Around the NBA: Week of March 15

With the NBA season getting closer and closer to the homestretch, it’s a critical time for teams to step up and make their playoff push, and reflect on those who have been disappointing this season.

Race for first in the west

While the Boston Celtics have a strong lead for the number one seed in the eastern conference, there are three teams in the mix for the one seed in the west.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, who have one of the youngest rosters in the league, have continued to surprise people all year as Shai Gilgeous Alexander is an MVP candidate and they are looking to make a playoff run.

The defending champion Denver Nuggets are looking to reclaim the one seed for the second straight season.

After having a slower start to the season, Nikola Jokic has helped turn the ship around, averaging a near triple-double this season with 26.0 points per game, 12.3 rebounds per game, and 9.2 assists per game on 58.2% shooting as he currently leads the MVP poles.

While their season started off red hot, the Minnesota Timberwolves have cooled off a little in part due to Karl Anthony Towns being out with an injury.

Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert have tried to hold down the fort but with Towns out for most likely the rest of the regular season, the Timberwolves are missing a major offensive threat and it’s going to be difficult for them to get the one seed.

The race for last

Back in December, when the Detroit Pistons lost an NBA record 28 straight games, Kyle Kuzma sent out a tweet that said “At this point, it’s like ‘don’t be that team’”.

At the time, the Pistons had two wins and while they may only have 12 now with the season winding down, it’s one more win than the Wizards do.

While the teams with the three worst records will have the same odds for the lottery pick, it’ll be intriguing to see who claims the dead last title especially with the two teams having one more matchup this season.

Wild West Play-in

If you told people before the season who the current play-in teams in the Western Conference would be, they would probably laugh at you.

As it sits right now, the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors will be facing off against one another for a spot in the playoffs.

Three of these teams were in the playoffs last year while the Mavericks were adjusting to their new team with the mid-season addition of Kyrie Irving.

All of these teams have some immense talent on them, and don't let the fact that they are the 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs fool you at all.

LeBron James, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and DeAaron Fox are just a few names from these teams that can absolutely light it up come playoff time, and I expect at least one of them to have an upset in the playoffs.

Michael Landis is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mpl5930@psu.edu.