On Thursday, we asked you which Eastern Conference team will make the NBA Finals this season. At the moment, no team in that poll has more than 24% of the vote, and five clubs have at least an 11% vote share.
While the East has been the conference of parity this season, the Western Conference has been something quite different. Two teams, the Suns (48-10) and Warriors (42-17), have controlled the top of the standings for essentially the entire season — no other club has cracked the top two since November 10.
Teams that have a ton of regular season success but haven’t yet proven themselves in the playoffs are often regarded with skepticism, not considered true contenders until they make a deep postseason run. But Golden State’s current core, led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – has a long history of playoff success. And while Phoenix certainly can’t match the Warriors’ recent track record, the Suns showed last spring that they were no fluke, making it all the way to the NBA Finals and coming within two wins of a title.
In other words, these two teams are legit, and look like the odds-on favorites to meet in the Western Conference Finals. But that’s obviously not a foregone conclusion yet, with a handful of intriguing clubs filling out the playoff picture.
The Grizzlies, for one, are putting pressure on Golden State for the No. 2 seed in the conference — their 41-19 record puts them just a game-and-a-half back of the Dubs. Memphis is one of those teams we alluded to above, whose lack of recent playoff success means they’ll have plenty of skeptics to win over. But Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, and company have shown they’re not willing to back down from anybody and have made the Grizzlies one of the NBA’s most exciting teams.
The Jazz (36-22) have championships aspirations and look great when they’re firing on all cylinders, but they’ve been up and down this season and have been exposed at times by smaller lineups. The Mavericks (35-24) are hoping that this year’s supporting cast is a better fit for Luka Doncic, but they’ll still only go as far as their All-NBA guard takes them.
The Nuggets (33-25) are one of the Western Conference’s most interesting contenders. Nikola Jokic has kept them firmly in the playoff mix with another MVP-caliber performance, and he could get some help before the end of the season — if Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back) return for the playoffs and look anything like their 2020/21 selves, Denver will be an extremely tough out.
Like Denver, the Clippers (30-31) and Lakers (27-31) could be dangerous if they’re at full strength, but Kawhi Leonard seems like a long shot to make it back this spring for the Clips, and the Lakers haven’t been able to put it all together even when their stars are healthy.
The Timberwolves (31-28) currently hold the top play-in spot ahead of the two Los Angeles teams and are looking to clinch a playoff spot for just the second time since 2004. It’s too early to rule anything out, but a deep postseason run seems unlikely for a Minnesota team that would’ve been happy entering the season just to earn a playoff berth.
If the nine teams we’ve already mentioned finish in the top 10, that leaves one play-in spot for a group that includes the revamped Pelicans (23-36) and Kings (22-38), the surprisingly-surging Trail Blazers (25-34), and Gregg Popovich‘s young Spurs (23-36). Again, never say never, but it’s a pretty safe bet that none of these teams will be representing the West in the Finals this June.
What do you think? Which Western Conference team do you expect to make it to the NBA Finals? How many legitimate contenders do you think there are in the West?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Seriously, no Lakers option?
The “Another team” choice is there for teams that aren’t in the top eight, same as in the Eastern poll.
With AD out and a tough schedule to end the season there may be no playoffs this year for the Lakers
Why would there be? They are terrible.
Go Big Go Grizz
Griz are looking real good but they are young. Perhaps Conference Finals or semi-finals first then make the leap?
I agrizzle
This one is easier it’s the Suns but I still feel Warriors will go deeper and I still like them to win it all (even if they have some obnoxious men on that roster…)
Suns are built well but rely too much on Chris Paul who is likely to pull up lame at some point. Almost like the Jazz who have Donovan Mitchell too high usage and too much Reliance upon him.
I suppose the same could be said about Curry or Draymond Green. One of them goes down it spells trouble as we can see with the Warriors now struggling with green out.
Head tells me Warriors if they’re healthy (a caveat for any team I guess), but I think it would be really cool to see the Grizz get there.
I got the Jazz for my underdog/upset team
Danny Ainge is cheap
He did not use first round picks to acquire better players at TD
First off Ainge isn’t the GM and second they had only one 1st Rd pick as their next few 1sts are earmarked for the Grizz in the Conley trade until whenever it conveys.
Warriors 2:1 against Suns
I really look forward to that series if they do meet at some point. Mikal bridges on Curry is practically total shutdown so hopefully Thompson or Poole or Otto Porter or someone else picks up the slack offensively. A good bench is crucial.
But neither team was at full strength on their previous 3 games.
Chris Paul has played in all 58 games the Suns have played, and is averaging over 30+Minutes per game.
The team hasn’t been resting him like a few other teams have rested their Stars on back-to-back Road games.
His health bares worth watching in the 2nd half.
Lets see if they start to give him some Games off given their big lead in the Standings.
The Suns have a pretty much insurmountable lead when it comes to seeding with a 6.5 game lead with 24 games to go. I think they’re the team to beat but the Warriors and the Jazz have a shot. The Warriors still haven’t quite acclimated to having Thompson back and like Mr. Adams wrote the Jazz are tough to beat if they’re firing on all cylinders.
Suns are the most complete and consistent team. But GSW has a championship core, and that will prevail.
DEN or DAL to the finals Vs MIL!
El Don Always Wrong you’re out of your mind. Oh wait you can’t read my posts, you muted me LOL.
There’s no way Denver or Dallas make it to the Western Conference finals this year.
Suns lean far too heavy on CP3
Grizzlies have depth
Passion and hierarchy
I’m also rooting for the Grizzlies to go deep but what does hierarchy mean? Suns are very good you don’t need to take away from them to support Memphis. Both have good teams, but personally I give the edge to Phoenix because of CP3 and experience.
Suns will win the West. But their playoff run relies on CP3’s health. If he stays healthy they should be the favorites to win it all.
The Twolves if they get another man who can score of the bench maybe Schroder