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NBA: Who’s Going To Win The No. 2 Seed In The West?

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 10, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles the ball as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) defends during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. The Spurs won 104-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles the ball as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) defends during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. The Spurs won 104-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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February 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) moves the ball against the defense of San Antonio Spurs center Aron Baynes (16) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

Recent Play

Examining the remaining schedules is helpful, but we certainly need to put them in context with each team’s quality of play over the last few weeks.

We start with the hottest team in the NBA right now, the San Antonio Spurs, who have won 11 straight games. They’ve soundly beaten the league-leading Warriors in that span, they’ve conquered James Harden and the Rockets in back-to-back games and they’ve won 21 of their last 24 games.

Now that Tony Parker has pulled his head out of his you-know-where and Kawhi Leonard is playing like an MVP candidate (21.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.3 SPG in his last six games), the Spurs are rounding into championship form. Even if the Pellies need a home win to secure their playoff berth, they might fall to the Spurs simply because Gregg Popovich, like winter, is coming.

tim duncan spurs white walkers championship winter is coming gif Imgur Game of Thrones
tim duncan spurs white walkers championship winter is coming gif Imgur Game of Thrones /

GIF via Bleacher Report

That being said, they’re not the only team in the league that’s been playing well over the last few weeks. Perhaps the NBA’s second hottest team, the Clippers, have won five straight games, are 9-1 in their last 10 and have won 12 of their last 13.

When Blake Griffin went down, it felt like Lob City was in danger of imploding. Instead, Chris Paul played at an MVP level, DeAndre Jordan became the reincarnation of Bill Russell and the Clips were able to stay afloat. Now that Griffin is back, everything looks peachy, especially with J.J. Redick shooting the lights out and Jamal Crawford back on the floor.

The Grizzlies are the only team in this bunch that hasn’t been playing well lately. The Grizz are a meager 5-5 in their last 10 games, Mike Conley‘s foot injury is a major cause for concern and Marc Gasol simply hasn’t looked like the MVP candidate he was to start the season.

Losing back-to-back games against the Spurs hurt, but the Rockets are still 7-3 in their last 10 games and have a bonafide MVP candidate in Harden, who is nearly averaging a 28-7-6 stat line this season. Unfortunately, Houston is also playing without the injured Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas.

Next: Tiebreakers