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We’re coming to the end of the regular season in the National Basketball Association and I’m sure that the league has let out a sigh of relief as the Los Angeles Lakers are currently in 7th place in the Western conference and should make the playoffs.

The Lakers are on a 4-game winning streak which is currently the second longest winning streak in the Westen conference behind only the Phoenix Suns who have won 6 in a row.

Now, the Lakers actually have a chance to get out of the play-in portion of the NBA playoffs as they are tied with the Los Angeles Clippers with a record of 41-38.

Each team has three games left in their regular season and they’ll actually face each other tonight, so the winner of tonight’s game will probably have the inside track to that 6th place finish. The lakers other two games are on the road against the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz while the Clippers will a road game against the Portland Trailblazers before wrapping up their regular season at home against the Suns.

If you remember when Lebron James got hurt, I wrote that if the Lakers were going to get into the playoffs that Anthony Davis would need to step up and he has lately. In 7 of the Lakers 13 March games Davis scored 30 points or more. In the Lakers first April game he put up 40 points against the Houston Rockets. Davis did have a tough shooting night last night going 7 for 16 from the field in the Lakers 135-133 overtime victory over the Jazz. Even though he didn’t shoot very well Davis still posted a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds while also handing out 6 assists.

If you don’t remember Davis was once thought of as a Top 10 or even Top 5 player in the NBA, but injuries really sidelined his career. If Davis can continue to produce like he has in March and so far in April could the Lakers actually be a lower seeded team that could upset a top seed?

While 5th through 10th place in the Western conference is still up for grabs over in the Eastern conference the 10 playoff teams are set. Now it’s just a matter of finding out who ends up where place wise.

It does appear as that the majority of the playoff positions are set, but there are a couple that could change. The Brooklyn Nets hold a one game lead over the Miami Heat for 6th place while the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors are tied with a record of 40-39. Atlanta currently holds the tiebreaker over Toronto and therefore would be the 8th place team if they finished tied at the end of the regular season.

Generally, the NBA playoffs don’t provide a lot of upset, but is it possible that this year could be different? We’ve discussed the Lakers, but there are teams like the Golden State Warriors and the Suns that are going to finish a little farther down in the Western conference standings. Could these teams get on a roll and find their way into the NBA Finals?

The Denver Nuggets are just one win away from clinching the #1 seed in the Western conference. The Nuggets had a chance to wrap things up last night but lost to the Western conference last place team the Houston Rockets 124-103.

After the loss to the Nuggets head coach didn’t mince words about his team. “If that’s how we’re going to play, we’ll be out in the first round,” Malone said. “When we don’t do our jobs, there’s accountability. And I speak the truth. I just called our team ‘soft,’ and I dared someone to challenge me. No one did, because we as a group were soft tonight. I’m not saying we are soft, but tonight, we were.”

It’s very, very rare that an 8th seed beats a #1 seed in the NBA playoffs but is it possible that this is the year that it could happen. Denver has a couple of games to right thei ship, but if they don’t is it possible that they could go out in the 1st round?

Denver has two road games before they wrap up their season at home. The Nuggets will face the Suns and then the Jazz on the road before they return home for their final regular season games against the Sacramento Kings.

The Nuggets biggest playoff hurdle may be the health of MVP candidate Nikola Jokic who returned last night against the Rockets from a back injury. Jokic played 25 minutes and scored 14 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. With three regular season games left Jokic should have enough time to be ready to go full speed into the playoffs, but if he’s not the Nuggets could be a very vulnerable #1 seed.

With the NBA season winding down are you looking forward to the playoffs? Do you think will see any major upsets in the NBA playoffs? And finally, how much of the NBA playoffs will you watch?

Don’t forget that you can also find me on Twitter, I’m @Burketime.