Here’s the irony in the Western Conference: On the one hand, it’s absolutely loaded with quality, as eight different teams have a plausible case for making a conference finals run. On the other hand, it still shapes up as a one-horse race.
Despite the West’s superiority, the Oklahoma City Thunder were a level above everyone else, finishing a whopping 16 games ahead of the second-place Houston Rockets last season. I only have the Thunder outdistancing the field by a dozen games this season. (The gap is closing!)
More seriously, the race for spots No. 2 through No. 8 in this conference should again be invigorating, with playoff matchups likely coming down to the last day of the regular season much as it did a season ago. On paper, there is not much breathing room between the LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets … which might help explain why the second seed in the West hasn’t made the conference finals in any of the last four seasons. Virtually any playoff matchup that doesn’t involve the Thunder will be a battle of near-equals.
Nonetheless, my task is to split hairs as best I can and project where each will land in wins and losses. Here’s what I’m forecasting, along with what each team can do in the coming months to shape its future.
