The NBA regular season enters its final month of impact, with each team still having less than 20 games to play. Many teams are still fighting for playoff spots, and the difficulty of the schedule will determine their seeding position, or even whether they can make it to the playoffs.
The Trail Blazers have the easiest schedule left in the league, with only 3 of their next 17 games against strong teams. Their toughest showdowns will be against the Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks.
The Hawks and Lone Rangers have similarly relaxed schedules. And the Brooklyn Nets are fourth in the NBA's remaining schedule, which would be great news for them as they try to make it into the top six in the East.
Having said that the schedule is simple, let's talk about the team with the difficult schedule. In the rest of the NBA, the team with the hardest schedule belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers. Eight of the Lakers' remaining 17 games are against top teams, including two against the Suns and Nuggets. They also play against the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks.
The Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings joined the Lakers in the top five, the toughest schedule remaining. The Bulls and Bucks are in a very challenging Eastern Conference, and winning a higher ranking is crucial. The Bulls are also looking forward to injured stars like Caruso, Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams returning before the playoffs.