4 teams are currently fighting for the 7th and 8th spot for the playoffs, just recently the Nets and Bucks were knocked out of the race for the spot and with only four games left for all four of those teams the teams that will be in the playoffs are most likely going to be the ones standing in their respective seed right now and that’s the Bulls and Pistons.
In order for the Bobcats to get a spot, they will need to win at least their 3 of their fourth games and hope that the Pistons lose all their games, but they could win all four of their games and hope the Pistons only win one. Right now I don’t see that likely. Nor did I see the Pacers getting into the playoffs, they are 4 games behind with 4 games left.
First let’s have a look at the Bobcats’ upcoming schedule – They will be playing at Atlanta in their next game and the remaining three games will be played at home against the Pistons, Cavaliers and Bucks. This will be a hard one, if they can beat the Hawks in Atlanta or the Cavs at home (Charlotte) then they might actually get the playoff spot, but if they lose any one of those games then they won’t be seeing a playoff spot.
Now let’s look at the Pacers’ upcoming schedule – They will be playing away for all four of their remaining games, now this will be a tough challenge for them. They haven’t had much success on the road at all this season so that makes it even tougher. Unless Granger steps up and plays the important role that he needs to to lead the Pacers into the playoffs, then the Pacers will be ending their season just before the post-season.
Now the Pistons – They will be playing New Jersey at home and also the Bulls at home and the Pacers and Heat at their home court. The Nets and Bulls will be a challenege, maybe they can take the win, maybe they won’t. With all their recent decline I don’t see them winning at the Bulls at all, they might pull a win out of the Nets but in Indiana and Miami they might only get one win out of that. If they can at least win 2 games then they will be safe.
So overall I see the Pistons and Bulls fighting for the 7th spot, but I’m not sure that’s the smartest idea as that will be 2nd at the end of the season will be the Celtics, now they are a team you don’t want to play in the first round. Neither would you want to play the Cavs either but if I were to choose I’d want to play the Cavs as they are a much easier opponent, well as far as experience goes. The Cavs seem to be the team that might disappoint and get swept out but on everyones predictions they are the predicted to make it to the Finals.
So if the Pacers or Bobcats can step it up, then maybe they will have a hope and get to the playoff but if they play normal basketball that they have been playing this whole season then I don’t see them making it.
