As the NBA enters its final week of regular season play, “A whole new level of competition” is around the corner—the playoffs.
While the Eastern Conference has a sub-.500 team (Chicago) in the playoffs at 21 and a half games back of first, the West is separated by a miniscule seven games overall.
The West is by far the best, through and through.
Not only has the depth of the West provided compelling competition night in, night out during the regular season, but it all leads up to the playoffs and the ultimate culmination of the NBA season—the crowning of a new World Champion.
But before we can get to a golden trophy and confetti, there are a multitude of magnificent matchups in the West—any one could end in an upset.
To note, only two Western playoff teams are on a winning streak currently, Dallas (4) and San Antonio (2). The defending champion Lakers are backing into the playoffs, at 4-6 in their last 10 games, and no team is exactly dominant just days before the playoffs begin.
The following is a break down of the four upcoming series (as the standings sit after 4/12) and how each “underdog” has a rare opportunity of upsetting the higher seed in this year’s version of the wild, wild West.
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