After an exciting All-Star weekend, the NBA resumed on Thursday Night for the final stretch of the regular season. At this point of the season, teams fall into three categories: 1. The contenders for the title, 2. The pretenders trying to make the play-in tournament, and 3. the lottery teams looking to fall as low as possible to grab Victor Wembanyama. Thankfully, this article will focus on the first two categories because at agsportsnet.com, we are about winning and not talking about teams tanking to grab the first-round pick. Therefore, this article will explore the top 5 things to watch for during the wild final stretch of the season.
1. Who is the dark horse team primed to get hot? – before I give an answer, let us define the parameters of who is considered a dark horse. It must be a team outside of the top 5 seed that has the potential to climb into the top 5. My dark horse team is the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have a 29-31 record with 21 games left in the season. However, the team is 7-3 in their last ten games, and the Raptors management was so confident in this team that they decided to keep it together and add a quality big man in Jakob Poetl. Poetl has been brilliant in his return to Toronto and has formed a formidable duo with Pascal Siakam. I can easily see the Nets sliding down the standings based on the departure of Kevin Durrant and Kyrie Irving. Also, I don’t trust the Knicks and Heat to win consistently win to keep the Raptors at bay.
2. Will the Lakers climb into the playoffs? – At 28-32, the Lakers feel like the most talked about thirteenth seed in NBA history. The team has endured a rollercoaster season that they hope will end with a surge up the standings. After the All-Star Break, the team looks far different from the roster at the outset, and there is a new emphasis on shooting, athleticism, and getting younger. Lebron James has on the record stated that the next 23 games are “the most important games of my career, for the regular season.” The biggest question surrounding the team is whether James and Anthony Davis can stay healthy for the rest of the season. The Lakers have a seemingly easier path to the playoffs based on the quality of the remaining opponents. I think the Lakers will climb into the 7th seed after emerging from the play-in tournament.
3. How will the new-look Clippers fare? -it is remarkable that Russell Westbrook was playing with the Lakers and Clippers within the past month. Westbrook is a triple-double machine and a future Hall-of-Famer, but his tenure with the purple and gold team was a disaster. Westbrook has been bought out of his contract by the Utah Jazz and is now heading to the cross-town rivals. The storyline comes full circle for Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard who spoke about playing together in 2019 only for Leonard to sign with the Clippers and bring Paul George to Los Angeles. The Clippers have been maligned in recent days by the media for their decision to sign Westbrook. However, I think the move has a shot at working out based on two factors: 1. Ty Lue is a really good coach in utilizing Russ and knowing his limitations and 2. Leonard and George are not ball-dominant players. I think the Clippers have the potential to climb to number three in the Western Conference.
4. Will the Suns click right away? – the bombshell news from the 2023 trade deadline was Kevin Durant’s trade to the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have the potential to be a super team in the Western Conference with a dynamic scoring pair of Durant and Devin Booker paired with an elite floor general like Chris Paul and completed by a skilled big man in Deandre Ayton. However, I still have concerns about chemistry because we saw in Brooklyn throwing superstar players on the same team may not necessarily translate into winning a championship and making sacrifices for the team. Another concern I have with this team is how good they will be on defense. The team lost its best defenders in Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Jae Crowder, and the mantra in sports is defense wins championships. The supporting cast contains good contributors including Cameron Payne, Damion Lee, Landrey Shamet, T.J. Warren, and Terrence Ross. Yes, fans should be glued to see if the Suns will rise as predicted in the West.
5. Who will win the battle for the best record? – the battle for home-court advantage in all the playoffs looks like it will come down to the wire. At 43-17, the Celtics currently hold a slender advantage in the race over the Bucks by virtue of playing and winning two more games than the Bucks. The teams are also tied in their head-to-head matchup, and on March 30 play a pivotal game in Milwaukee that could create separation between them. However, both teams have to look closely in the rearview mirror because the Denver Nuggets are only one game behind in the race and hold a healthy six-game lead in the Western Conference. If the Nuggets earn the best record, it could be a decisive advantage over teams because of the altitude in the Mile High region. The race could also settle who wins MVP in a battle of Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic. If that preview didn’t get you excited, then you don’t have a pulse.