6 winning teams still face uphill battles
Less than two months of the NBA’s regular season remains.
The season is two-thirds over. Each team has fewer than 30 games left. Every game takes on greater importance. Missteps are more painful. Victories are necessary. The intensity increases. The race is on.
Except for maybe the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference (the Boston Celtics have a six-game advantage over the Cleveland Cavaliers), playoff positions are up for grabs. The top seed in the West is undetermined but four teams are in position to get it. And some teams are competing for their playoff lives, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, who had deep playoff runs last season.
Let’s take a look at six teams that have the most work to do in the final seven weeks of the regular season (records going into Thursday):
Los Angeles Lakers (30-26)
The Lakers reached the West finals last season, and after what looked like a solid offseason, they have struggled in a deep conference. They’re probably locked into a play-in game situation with no guarantee of making the playoffs, unless they have a stronger than anticipated finish. They are in ninth place, four games ahead of 11th-place Utah and 3 1⁄2 games behind Phoenix and New Orleans for fifth place. Injuries haven’t helped, but the Lakers are not alone in that department. A decent start that included the In-Season Tournament title morphed into an average season. An 11-5 record in the month before the All-Star break offered some optimism.
Milwaukee Bucks (35-21)
The Bucks are in turmoil, replacing their coach before the All-Star break and entering it losing seven of 10 games, including the final two. They are in third in the East, 8 1⁄2 games behind Boston. New coach Doc Rivers and All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo
and Damian Lillard are under pressure. The Bucks went to great lengths to add Lillard, appease Antetokounmpo and have a better shot of winning another championship. Then, they fired Adrian Griffin midway through the season with a 30-13 record. It was clear something wasn’t right under Griffin. But there’s no indication all is well under Rivers either, and according to tankathon.com, the Bucks have the third-hardest remaining schedule.
Miami Heat (30-25)
The Heat reached the Finals last season, and yes, they lost key players (Max Strus, Gabe Vincent) in the offseason, but there was some thought they would be among the best teams in the East this season. That’s not the case – in seventh place with room to rise or fall. There is some belief that the Heat will show up when they have to and make a serious playoff push. And that is possible with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo playing and Erik Spoelstra coaching. They made the Finals from a play-in game scenario last season, but that’s not the norm and the East is better this season.
New York Knicks (33-22)
The Knicks have two All-Stars (Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle), and they had what experts consider a strong trade deadline, acquiring OG Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. With the injury to Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s struggles, the East is open after Boston. There is a pathway to the East finals for a handful of teams. The Knicks won 10 of 11 games before the trade deadline but dropped four consecutive games heading into the break. They are in fourth place, 1 1⁄2 games behind third-place Milwaukee and four behind second-place Cleveland.
Minnesota Timberwolves (39-16)
The Timberwolves are in first place in the West, why would they have work to do? Because other teams are within striking distance. Oklahoma City, the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver are within three games of the Timberwolves,
who are led by Anthony Edwards. He has played in just 11 playoff games and is 0-2 in playoff series. Having Karl-Anthony Towns, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert give Minnesota playoff experience. Yet the franchise hasn’t won a series since 2004 when it reached the conference finals. And even with the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, Minnesota could face a high-profile team with talent and experience in the first round, such as the Lakers or Golden State.
Golden State Warriors (27-26)
The Warriors won the title in 2022, lost in the second round to the Lakers in 2023 and decided to run it back – perhaps for the last time – with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in 2023-24. Do the Warriors, and their massive payroll, have another run left? They got hot just before the AllStar break, winning nine of 13 games, including five of their past six. That leaves them in 10th place, 1 1⁄2 games behind the Lakers, but a friendly schedule gives the Warriors a chance to continue their momentum.