Contenders
1. Spurs – they continue to be on a roll and the impressive thing about most of their wins is 7 of the 8 wins in April have been double digit wins.
2. Thunder – they’ve played .500 over their last 10, which isn’t want they want to be doing heading into the playoffs.
3. Bulls – winning versus the Heat with Derrick Rose playing as bad he was very impressive.
4. Heat – going into the playoffs, they’ll need to figure out how to best execute on offense or else they could be in trouble.
Semi-Contenders
5. Pacers – they’re 9-1 in April thus far and are playing good basketball at the right time but also have been lucky with an easy schedule.
6. Clippers – 12-3 in their last 15 games has them in a good position out West.
7. Grizzlies – getting Zach Randolph back and healthy for the playoffs will be a key for this team.
8. Lakers – surprisingly, they’ve played real well without Kobe and are 4-2 in those games with wins against the Spurs, Mavericks and Nuggets.
9. Hawks – they’ve had a easy schedule of late but end the season versus four good playoff teams.
10. Celtics – the last time Rajon Rondo had a game of single digit assist numbers was back on March 9th, when he had 5 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
11. Nuggets – back-to-back wins against Houston were huge for playoff positioning.
12. Knicks – Carmelo Anthony has been playing lately like how most New York fans envisioned him playing when they traded for him.
13. Mavericks – two tough back-to-back OT losses are hard to swallow with playoff positioning on the line.
Fringe-Playoff Teams
14. Magic – they’re lucky the schedule has been relatively easy with Dwight Howard out.
15. Suns – Phoenix has been playing well at the right time with a playoff spot on the line.
16. Jazz – the emergence of Gordon Hayward has really been a nice highlight of the season for Utah.
17. Rockets – after a 4-game win streak, the Rockets are now on a 4-game losing streak.
18. Bucks – after a nice 7 game stretch they played three playoff teams recently and lost all 3 games.
19. 76ers – they’re coming dangerously close to falling out of the playoffs altogether.
Counting Down the Days
20. Trail Blazers – injuries have ravaged this team, which has given players like JJ Hickson a chance to show what they have.
21. Pistons – Brandon Knight really plays well versus the Cavs with almost half of his highest scoring games coming against the Cavs this season, including his career high.
22. Raptors – despite injuries, they’ve stayed competitive with wins against Boston and Atlanta this past week.
23. Nets – despite what the Nets record says, they’ve been playing some good, competitive basketball lately.
24. Warriors – they’ve lost 5 straight and are in full tank mode in hopes of keeping their 1st round pick.
25. Timberwolves – they’ve lost 11 straight now after playing .500 basketball and having a chance at the 8th seed out West.
26. Hornets – I’m not sure how Monty Williams has been able to do it, but the Hornets have won 4 straight.
Full-On Tanking
27. Kings – they were on a 7 game losing streak before their 1 point win against Portland Sunday.
28. Cavaliers – losing by 50 at the end of the 3rd quarter versus the Pistons on Monday shows how little talent there is outside of the top players on the Cavs.
29. Wizards – they’ve played better of late but there are few bright spots for the Wizards this season.
30. Bobcats – 28 points in the 2nd half and 67 total points for their game Monday defines their season.
