Clippers Playoffs: Grizzlies slide from no.5 seed
Clippers Playoffs Watch: with a loss to the Mavs, the Grizzlies have finally lost grip of the no.5 seed in the West
While the Clippers have locked themselves into the no.4 seed in the Western Conference, below them a change has been made: after losing their seventh game in the last ten, the Memphis Grizzlies have (as expected) fallen from the no.5 seed in the West, being usurped by a Portland Trail Blazers team that has won seven of their last ten and two consecutive games.
Here is a look at the current Western Conference Playoff standings and race as of 04/09/2016:
"1) Golden State Warriors: 70-92) San Antonio Spurs: 65-143) Oklahoma City Thunder: 54-254) Los Angeles Clippers: 51-285) Portland Trail Blazers: 43-376) Memphis Grizzlies: 42-377) Dallas Mavericks: 41-388) Utah Jazz: 39-40———————————–9) Houston Rockets: 38-41"
In their current state, the Grizzlies pose a far easier matchup for the Clippers in the 4-5 series than a Portland Trail Blazers that can light it up from behind the arch and is led by a superstar point guard (Lillard), a blossoming sidekick (McCollum), and a number of other interesting pieces (Davis, Aminu, etc.) — in this playoffs, Memphis is the team you want to play as their talent is deteriorated from major injuries (Conley, Gasol, Randolph, Chalmers, etc.).
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Even with Portland trouncing Memphis in terms of quality, the talent disparity between POR and LAC, and notable poor matchups (Portland backcourt/frontcourt defense vs. Los Angeles backcourt/frontcourt offense), hints at the Clippers winning a POR-LA series easily but this team could stretch the Clippers enough to tire them out for the next round, and given the Clippers are locked into the four seed, entering a series with the Warriors already tired out is bad news on top of bad news on top of … well, you get the point.
For note, the Clippers won the season series over the Trail Blazers 3-1, including the most recent match where J.J. Redick‘s jumper with zero time left on the clock secured it for Los Angeles.
In Portland’s lone series win, things were a bit different for the Clippers: Blake Griffin was fully healthy, Lance Stephenson was the starting small forward, Josh Smith was the team’s backup center, and both Pablo Prigioni and Cole Aldrich had yet to break into the rotation. Needless to say, it was Damian Lillard‘s show as he lead all scorers with 27 points and three of Portland’s other four starters eclipsed double-digit points.
With all of that said, nothing is set in stone. With three to four games left on the season, Portland, Memphis, Utah, and Dallas are all in position to move up or down (Houston as well, if Utah collapses). The Clippers, who’d likely rather face Memphis than any other contestant, could pitch in and sit all key players (and by all, that includes Jamal Crawford who played a big role in beating the Jazz tonight without the starters) when they play the Grizzlies in one of their remaining games.
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Sacrificing a win won’t be the end-all in regards to Memphis’ trek back to the no.5 side but it’d play a huge helper. Besides, we’ve seen crazier things happen in the NBA at season’s end so your best bet is keeping a keen eye on standings until the fat lady decides she’s seen enough.