Tag: NBA

The news of Chris Paul‘s hand injury that will keep him out six to eight weeks is seriously bad news for the Clippers. They’ve been without Blake Griffin for a few weeks now and doing okay, but without Chris Paul things could get very bad very fast. Austin Rivers will take over as a starter and while he is much better than he once was, he is still nowhere near the level of Chris Paul. This is the biggest loss any team has suffered this season and the Clippers are in trouble.

How big of a loss is this? HUGE. The on/off numbers at Basketball References say that Chris Paul is a +19.6 point difference from on the court versus off. That’s 20 points per game that will be very difficult to replace. We had thought that they were in trouble earlier this season by dropping to the fourth seed, but that doesn’t look like the floor for them and they could drop even further.

Hot on their tail has been the Utah Jazz who are two games behind them in the standings, but have really been coming on lately. The defense of Rudy Gobert and unique offensive talents of Gordon Hayward has been guiding them and this team should only get better. I think they are a strong bet to move into the fourth seed and hold on to it.

Then just two games behind them, four games behind LAC, are the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies who are both sitting at a 25-18 record.

For the Grizzlies, it’s a matter of health. They have a solid core, but they haven’t seen Chandler Parsons at 100% much this year and Mike Conley had his own injuries. They are an interesting team that should cause trouble for whoever they are matched up with in the playoffs, but it is hard to see them making a big leap here. That said, they are one of the most consistent teams in the league so if they are able to move ahead of the Clips in the standings it’s hard to see them letting it up.

As for Russell Westbrook and the Thunder, it’s hard to see how this team can improve much on where it is now. There is simply so much pressure on Westbrook night in and night out that them playing much better than they have without outside help seems very unlikely. I could see them settling into this seventh seed.

So, in theory, that leaves the Clippers as the sixth seed in the West. While having Paul and Griffin back makes them a dangerous team, playing either the Spurs or the Rockets in a road series is not exactly an ideal situation for any team.

The best series to be in here would be the four vs. five seed as that is the series that gives you the best chance of moving onto the second round. Nobody is touching the Warriors up top, but the Spurs and Rockets are pretty scary teams in their own right and the six or seven seed doesn’t offer much hope.

It’s hard to see the Clippers, who have dropped off a lot with Paul, to maintain a four/five seed without him. It’s probably time to blow up the Clippers. Except they have nothing to trade and nobody wants what they have. What a terrible situation to be in.

With all of the teams at or near the halfway point of their season, I thought it was time to look at the Western Conference playoff race. The first seven seeds seemed to be locked up and there shouldn’t be much shifting in order between now and the end of the season. The eighth seed on the other hand is not even remotely locked up and every single team in the West is still in the hunt for it. Just four games separate the current eighth seed Portland and the worst team in the West, Phoenix. That is crazy.

Denver has been impressing lately as Nikola Jokic looks like a real NBA star in the making. The thing with the Nuggets is they are loaded with assets, but those assets might not quite fit together. They are a threat to make a trade at any time as they could outbid just about anybody. If a superstar becomes available, look out for Denver who could then put themselves in position to steal the seed.

Sacramento wants this seed badly, but their team is still such a mess. DeMarcus Cousins is super talented, but night to night this team just feels overmatched. There is a huge hole at point guard here as well. Rudy Gay is always an interesting trade option, but what could he really bring back? Would it be enough to jump up the rankings? One thing on the Kings side is their decent Western Conference record. If a tie happens, that record will decide the 8th seed.

The opposite can be said about New Orleans. They would be my favorite here as Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday are finally back on the court for them and they are starting to look like a real team instead of the Anthony Davis show. Unfortunately that 6-18 conference record will be hard to overcome even if they are able to grab a few extra wins in the second half.

One team I am really watching out for is the Dallas Mavericks. They’ve won two straight and Dirk Nowitzki is finally starting to look like himself as he’s averaged 20 PPG in his last three games. When healthy this team is much better than it’s record and they definitely have the coaching to play hard in the second half. If this is Dirk’s last season, that would be a very fitting end.

Minnesota is also interesting as they have the best point differential of all these teams, but they just can’t close out games. I don’t see that changing before the end of the season as this is simply a young team going through growing pains.

The Lakers and Suns, I just can’t see under any circumstances. Mathematically they are in it, but basketball wise they are extremely far away.

The eighth seed in the Western Conference will most likely be decided by who makes a trade and what they get in return. Whether that is the Nuggets making a big move, the Blazers making a move to improve their defense or something else we haven’t thought of yet. Still, while the basketball itself might not be very exciting this is probably the best race out there right now.

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