It’s getting very crowded in the play-in field out West.
With the NBA’s regular season down to its final week-and-a-half, there are four teams — the Warriors, Timberwolves, Clippers and Grizzlies — all within ½ game of each other. Those teams are occupying the No. 5 through No. 8 seed, but, with a handful of games still left, there figures to be plenty of movement.
What should make this final stretch all the more captivating is that many of these teams will face each other over this final stretch.
Here are the winners and losers from the penultimate week of the 2024-25 NBA season.
WINNERS
In jumbled West play-in picture, Warriors gain some ground
With Stephen Curry back and healthy from his pelvic contusion, the Warriors (44-31) have ripped off three consecutive wins, averaging 131 points per game in that stretch. Curry, who erupted for 52 points in a huge victory Tuesday against the Grizzlies, has appeared refreshed following the week off.
It was paramount for Golden State to secure that win against Memphis; starting with Thursday, the Warriors embark on a tough stretch with three games in four days, against the Lakers (46-29), Nuggets (47-30) and Rockets (50-27).
Timberwolves do, too
Minnesota, winners of 12 of its last 15 games, is playing its best basketball of the season. Anthony Edwards has been tremendous, both scoring in bursts when needed, but also feeding his teammates and deferring to them when opponents blitz him with double teams.
Julius Randle, acquired in the offseason trade that shipped Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks, has become a far more reliable No. 2 option, emphasizing efficiency in his shot selection. More importantly, and for the time being, the Timberwolves climbed into the No. 6 seed, the last guaranteed postseason berth in the West.
Heat find winning formula: 3 and D
Miami went from a season-long losing streak of 10 games directly into a season-long winning streak of six — the most recent being a 19-point demolition of the Celtics in which Boston emptied the bench with just fewer than five minutes left.
Over the last six games, the Heat have posted the NBA’s second-best defensive rating, allowing just 104.4 points per 100 possessions. Miami has also had its best 3-point shooting stretch of the season, converting 46.9% of its attempts during this winning streak, best in the league over that span. Is it sustainable? Tyler Herro has been particularly efficient and effective, but a promising sign for Miami is that role players like Davion Mitchell, Kyle Anderson and rookie Pelle Larsson have also contributed.
LOSERS
Unstable Grizzlies make a drastic change
It’s never a great sign when a franchise, albeit one with a cloudy direction, makes an abrupt coaching change; it’s even worse when it’s coming from a team well on its way to the playoffs with nine games left in the regular season. Yet, the Grizzlies (44-32), losers of 16 of their last 25 games, had ...
