Who's playing for what?

[WigNosy]

As we get to the final couple of sims of the season, it's always fun to look at who is still playing for something and thus will be not only doing what they can to win the games in front of them, but will also be out-of-town-scoreboard-watching.

NOT INTERESTED AT ALL
Atlanta Hawks - The Hawks haven't mathematically sewn up the #1 overall seed in the playoffs, but barring an injury, they should have no problem doing so. As long as they handle their business, their postseason position is locked in.

New Orleans Hornets, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Portland Trailblazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Brooklyn Nets - These are the teams that could move up or down by a spot in the standings but aren't close enough to the playoffs to make a serious push and aren't going to be able to improve their lotto odds much either. These teams don't have much of a reason to watch the scoreboard of their own games, much less anyone else's.

LOOKING AHEAD, BUT KEEPING AN EYE ON THE REAR VIEW MIRROR
Miami Heat - The Heat have a little bit of a cushion on the Wizards, but the Wizards have a favorable schedule to close out the season (only 3 road games). The Heat can probably hold on to the Atlantic Division and the #2 seed that comes with it, but they'll have one eye on the Wizards just in case.

WARY, BUT NOT SUPER CONCERNED
Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors - The Nuggets will be the most nonchalant of this bunch - they pretty much have the Midwest locked up and at least a #2 seed, and while they would love to try to catch the Suns for the #1 seed in the West, it is probably less urgent for them than it is for the Suns or Warriors. The Suns, who once seemed like they would run away with the West, are now sweating a little bit with the Warriors on a 7-game win streak and the Nuggets on a 12-game win streak. The Suns and Nuggets will be watching each other's every move as well as watching Denver - getting the #1 seed means a likely second-round matchup with a Jazz or Rockets team trying to adjust to being healthy again, probably a much more desirable outcome than not winning the division, getting a #3 seed, and spending round 2 on the road.

Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls - Both of these teams are vying for the #3 seed in the East and have been passing it back and forth all season. While both teams would probably prefer the higher seed, they know it doesn't make much of a difference in terms of the toughness of their round 1 draw, and both teams have shown they can beat both the Hawks and the Heat this season, so I don't expect either team to overextend themselves trying to finish ahead of the other. They'll be watching but are probably content to let the seeds fall where they may.

Utah Jazz - Currently sitting in the 4th spot in the West, they would be more worried by the Paul George injury if they didn't have a 3.5 game cushion or if the teams below them, particularly the Rockets, hadn't been scuffling so much. As it is, they'll be a little worried about dropping from the 4 to the 5 spot and losing home court but they're probably in no real danger of falling out of the playoffs.

HEAD ON A SWIVEL
Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks - The Wizards still have an outside shot to catch the Heat and a soft schedule to finish the season, so they'll be very interested in the results Miami posts. If they don't catch up to the Heat, they will be in a dogfight for the 5, 6, and 7 seeds with the Pacers and Bucks. All three of these teams are bunched up but with all the talk about how the Central has been a beast this season, you wonder if the REAL goal is to AVOID finishing in the 5 slot so that they are on the Atlantic Division champ's side of the bracket.

Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics - This time it's the battle for "in the playoffs or out" and only 1.5 games separate the Celtics from a playoff berth. The Celtics, though, have a road-heavy schedule and face a lot of playoff teams when they are home, so it will take a huge effort from them to overcome the advantage a softer Cavs schedule gives them. Interestingly, both of these teams have matchups remaining with the likely #1 seeded Hawks so they will have an early chance to gauge their readiness for a series with them.

Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, VanMemphis Grizzlies, Seattle Supersonics, Los Angeles Clippers - The Rockets breathed a huge sigh of relief when they managed to snap out of their tailspin and string three wins together at the end of March. They aren't out of the woods yet, though, as most of their remaining games are against teams that are chasing them for the #5 spot they currently occupy. In fact, all three of the Texas teams plus the Grizz will spend a good portion of April playing against each other, which means a team that gets hot could gain ground quickly and a team that goes cold could really lose ground quickly. The Supersonics are currently on the outside looking in but play several soft teams and don't play the teams ahead of them much, which means they could make a move while the teams ahead of them beat up on each other. If the Sonics put together a winning streak, the fact that all the teams ahead of them are playing each other almost guarantees them the ability to vault into the playoffs. The Clippers are pretty far back but have a bunch of home games, so getting back into the hunt is not entirely impossible, but is unlikely. They'll be hoping a couple of teams ahead of them slip up.

DESPERATELY INTERESTED BUT PRETENDING VERY HARD NOT TO BE
Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic - With the expansion Bobcats almost certainly assured of getting the #4 pick, at least one of these teams is going to be rewarded for a bad season with pick #5 or worse. They'll be watching and hoping against hope the other guys accidentally win a game while they keep trying to improve their lotto odds.

[Inner_GI]

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