NBA Playoff Picture Looking Much Different This Year

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Compared to last season, two new teams would make the Eastern Conference Playoffs if the season ended today — Charlotte & Brooklyn — while three new teams would make it in the West under the same circumstances — Denver & both Los Angeles franchises.

Below, we have the playoff landscape listed, had the season ended on January 8th. Really, only one team is done in the Western Conference — Phoenix — while the East has four teams way outside of the picture — Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Cleveland.

Eastern Conference Playoff Seeding
(as of January 8th, 2019)

  1. Milwaukee
  2. Toronto
  3. Indiana
  4. Philadelphia
  5. Boston
  6. Miami
  7. Charlotte
  8. Brooklyn

Teams within three games of eighth seed: Detroit (1), Orlando (2), Washington (3)

Western Conference Playoff Seeding
(as of January 8th, 2019)

  1. Denver
  2. Golden State
  3. Oklahoma City
  4. LA Clippers
  5. Houston
  6. San Antonio
  7. Portland
  8. LA Lakers

Teams within three games of eighth seed: Sacramento (1.5), Utah (2), Minnesota (2.5), New Orleans (3)

One team in each conference really sticks out: Brooklyn in the East; Sacramento in the West. Going into the season, the expectation was for them to be way outside the picture, yet each team is right there in the mix. For the sake of shaking things up, I hope they both continue playing at a high level and make the tournament. Both franchises have young, exciting players that compete every single night and the NBA Playoffs could use a few surprise participants.

CATEGORY: NBA