First place in the Southwest Division changed hands again last night as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Sacramento Kings while the Houston Rockets lost to the Toronto Raptors.
So Memphis is back on top, but with only a half-game lead over Houston.
The winner of the division is likely to get the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and that means a matchup with the No. 7 seed. And although nobody can say with any degree of certainty who is going to wind up where in the eight-team Western Conference playoff seedings, it is somewhat probable that Dallas will be the No. 7 seed.
And in the West, you want to face Dallas in the playoffs.
The Mavericks do not have a winning record against any of the six teams ahead of them in the standings. They are 0-3 against Golden State with one game remaining, 1-3 against Memphis, 1-2 against Houston with one game remaining, 1-2 against Portland with one game remaining, 1-2 against the Los Angeles Clippers, and 2-2 against the San Antonio Spurs (who they always play tough).
The Grizzlies and Rockets split their season series. If they finish with the same record, the first tiebreaker is records within the division, and the second is records within the conference. Memphis is 8-7 vs. Southwest Division teams and 32-15 against Western Conference teams; while Houston is 6-6 in the division and 26-17 in the conference.
So who has the edge in winning the Southwest and getting that No. 2 seed?
The Grizzlies have four home games (against Oklahoma City, Washington, New Orleans and Indiana) and three road games (at Utah, the Clippers and Golden State) remaining. The Rockets have four road games (against Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Charlotte) and four home games (against Sacramento, San Antonio, New Orleans and Utah) remaining. Both teams have two back-to-backs.
So who do I think will win the division?
I’m taking Memphis, and I think they’ll destroy Dallas in the first round. But then again, today is the last day of March … and a whole heckuva lot can change between now and the end of the regular season. If the Spurs win their final nine games, we could even have a three-way tie for the Southwest Division title. It’s going to be fun to sit back and watch.
More on the Rockets and the Grizzlies in this interview with CineSport’s Noah Coslov.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.