In the NBA the final games of the regular season are coming up. The teams for which everything is at stake also include big names.
For the first time in his NBA career, LeBron James missed the playoffs. In 2018/19, perhaps the best basketball player of all time had to play for the Los Angeles Lakers Watch the top teams in the league battle it out for the North American Pro League Championship.
And this year, too, there were times when this was to be feared, but the Lakers have recently put in a series and will in all likelihood be there beyond the regular season. For them every game is already a final in the fight for the playoffs.
Play-In Tournament creates high tension in the NBA
In the Western Conference occupied by the record champion (like the Boston Celtics 17 titles) is currently in seventh place and would therefore not be in the decisive games directly, but would first have to qualify via the play-in tournament. For the third time there are these pre-playoffs, which were developed in the wake of the corona pandemic and turned out to be an absolute win for the league.
While the top eight teams in a conference had previously made it into the playoffs, there are now only six teams. Places seven to ten are played out by the other two participants in a small tournament during the decisive phase of the season.
There are three games in it. The first pits seventh and eighth from the regular season, and the winner immediately qualifies for the playoffs. The loser is not out yet, but meets the winner of the game between ninth and tenth – and thus contests the final for the last place in the final rounds. Unlike the playoffs, there is only one game, no best-of-seven series – so every game is about everything.
Every seat counts
So the NBA has made it so that every place in the final table is at stake for the teams – apart from the front and rear. So the Lakers must aim to move up at least one position in their last four games.
In the west, however, the race for the final playoff spots is extremely competitive. Fifth are currently the LA Clippers with a record of 41:38 wins, behind is the defending champion Golden State Warriors (also 41:38) on the last direct qualification place. The Lakers (40:38) have a game less and have to catch up, but the same applies to them New Orleans Pelicans (40:38).
Dallas Mavericks crash – and out?
In the battle for the playoffs, however, there could be one prominent casualty whose season could be over after this final week. The Dallas Mavericks are currently in eleventh place with 37:42 wins and would even miss the play-in tournament.
The team around the two superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving lost seven of the last eight games, slipping under the line. “We know the situation we are in. We have to start catching up and find a way to win games. Unfortunately we are not able to do that at the moment“, said coach Jason Kidd, who, together with Dirk Nowitzki, is a champion with the “Mavs” became.
The Lakers grab the “Greed”
With the Lakers, on the other hand, it was the other way around. There have been six wins from the past seven games, and if you look further back, there have been 15 wins from the past 22 games. And that’s despite James, who became the player with the most points in NBA history that season, missing 13 times during that period. His team grew together even better without him, co-superstar Anthony Davis stood out and another player came to the fore in Austin Reaves. “We’re getting greedy now, we’re not satisfied” Davis said.
Top duels in the play-in in the east
The Eastern Conference is far from this high voltage. The ten best teams have already been determined and it would take a big surprise for them to Brooklyn Nets (43:35) are relegated from sixth place in the other four games. The closest pursuers are them Miami Heat (41:37).
But it is also clear that the play-in tournament in the east will be filled with top-class players. Miami was number one in the east last season, just missed the finals and now has to worry about a place in the playoffs. In addition, with the Atlanta Hawks to be a team that beefed up their roster before the season started and wanted to be a title contender, so did they Chicago Bullswhich still electrify the masses because of their history.
A day’s breather – and then the decisions are made
After the game-free Monday (local time), the crunch time of the season starts on Tuesday (April 4th, 2023). There is already a first taste of the Play-In Tournament between Chicago and Atlanta, and the Lakers can at the utah jazz, who also want to make it into the top ten in the West, take a direct playoff spot. They would then have the same record as Golden State, but would be ahead in a direct comparison. In the NBA there is tension until the last day of the game.