There are 10 Western Convention groups jockeying for playoff positioning. Their seeds would possibly come right down to rehabbing accidents.
With 3:51 remaining within the Warriors’ loss to the Bulls Thursday night time, Steph Curry exited with an ankle damage. With 3:56 remaining within the Lakers’ loss to the Kings that very same night time, LeBron James headed to the locker room along with his personal ankle damage. The 2 groups are even within the standings and it may very well be bodily remedy as a lot as their play on the court docket that determines who will get the upper seed.
It is the identical story additional up within the standings as effectively. The primary-place Minnesota Timberwolves simply misplaced Karl-Anthony Cities for at the least a month after he underwent surgical procedure to restore a torn meniscus.
Minnesota solely has a half-game lead on Oklahoma Metropolis for the convention’s prime spot whereas the fourth-place Clippers are solely three video games again. At the very least for now. They are going to play the remainder of the common season with out Russell Westbrook, who fractured his left hand earlier this month.
Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker is working by way of his personal ankle damage whereas backup Damion Lee continues to be recovering from meniscus surgical procedure he underwent 5 months in the past. Bradley Beal is wholesome, now, however has missed 29 video games with three totally different accidents this yr.
Whereas the New Orleans Pelicans solely have Dyson Daniels on their damage report, they nonetheless depend on Zion Williamson, who missed 135 video games over the earlier two seasons. In the meantime, Dallas Mavericks MVP candidate Luka Doncic has a nasty ankle and an injured elbow. Dallas additionally employs the delicate Kyrie Irving.
Solely the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder and Denver Nuggets are completely wholesome, which makes them the favorites to seize the highest seed. As for the remainder of the playoff positioning, the distinction would possibly come right down to whirlpool time as a lot as crunch time.
