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It’s hard to believe that we are already to the end of February. That means that the NBA season is really rounding into form with the playoffs just around the corner. Each team has roughly 22 games left which means we are basically at the 3/4 mark of the season. The playoff races are heating up with the best battles being for the 2-4 spots (separated by 2.5 games) in the East between the Celtics, Raptors and Wizards and the 4-7 spots in the West between the Jazz, Clippers, Grizzlies and Thunder that are separated by just three games.
The East race will be very interesting to watch with Kyle Lowry possibly out for the rest of the regular season for the Raptors. Toronto was the busiest team at the deadline, adding Serge Ibaka and PJ Tucker, but without their point guard the transition might not be as smooth as they’d have liked. The Celtics stood pat, but they are the in driver’s seat here and should finish the season in that second spot. I wouldn’t count out the Wizards though. They’ve been one of the best teams in the entire league over the past two months and show no signs of slowing down.
Toronto probably is the deepest, Boston is the best coached and Washington has the most talent in the starting lineup. This should be a fun race down the stretch.
There is also a race for the eighth seed in the West that involves a lot of teams, but not a lot of good teams. Perhaps the less said about that race, the better.
NBA Betting Tips:
We’ll get a good look at exactly how far the Wizards have come tonight as they face off against the best team in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have been tearing through the league as of late, but the Wizards have been great at home. Earlier this season they won 17 straight at home and are 24-8 there on the season. I think the Wizards +7 will play hard tonight and make this game closer than you’d expect. The Warriors will probably still win because they are the Warriors, but this should be close.
The Bulls once looked like they were on their way out of the playoffs, but a four game winning streak has helped them get back safely in the seventh seed. Tonight, they’ll host the eighth seed in the West, the Denver Nuggets and I don’t love this game for Chicago. The Nuggets are a fast team that can nail threes and the Bulls aren’t that. Denver +3 has been playing great since centering on Nikola Jokic and that should continue tonight.
One of the team’s to watch in this final stretch is the Utah Jazz. All of their numbers show them as one of the best teams in the league. They are a good offensive teams and an elite defensive team. They face off against the OKC Thunder tonight in what should be a really fun game. If any team can stop Russell Westbrook, it’s this one. Jazz -2 is the play.
