As usual, the Western Conference has been a lot more competitive than the Eastern Conference this season. The East does boast two of the top teams in the league, but everyone paying close attention to the end-of-the-season playoff races is locked in on how the West will shake out. Right now, the Western Conference standings are extremely tight. The next few weeks will not only determine who in the West will have a chance to compete in the playoffs but also who can avoid the dreaded play-in tournament. Let’s look at the current playoff picture to see how the 2025 NBA playoff bracket may end up looking.
A Look At The Western Conference NBA Playoff Picture
The Top of the 2025 NBA Playoff Bracket
Barring some sort of insane end-of-season slide, the Thunder will be the one seed for the 2025 NBA playoffs. They have been the best team in the West all season long and are the favorites to represent the conference in the NBA Finals.
After them, four teams are fighting for the second seed. The Rockets, Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Lakers are all tied in the lost column. They are jostling not only for two rounds of homecourt advantage in the playoffs but also for who can avoid Oklahoma City’s side of the bracket. It also looks like the sixth seed is going to be a much tougher opponent than the seventh, making the second-fifth playoff seeding super important.
Who Can Avoid the Play-In Tournament?
The next three teams are all hoping to grab the sixth seed (or better) and avoid the play-in tournament. Right now sixth-eighth seeds in the West hold the two hottest teams in the league, the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are both only 2.5 games behind the Lakers in the fifth seed and can move into the higher side of the bracket if they stay hot.
The Clippers theoretically could as well, but they are four games back from the Lakers and are not playing nearly as well as Golden State or Minnesota. Still, all three of these teams are just a few losses away from slipping into the dangerous territory of the ninth seed. Things are that close.
Someone Will Miss the Play-In
The final group fighting to make their way into the 2025 NBA playoff bracket is the ninth through 11th seeds. The Kings, Mavericks, and Suns are all going to need to finish the season strong to even have a chance of making the playoffs. Right now the Kings seem like they have a decent shot at making the play-in tournament, but they have lost four games in a row.
They are only a game and a half up on the 10th seed Mavericks who have also been plummeting down the standings. The Mavericks are only a game and a half ahead of the Suns, who currently sit outside of the playoff picture. If either the Mavericks or the Suns miss the play-in it will be considered an absolute disaster for their franchise, yet one of them likely will.
However the standings end up shaking out one thing is clear, these next few weeks will be crucial in determining who has the best chance at bringing the NBA Finals Trophy back to the West.
Photo credit: © Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
The post A Look At The Western Conference NBA Playoff Picture appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.