A month of the regular season remains. There is still plenty of basketball to be played and still plenty of chances for teams around the league to solidify their playoff positions.
On the other hand, there is a handful of teams whose executives may be forced to look at the draft lottery and beyond, even with about 15 games remaining for most teams.
The key players off the bench around the NBA are all over the league. They play for teams competing for the Larry O’Brien Trophy and teams competing for the right to draft Ben McLemore or Nerlens Noel.
The Boston Celtics ideally would like to catch the Brooklyn Nets for the fourth seed in the East and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They are seventh, 3 1/2 games behind Brooklyn. Despite a recent career-high 43 points from sixth man Jeff Green – elevated to starter in Kevin Garnett’s absence – they could not capitalize and squandered a 17-point lead in a home loss to the white-hot Miami Heat.
Kevin Martin is really the only member of this week’s list on a team that will start the postseason at home. The Thunder – technically only 2 1/2 games above fifth in the West – have been in the top two for practically the entire season and anything otherwise would come as a pretty big surprise.
Earlier this season, bench gunner Jamal Crawford and the Los Angeles Clippers were talked about as a possible favorite coming out of the West. As of late, a combination of uneven play, injuries and strangely quiet hot streaks by the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzles have LA struggling to hold home court for the first round.
The Clippers currently sit fourth at 47-22 and are neck-and-neck with Memphis and Denver as the season winds down.
The Warriors also got off to a great start and sat comfortably behind the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers for a good portion of the season. Reserve combo guard Jarrett Jack’s contributions were a big part of that success. But a midseason swoon dropped the Warriors to sixth, without much of a chance to move up.
J.R. Smith and the Knicks have had similar struggles, losing their early momentum and falling from first to third in the East. Injuries to starters Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumper and Tyson Chandler have prevented coach Mike Woodson from lining up his full arsenal. But he has continued to bring Smith’s instant offense off the bench.
While in Orlando, J.J. Redick was in the same position as Ryan Anderson is with the Hornets – near the bottom of the NBA standings. His trade to Milwaukee virtually assures Redick of a trip to the postseason – and a first-round date with the Heat.
On the other hand, Jazz wing Gordon Hayward is doing all he can to get his stumbling squad to past the Lakers for the final playoff spot in the West.
On to the rankings: