NBA regular season is coming to a close, playoff chase is on

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What is already certain are the No. 1 seeds in each conference. The Golden State Warriors are 63-14, by far the best record not only in their conference, but also in the entire league.

The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) season is quickly drawing to an end, with teams fighting hard to get the best seed possible for the playoffs.

As of this past Tuesday, each team has about five games remaining in their regular season schedule and it’s still a toss-up for who gets in and whose season will come to an end next week.

What is already certain are the No. 1 seeds in each conference. The Golden State Warriors are 63-14, by far the best record not only in their conference, but also in the entire league.

Second in the Western Conference, behind ten games, are the Houston Rockets with a record of 53-24. The Rockets have no chance of moving to first place, but could easily fall a few spots if they are not careful.

The Rockets defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday, 115-112. Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidates James Hardin and Russell Westbrook lead their teams in scoring with 41 and 40 points, respectively. However, when it comes to the MVP race, Golden State’s Stephen Curry is considered the favorite.

The top team coming out of the Eastern Conference is the Atlanta Hawks with a record of 57-19. Atlanta has been leading their conference for most of the season, but have struggled lately, going 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, have been slowly creeping up in the standings and have 50 wins. James’ former team, the Miami Heat, are struggling to stay afloat. As of Tuesday, their record stands at 34-43, tied with the Indiana Pacers for ninth place and one game behind the Boston Celtics for the last spot.

Just looking at the standings, one can see just how many more wins the Western Conference has over the Eastern Conference. As of Tuesday, the worst team that will make the playoffs in the west are the Thunder, who stand at 42-35, seven games above .500.

The last team in the east are the Celtics, who have a record of 35-42, as of Tuesday. They are seven games below .500. At that record, three more teams in the Western Conference would be eligible for the playoffs. That means, taking the top 16 teams in the NBA, there would be 11 from the West and only five from the East.

There has been rumor of changing the playoff system in the NBA, from the current top eight seeds in each conference, to accepting the top 16 overall teams. However, that is something to be discussed by the NBA owners in the off-season.

What matters now is who will win the NBA championship. The playoffs are set to start on April 18.