It’s the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Western Conference: the team coached by Coach Daigneault had made it to the last RS game tied with Denver and Minnesota, but thanks to a 135-86 victory over Dallas (the Mavs were without Doncic, Irving, Lively, Kleber, PJ Washington, and Gafford) they put their heads up. Tied for the record but behind them close are the Nuggets, second thanks to their success over Memphis. Minnesota, on the other hand, defeated by the Suns, ends the regular season in third place.
With the win over the Timberwolves and the Lakers’ win over the Pelicans, the Phoenix Suns instead pulled off an important overtaking move, finishing sixth and condemning New Orleans to the play-in. Just at the Play-in the Pelicans will again face the Lakers, who finished in eighth place. Just ahead of the Sacramento Kings, whose victory over Portland was ultimately in vain, and the Golden State Warriors, who got the better of the Jazz despite the absences of Steph Curry and Draymond Green, who were kept at rest.
The final Western Conference standings are thus composed as follows:
- Oklahoma City Thunder 57-25
- Denver Nuggets 57-25
- Minnesota Timberwolves 56-26
- Los Angeles Clippers 51-31
- Dallas Mavericks 50-32
- Phoenix Suns 49-33
- New Orleans Pelicans 49-33
- Los Angeles Lakers 47-35
- Sacramento Kings 46-36
- Golden State Warriors 46-36
- Houston Rockets 41-41
- Utah Jazz 31-51
- Memphis Grizzlies 27-55
- San Antonio Spurs 22-60
- Portland Trail Blazers 21-61
The first play-in will then face the New Orleans Pelicans (with the home court factor) and Los Angeles Lakers: the winner will go against Denver in the first round, while the loser will take on the winner of the matchup between Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.
We are sure to get another Clippers-Mavericks episode in the first round, while the Minnesota Timberwolves will take on the Phoenix Suns. These the pairings for the NBA Playoffs. West:
Oklahoma City vs. the winner of the second play-in
Denver vs. the winner of the first Play-in
Minnesota vs. Phoenix
LA Clippers vs. Dallas
Milan, Italy. A graduate in Labor Management and Communication for Organizations from Catholic University, I founded BasketUniverso in 2011. Yes, I root for Orlando Magic and do my best not to hide it.
