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The Los Angeles Lakers further solidified their current spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament and took a step toward the playoffs with a 120-109 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Sunday’s matchup.
Los Angeles still has some work to do to reach the top six seeds and avoid the play-in tournament, but it has momentum with two straight wins over potential championship contenders in the Milwaukee Bucks and Timberwolves.
Here is a look at where the Lakers and everyone else stands in the playoff picture after Sunday’s action:
Oklahoma City Thunder, 45-19Denver Nuggets, 44-20 (1 GB)Minnesota Timberwolves, 44-21 (1.5 GB)Los Angeles Clippers, 41-22 (3.5 GB)New Orleans Pelicans, 39-25 (6 GB)Phoenix Suns, 37-27 (8 GB)Sacramento Kings, 36-27 (8.5 GB)Dallas Mavericks, 36-28 (9 GB)Los Angeles Lakers, 36-30 (10 GB)Golden State Warriors, 33-30 (11.5 GB)Boston Celtics, 49-14Milwaukee Bucks, 42-23 (8 GB)Cleveland Cavaliers, 41-23 (8.5 GB)
New York Knicks, 37-27 (12.5 GB)Orlando Magic, 37-28 (13 GB)Philadelphia 76ers, 36-28 (13.5 GB)Indiana Pacers, 36-29 (14 GB)Miami Heat, 35-29 (14.5 GB)Chicago Bulls, 31-33 (18.5 GB)Atlanta Hawks, 29-35 (20.5 GB)
Western Conference Prediction: Play-In Tournament Team Wins First-Round Series
There is far too much star power in the play-in tournament race for any top team in the Western Conference to be comfortable going into the first round.
The play-in tournament may consist of the Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Golden State Warriors with Stephen Curry, the Dallas Mavericks with Luka Dončić, and the Phoenix Suns with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
That is not only plenty of star power, that is a ton of playoff experience and championship rings. What’s more, whichever two teams emerge from the play-in tournament will have the momentum generated from those wins against a top seed that could be dealing with some rust in the early going.
While the Denver Nuggets are the reigning champions and should have little trouble in the opening round if they clinch a top-two seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Timberwolves are far from playoff tested.
OKC hasn’t made it past the first round since Durant and Russell Westbrook were leading the way during the 2015-16 campaign, while Minnesota last advanced past the first round in the 2003-04 season.
They are both candidates to be teams that are a year or two away from making championship runs with young stars spearheading the effort in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards, and some of the league’s top players will be waiting to prove that in the play-in tournament.
The result will be at least one major upset.
Eastern Conference Prediction: Celtics Get Over the Hump, Reach NBA Finals
The Boston Celtics have been to five of the last seven Eastern Conference Finals but have been to the NBA Finals just once in that span.
It will be twice after this year.
Boston has the best record in the NBA and can put things on cruise control the rest of the way and still easily have home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. That will allow head coach Joe Mazzulla the opportunity to give his key contributors fewer minutes down the stretch of the season, which should have them fresher for the playoffs.
And the end result will be a team ready for a long run to the NBA Finals.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are still leading the way, much like they did for most of those Eastern Conference Finals appearances. But they have better help this season with Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis and a revamped Derrick White.
Holiday is one of the best perimeter defenders of his generation, which will be critical in potential postseason series against Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Jimmy Butler, Tyrese Maxey or Tyrese Haliburton.
Porziņģis’ presence draws opposing bigs away from the rim and opens up lanes for Tatum and Brown to attack, while White is an overqualified fifth option who has taken over games at times throughout the season.
Anything less than an NBA Finals appearance would be a disappointment, and the Celtics will take advantage of their No. 1 seed with a deep playoff run.
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