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ESPN Senior Writer- Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what's impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.
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ESPN Senior Writer- ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
- Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
- Author of two books
All 30 NBA teams have two regular-season games remaining, but there is still plenty left to be decided.
The Eastern Conference seeding is largely sorted out -- the top six are virtually locked into place -- and lottery races are mostly decided, but the Western Conference playoff picture remains in chaos, with Nos. 3 through 8 separated by just 2 games entering Friday.
And even after the West order is set behind the runaway No. 1 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, no one knows where that side of the playoff bracket could be headed. "It's matchup dependent and then it's rock, paper, scissors from there," a West executive told ESPN.
As a result, we spent the past week canvassing the league for scouts and executives' West playoff predictions -- from the Los Angeles Lakers' status as a title contender to how much noise the surging LA Clippers can make to what's next for the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies after surprising coaching changes.
Jump to a section:
A Lakers issue LeBron or Luka can't fix
Why Warriors are dangerous right now
Nuggets, Grizz chances after major moves
Teams are 'going to hate' facing Houston
Do Clippers and Wolves have a chance?
How the Lakers hide their biggest weakness