe seventh place will determine a lot.

9th place – Oklahoma

Perhaps the most interesting team in the league, with only 4 losses in the last 13 games. It also doesn’t have stars like Davis or Doncic on its roster. The most embarrassing defeat recently – from direct contenders for a place in the sun – has been the Lakers (without LeBron). However, Canadian duo Gilges-Alexander/Dort will not slacken and continue the amazing story of the 22/23 season.

Where is such confidence? Final wins against Phoenix, Clippers and GSV. In front of us according to the calendar we will note the same “Phoenix” and “Golden State”. Memphis is not considered in the final round of the regular season because they will already focus on preparing for the playoffs and possibly rest their leaders. And all other opponents are quite capable of this type of Thunder – the 5th team in terms of points scored and the leader, who scored more than 31 points for the season.

Can Mark Denyo’s wards do more than the 9th location of the West? Maybe yes. But Dallas, Minnesota and the Lakers still look a little stronger. on paper.

8th place – New Orleans

Zion has only played 29 games this season. During this time, the team managed to post a streak of seven wins. The Pelicans had a 10-game losing streak without Williamson. No striker anymore and Willie Green’s team will meet with GSV, Denver, Memphis and the Clippers.

Yes, Ingram plays at a high level and scores multiple 30+ points in his leader’s absence. Trey Murphy (the big forward) has emerged, McCollum is showing the usual high (21 points for the season) and the team’s defensive rank in the NBA is seventh. New Orleans can squeeze their opponents in their own half. But what can a team do against Curry, Kawhi, Jokic? With the main rivals ahead for the championship, are there too many questions for a team that lost to Houston and the Lakers without LeBron?

7th place – Minnesota

Why should the wolves be the seventh? LeBron, Kyrie Irving’s injury and Oklahoma’s inexperience now come to favor those in Chris Finch’s tutelage. They also have a good defense and don’t have a tough schedule ahead of them. Where it is possible to allocate outside “Phoenix”. Additionally, Minnesota is ahead of most rivals with one win and one loss. With a limited time, this can be a deciding factor.

The playoffs will be a completely different story and it is unknown whether the Wolves will get there. But in the regular season, they’re good enough to hold the 7-8 place (due to the weakness of the opponents) and bad enough to make it straight into the playoffs due to the lack of talent and the absence of Edwards and his duo. Gobert/Towns towers. .

Vyacheslav Shevchenko