5 things to watch for in the second half of the 2020-21 NBA season

5. Jumbled standings in both conferences

Every season starts off the same way. Teams play a handful of games. Records are near-identical. There’s hardly any separation in the standings, but there’s also an inherent belief that the more games played, teams will soon fall into a given range within the standings, thus offering greater clarity on the playoff picture.

Well, we’re now halfway through this season and still waiting for that separation in both conferences. Out east, six teams have between 18 and 19 losses. Seeds 4-through-8 in the Western Conference are separated by just four games.

The No. 4 seeded Celtics are equally distanced from the three seed as they are the 11th spot, which wouldn’t even qualify them for the play-in tournament. The New Orleans Pelicans and OKC Thunder each sport a woeful 15-21 record. Typically a death sentence this late in the season, they’re only four games from the eighth seed.

Teams like the Knicks, Hornets and Spurs have used the chaos in their favor to position themselves for a surprising playoff run, knocking supposed locks like Indiana and Golden State out of the picture at the moment.

We may very well see some unexpected results, but some of the beauty of this season actually lies in the unpredictability of it all, where these clustered standings make it difficult to get a legitimate read on teams. One day they’re looking good with homecourt advantage, but all it takes is one mini-slump to tumble down the standings, barely clinging onto a playoff spot.