With the regular season wrapping up on Wednesday, now’s the perfect time to look ahead at the NBA playoffs. Some teams have made their way down the final stretch at a good pace and look ready to begin the postseason while others are tripping at the finish line and seem destined to be early outs in the first round.
Here are the hottest and coldest teams heading into the playoffs.
Hottest
Atlanta Hawks
They continue to struggle against the Cleveland Cavaliers, losing to them for the seventh time in a row Monday, but the Hawks are still hot heading into the playoffs. They’ve won 15 of their last 20 games and can finish no worse than the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, which assures them home-court advantage in at least the first round.
“We just want to be playing well and be healthy,” coach Mike Budenholzer said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You are going to have to win. You are going to have to beat good teams in the East. Who we match up with, who we play, at home, on the road, I think we just want to be playing well and be healthy.”
The Hawks have played well and they’ve managed to stay relatively healthy with the exception of losing center Tiago Splitter to season-ending hip surgery last February.
Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte’s 20-8 record since the All-Star break is third in the NBA behind only Golden State ( 24-5) and San Antonio ( 20-7). The Hornets will finish either fifth or sixth in the East and play Atlanta, Miami or Boston in the first round of the playoffs. Not bad for a team that only won 33 games last season.
Third-year coach Steve Clifford deserves a lot of the credit for getting Charlotte back into the playoffs, as does point guard Kemba Walker, who the Hornets are promoting for Most Improved Player. Walker’s field-goal percentage is up from 38.5 percent last season to 42.8 percent this season, and he’s improved his 3-point shooting, up from 30.4 percent last season to 37.4 percent this season.
The Hornets, who had the third-best home record in the East this season, would probably prefer home-court advantage in the playoffs, but as they showed in Monday’s win at Boston, they’re capable of winning tough games on the road.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are hot, hot, hot. They’ve now won 10 of their last 11 games following Tuesday night’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, and they’ve won five straight since the return of power forward Blake Griffin from injury/suspension. Coincidence? I think not. While Griffin hasn’t been much of a factor as he gets back into the swing of things, his return to the lineup is huge for Los Angeles, which is locked into the fourth seed in the West.
They were doing fine without him for the 46 games he missed, but think of what the Clippers are capable of now that they’re at full strength.
Golden State Warriors
Let’s be honest: The Warriors have been hot all season, so it makes no difference that they lost a couple of games down the stretch. We’re talking about a team that just won 72 games, and if they can beat the Grizzlies for the second time in four days Wednesday, they’ll make history with 73 wins, which has never been done before. If that’s not considered being hot, then what is?
Coldest
Memphis Grizzlies
Just to put into perspective what Memphis has had to go through with injuries this season, the Grizzlies fielded their 28th different starting lineup against the Clippers Tuesday. They have lost a total of 291 games to injuries, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Center Marc Gasol was lost for the season to a broken bone in his foot last February, and Mike Conley’s season is likely over with an Achilles injury he suffered last month.
The Grizzlies don’t have a true center with Gasol out. 37-year-old Chris Andersen, a backup most of his career, is now a starter. Jordan Farmar, who was playing overseas before joining Memphis, is the starting point guard with Conley out. Not to mention the Grizzlies have lost nine of their last 10 games and stand in the way of Golden State making history on Wednesday.
It’s admirable that the Grizzlies even made the playoffs, but they are ice cold going in.
Indiana Pacers
Indiana’s win over New York Tuesday paired with Detroit’s loss to Miami gave the Pacers the seventh seed in the East. But for a while there it was close with Chicago trying to keep its playoff hopes alive. Indiana went 16-12 to finish off the second half of the season, which isn’t terrible but it’s not good either.
But with the seventh seed locked up, that means Indiana is going to play Toronto in the first round, and that’s not so good news for the Pacers, who are 1-6 against the Raptors, dating back to last season.
Dallas Mavericks
Their current 7-1 stretch would indicate that the Mavericks are on fire right now, but this team was on life support after losing 10 of 12 games in March. They saved their season, sure, but the Mavericks have some injury concerns.
Third-leading scorer Chandler Parsons had surgery for a meniscus tear in his right knee and will miss the rest of the season. Starting point guard Deron Williams is playing through the pain of a sports hernia and backup J.J. Barea recently suffered a strained groin that noticeably affected him in Monday’s win over Utah.
Assuming Dallas finishes as the sixth seed in the West, it would play Oklahoma City in the first round, a team the Mavericks weren’t able to beat in four tries this season.
Houston Rockets
Since the Rockets control their own destiny for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, we’ll assume they get in and take on the challenge of playing Golden State in the first round. But how disappointing have the Rockets been this season? After going 56-26 a year ago, the best they can do is a .500 finish, and that’s even with James Harden averaging a career-high 28.9 points, second behind only Stephen Curry.
In last year’s conference finals, Houston got one win against Golden State. This season, the Warriors won all three meetings against the Rockets.
