In the wake of a chaotic trade deadline day in the NBA, let’s look at the crowded race for the bottom four seeds in the Western Conference playoffs. With the top four seeds — San Antonio, Dallas, L.A. Lakers, Oklahoma City, in some order — seemingly locked up and with three teams — L.A. Clippers, Sacramento, Minnesota — too far back, there seem to be eight teams competing for four spots. How it might shake out:
5. New Orleans Hornets 34-25 14 games back
What They Did: Traded Marcus Thornton to the Sacramento Kings for Carl Landry.
What it Means: They essentially exchanged a high-level reserve guard for a high-level reserve forward. Given the injury concerns with starting center Emeka Okafor and the lack of quality frontcourt depth, this was probably a good deal for the Hornets. New Orleans has had a very erratic season so far and are hard to predict, but as long as Chris Paul stays healthy the rest of the way, they might be hard to catch. I like New Orleans for the 6th seed. Home/Road splits remaining: 12/11.
6. Denver Nuggets 34-25 14 games back
What They Did: They traded Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to the New York Knicks for half the Knicks roster. You probably heard about it.
What it Means: The Nuggets have looked great in two games since the Melo trade, notching double-digit wins against both the Grizzlies and Boston Celtics. But do we need to put an asterisk next to those games? For starters, both were in Denver, where the Nuggets have been unusually good, with the league’s fourth best home record (24-7). The Grizzlies game felt like a “Home Alone” game, with the Nuggets relieved to finally be past the on-going Melodrama and eager to prove they could win without him. The Boston game came against a Celtics team emotionally reeling from the unexpected trade of center Kendrick Perkins just hours earlier. The Nuggets might look a little different once things settle down, and a slightly road-heavy schedule won’t help. But this is still a deep, talented, well-coached team. I’m guessing the race between Denver and Memphis could come down to tiebreaker the Nuggets won by taking the season-series. So, I like Denver for 7th. Home/Road splits remaining: 10/13
