The NBA season is already halfway over, so let's take a look at the Western rankings.
No. 1: Thunder, 34-15.
No. 2: Timberwolves, 34-15.
No. 3: Clippers, 32-15.
No. 4: Nuggets, 34-16.
Fifth place: Kings, 29-19.
Sixth place: Suns, 28-21.
If the season ends there, then the above six teams will directly qualify for the playoffs instead of the play-offs.
No. 7: Pelicans, 28-21.
Eighth place: P, 26-23.
No. 9: Lakers, 26-25.
No. 10: Jazz, 24-26.
If the season ends here, these teams will need to play in the play-offs, do you dare to imagine the Lakers falling to the point of ninth?
No. 11: Rockets, 23-25.
No. 12: Warriors, 21-25.
13th place: Grizzlies, 18-31.
14th place: Trail Blazers, 15-34.
15th place: Spurs, 10-40.
Let's take a look at the bottom five teams, is it embarrassing, in my impression, the Rockets are at least a perennial playoff team, not to mention the Warriors, the trade came to Chris Paul, the record is even worse, the Trail Blazers fell after Lillard left, and the Spurs failed to rise under the leadership of the champion Wembanyama, and the ability to lead the team is incomparable with the big brother Duncan, at least not for now.