Nba Teams Fighting For Playoff Spot

• Six NBA teams are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference: the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Suns, and Kings.
• The Suns, Blazers, and Spurs have all gotten off to hot starts in the bubble and are within 3 games or fewer of the eighth and final playoff spot.
• The Pelicans and Grizzlies have stumbled out of the gate, and while the Pelicans have the easiest schedule, the Grizzlies might be in trouble.
• With five or six games remaining for each team, the race to the finish has the chance to be exciting, with each team jockeying for position to make the postseason.
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With the NBA's bubble underway, a compelling race is unfolding for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The second half of the NBA schedule will be hectic, all the way to the end. The league on Wednesday released the list of games that will be played between March 10 and May 16, with Memphis and San Antonio — two of the teams that dealt with long unplanned shutdowns because of coronavirus-related issues — set to play 40 times apiece, tied for the most in the league during the 68-day sprint.

• HoopsHype predicts how all 15 Eastern Conference teams will finish the upcoming 2020-21 NBA. To make much of a push for a playoff spot in the East. Those teams fighting for the No.
• Bradley Beal will miss the rest of the NBA season with a shoulder injury, setting up a depleted battle for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot between the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards.
• Four teams will battle for two spots in the NBA Finals this weekend in Orlando, Fla., while golfers hit the course for the 2020 U.S. Open, two NHL teams fight for the Stanley Cup and MLB teams.
• The race for the No. 9 spots — those teams will compete in a play-in tournament beginning this weekend — is the league’s tightest. Per the NBA, here are the scenarios for the No.

As of Wednesday morning, six teams were competing for the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference playoffs, with just 3.5 games separating the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies and 13th-place Sacramento Kings.

And while this race was tight entering the bubble, since games have begun, the race has only gotten tighter.

Here's a look at the standings and playoff race right now.

Three rising teams and one Cinderella

The 'Cinderella' designation is usually reserved for the NCAA Tournament when a lower seed pulls off a few upsets. With the NBA's bubble somewhat resembling March Madness, the Phoenix Suns have taken on that title.

The Suns entered the bubble in 13th place and have won their first three games, including an impressive, buzzer-beating upset over the LA Clippers on Tuesday.

—NBA (@NBA) August 4, 2020

The Suns are the only 3-0 team in the bubble. They've moved into 12th place, are just three games back of the Grizzlies, and don't play a team ranked higher than fourth place in either conference the rest of the way.

However, the Suns may have trouble climbing the standings with so many teams in front of them, including the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs, who are also surging in the bubble.

© Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo/AP Images Damian Lillard and the Blazers are 2-1 in the bubble. Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo/AP ImagesThe Blazers are 2-1 so far, with impressive wins over the Grizzlies and Houston Rockets. The Blazers are finally (mostly) healthy after missing their starting front-court of Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins for the entire season. Damian Lillard hasn't shot the ball well in the bubble, but he is arguably the best player among the six teams fighting for the 8th seed.

Meanwhile, the Spurs have also pulled off two impressive wins in the bubble after being written off heading into the resumption of the season. San Antonio, which has a 22-year playoff streak on the line, has beaten the Grizzlies and the Kings and nearly beat the Philadelphia 76ers. Though short-handed, Gregg Popovich has gone small and gotten great guard play to thrust his team back into the playoff mix.

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The Spurs have a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, including a big game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

Two flailing teams open up the race

The Grizzlies and Pelicans entered the bubble as two of the favorites (the Blazers were the third) to force a play-in tournament. However, neither team has gotten off to a good start.

© Ashley Landis, Pool/AP Images Jonas Valanciunas and Dillon Brooks of the Grizzlies. Ashley Landis, Pool/AP ImagesThe Grizzlies, who still hold a 1.5-game lead for the eighth place, have gone 0-3 to begin the bubble. They received bad news on Tuesday when versatile forward-center Jaren Jackson Jr. tore his meniscus, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.

Memphis has been the surprise team of the NBA season, but the layoff hasn't served them well. Star rookie point guard Ja Morant has struggled so far, shooting just 36% from the field and 10% from three so far. The Grizzlies are short on wing depth, and Dillon Brooks, the team's best wing, has also shot poorly: 36% from the field 21% from three.

The Pelicans also began the bubble 0-2 before picking up a big win over the Grizzlies on Monday. Much of the coverage of the Pelicans has focused on the minutes limit on Zion Williamson. The 2019 No. 1 pick sat out the end of the first game of the bubble, as the Pelicans blew a late lead to the Jazz. He finally played the end of a game over Memphis, but still played just 25 minutes.

The Pelicans have a talented roster but are top-heavy, and the team has been outscored with its best players on the floor (much of that is due to a blowout loss to the Clippers on Saturday). New Orleans is still in 10th place but will have to get better, consistent play (and minutes) from its best players.

Who's best positioned to make the eighth and ninth seeds for a play-in tournament?

There will be a play-in 'tournament' if the eighth- and ninth-place teams are separated by four or fewer games. Right now, it would come down to Memphis and Portland, with the Blazers having to beat the Grizzlies twice to advance to the playoffs.

What are the chances of those matchups changing?

© Ashley Landis, Pool/AP Images Zion Williamson and the Pelicans still have a shot at the playoffs. Ashley Landis, Pool/AP ImagesThe problem for teams below them is the schedule. Each team has 5-6 'seeding' games left in the bubble. For a team like the Suns to pass the Blazers into the ninth seed, they'd have to win a majority of their games while hoping the Blazers lose a majority of theirs. Asking any team to go 4-1 while another goes 1-4 will be difficult (though, of course, not impossible).

The Pelicans stand to gain or lose the most. Over the next 10 days, New Orleans plays the Kings twice and the Spurs once, two teams below them in the standings. The results of those games will have a great impact on the playoff race.

Nba Teams Fighting For Playoff Spot Game

New Orleans also has perhaps the easiest schedule: their other two games are against the Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic. Don't rule out the Pelicans yet.

Meanwhile, the other teams in eighth to 13th place don't play each other the rest of the way. Memphis could likely hold onto their spot by simply going .500 the rest of the way.

If the bubble has shown anything so far, it's been that it's unpredictable. The finish to this race should have more excitement in store.

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A big part of sport’s appeal is that when you buy a ticket or turn on the television for a few hours it provides a respite from the turmoil engulfing the outside world.

But in 2020, from the soccer pitches of the English Premier League to the U.S. Open tennis hardcourts, there was no ignoring the fight for racial equality as athletes rushed to the front lines of what became a global movement.

Black Lives Matter was stenciled onto NFL fields and NBA courts. Athletes raised fists and took the knee.

“We Race as One” was the message Formula One sent wanted heard over the roar of screaming engines as mighty Mercedes, with the enthusiastic backing of F1’s only Black driver Lewis Hamilton, changed their famous Silver Arrows livery to black to show their commitment to greater diversity.

There were moments of silence at PGA golf tournaments and outrage at a NASCAR Cup race when what appeared to be a noose was found hanging in the garage of Bubba Wallace, the only African-American driver in the Series.

A summer of protest in the United States triggered by the May death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody followed by the shooting of another unarmed Black man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin were the sparks that ignited a global movement uniting athletes around the world.

Athlete activists are not a new breed but sport and protest have been a polarising volatile mix.

RACIAL INJUSTICE

When Tommie Smith and John Carlos climbed onto the podium at the 1968 Mexico Olympics shoeless with black gloved fists raised in protest after winning gold and silver in the 200 metres, they returned home to the U.S. to face shame and death threats.

Almost 50 years later it was Colin Kaepernick in the cross-hairs, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback the target of hate for his kneeling protests in 2016 that have become a symbol of the fight against racial injustice and police brutality.

U.S. President Donald Trump labelled such protests as unpatriotic and those doing them “sons of bitches”.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham told the NBA’s biggest name and most prominent activist, Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James, to quit sticking his nose into politics and “shut up and dribble”.

Athletes found their voice not as individuals in 2020 but as a group pushing a common cause and changing forever the dynamic between them, team owners and fans.

A year earlier athletes had protested under threat of punishment and reprisals but this year they did so, in most cases, with the blessing of their leagues and governing bodies.

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, had long frowned on such displays but in June president Gianni Infantino said players protesting the death of George Floyd on the pitch “deserve an applause not punishment”.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell went further by saying the league made a mistake not listening to players and encouraged them “all to speak out and peacefully protest”.

SPORTING PROTESTS

After months of rising tension brought on by the Floyd death, the coalescing of the athlete movement came in August following the Blake shooting.

The NBA’s Wisconsin-based Milwaukee Bucks started boycotts when they refused to take the court for their playoff game and other teams followed suit in an unprecedented show of athlete solidarity.

The protests spilled over into Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the Women’s NBA and tennis as Japan’s three-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka pulled out of a tournament after reaching the semi-finals.

The next week at the U.S. Open Osaka used the sport’s biggest stage to put a global spotlight on racial injustice by wearing a different face mask for each of her seven matches with the name of a Black American victim of police brutality.

Nba Teams Fighting For Playoff Spot Season

“It has been more than 50 years since athletes like Muhammad Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith and the Original 9 of women’s tennis all stood up and used their sport, their voices and their actions to change humanity,” said tennis pioneer and women’s rights trailblazer Billie Jean King. “The baton has been passed and Naomi has accepted it.”

As the year draws to a close, athletes have put words into action, forcing leagues to join them with almost every sport introducing diversity programs.

While some have paid lip service others have put their money where their mouth is with NBA great Michael Jordan pledging $100 million over the next 10 years to organisations dedicated to racial equality.

“We have been beaten down (as African Americans) for so many years,” Jordan, principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets, told the Charlotte Observer. “It sucks your soul. You can’t accept it anymore. This is a tipping point. We need to make a stand.

Nba Teams Fighting For Playoff Spot Chart

“We’ve got to be better as a society regarding race.”