The race for the playoffs is heating up in both the Western and Eastern conference. With star players being held back due to injury or vaccine mandates, the NBA is on the verge of having one of the best playoffs in recent years. Most cities have lifted their mask mandates which allows fans to go to arenas without masks which is a huge factor come playoff time for teams that play both home and away games, with arenas most likely being sold out with loud fans for the first time since the 2018-19 playoffs in which was the last time that the playoffs allowed full capacity at stadiums.

The wild wild west is starting to get a bit wild. The Los Angeles Lakers who were championship favorites at the start of the season are struggling to win games and to position themselves for a play-in spot to compete for a playoff seed despite superstar LeBron James scoring two 50 point games in the past week against the Golden State Warriors and the Washington Wizards in which both games the Lakers ended up winning.

The western conference has a surprising team sitting in the top three seeds, the Memphis Grizzlies who have surprised a lot of teams and fans this season are currently sitting at the two seed and their young Superstar Ja Morant who is in the MVP race playing at his best with his young talented squad while they try to hold on to the second seed to face the seventh seeded Minnesota Timberwolves who have been at their best with center Karl Anthony-Towns and guard Anthony Edwards, this young team who does not have much playoff experience can turn that around if they can maintain a healthy squad.

A couple of teams in the west like the first seeded Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets have also been playing at a very high level, each of these teams have a player that is competing in the MVP race. The Denver Nuggets who may get back Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. before the start of the playoffs have found great success for Nikola Jokic who is leading the MVP race, their supporting cast has been enough to take outstanding wins.

The Dallas Mavericks have been playing some of their best basketball after acquiring Spencer Dinwiddie from the Washington Wizards, Dinwiddie has been clutch for the Mavs by knocking down two game winners against the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets. Luka Doncic may actually have the right pieces to get past the first round in this year’s playoffs if the Mavericks can continue to win games and fight for the 3rd seed in which the Golden State Warriors currently hold.

The Los Angeles Clippers have also been a surprising team due to their star players Kawhi Leonard and Paul George not playing due to injuries which have cost them to miss the season and majority of the games.

The eastern conference has been very competitive for the first time in recent years, with teams like the Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, and Boston Celtics having great chemistry and star power. Those teams are currently top five in the eastern conference, the Brooklyn Nets have been a very disappointing team throughout the season but have recently found their groove with Kyrie Irving having a career high performance of 60 points against the Orlando Magic and Kevin Durant also having a great performance with 53 points against the New York Knicks.

The Nets are a team that none of the top five seeds want to face due to how dangerous the duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant has been, although all star guard Ben Simmons is out due to back injury, his possible return come playoff time can boost the Net’s chances of going to the NBA Finals. A problem that Brooklyn is facing is that of Kyrie Irving and playing at home, Irving is not able to play at home games due to the New York vaccine mandate, Irving is allowed to sit courtside at home games but not participate on the court which in eyes of the NBA and it’s fans, that really does not make sense.

The Miami Heat are heating up at the right time, currently leading the eastern conference with the 1st seed. The Heat finally have a fully healthy squad that can compete especially now that Bam Adebayo has been on a roll on both sides of the floor alongside with the third year player Tyler Herro who is averaging a career high 21 points per game.

Despite losing in the NBA Finals in the 19-2020 season, this squad has the right role players and chemistry to help them get back to the promised land, with the addition of Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and PJ Tucker, the heat have been a very great defensive team this season ranking 4th with a defensive rating of 107.4.

The Chicago Bulls have brought back showtime basketball, unfortunately their hot run at the beginning of the season has cooled off a bit, from sitting at the 1st seed to now sitting at the fifth seed, having lost back to back losses against the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks back in February, things have not been so good, the Bulls have had tough times to beat the top six teams in the NBA which include the Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Come playoff time the Bulls are set to struggle against the top teams in the eastern conference, it wouldn’t be a shocker if they also get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.