The NBA franchise has quickly moved on from all of the All Star paparazzi, and talks about teams qualifying – or not qualifying – for the NBA Playoffs has taken centre stage.
The regular season in the NBA will soon come to an end. And it has been quite an eventful season. From Boston Celtics dominating the Eastern Conference, to James Harden being a strong contender for the MVP award and more, it has been a season to remember.
All these will come to an end in a month’s time as some teams will get eliminated while some others will try to fight their way through to the NBA Playoffs Final. The qualification race is on and here are some tips to help you take advantage of this qualification race and make money out of it.
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The Qualified Ones
It has been an amazing season of basketball so far. Although nothing’s official just yet, the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics have all but confirmed that they will all finish the regular season as the top-two seeds in their respective conferences.
What this means is that, to an extent, they may want to rest a couple of players in the games to come, as they rest the major players for when the Playoffs kick off. With this, there may be a couple of surprising results from any of these teams in the days leading up to the beginning of the Playoffs.
Do you think there will be a surprise win for Spurs?
Click here to predict and win.
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The Chasing Pack
Of the 18 teams that need to feature in the NBA Playoffs (or postseason), the fate of 14 of those teams (6 from the Eastern Conference and 8 from the Western Conference) is still very much far from certain.
Teams like San Antonio Spurs (7th) and LA Clippers (8th) are right on the edge of a cliff as regards playing postseason NBA basketball. A couple more losses and they will be out of the running, replaced by Utah Jazz lurking closely behind them.
In the Eastern Conference, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers all still have a shot at making it through to the NBA Playoffs. But, in the end, there won’t be enough room on that Eastern bus travelling to the NBA Postseason city at the end of the regular season.
Click here to keep an eye on them and even back them to win their remaining games in the regular season.
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The Streaks
The Toronto Raptors is currently on a 7-game winning streak in the Eastern Conference. The same cannot be said of New York Knicks, a team that has not won in their last six games.
In the Western Conference, the Trail Blazers is on a trailblazing run of form, having won their last 9 games in a row. This is a stark contrast to the form of Memphis Grizzlies, a team that has not won any of their last 17 games in the franchise. Guess it’s fair to say that the Grizzlies will lose most of their upcoming games.
Of the 14 postseason slots remaining, which teams do you think will make it into the NBA Playoffs? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.
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