The Rockets will be eliminated today at the earliest!A battle may affect the fate of many teams: Lakers, Warriors, Kings are expected to lock up the top ten
On April 6, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced the potential impact of today's game results, the Rockets' home game against the Heat is quite crucial, the team that played 13-2 in March will be eliminated as soon as today and completely miss the play-offs. The outcome of their matches also affected the fate of several teams, and the official conditions were announced as follows -
Warriors: As long as the Warriors beat the format and the Rockets lose to the Heat, the Warriors will lock up a top-10 spot in the West.
Rockets: As long as the Rockets lose to the Heat and the Warriors beat the Mavericks, the Rockets will be eliminated.
Lakers: As long as the Rockets lose to the Heat, the Lakers will lock up the top 10 spots in the West.
Kings: If the Kings win against the Celtics or the Rockets lose to the Heat, the Kings will lock up a top-10 spot in the West.
Bucks: As long as the Bucks beat the Raptors or the Pacers lose to the Thunder, the Heat lose to the Rockets or the Magic beat the Hornets, the Bucks can lock up a playoff spot.
Obviously, the outcome of the Rockets vs. Heat game could affect the fate of multiple teams, including themselves.
Currently, the Kings are 44-32 and 8th in the West, the Lakers are 44-33 and 9th in the West, the Warriors are 42-34 and 10th in the West, and the Rockets are 38-38 and 11th in the West.
With the Rockets losing 110-133 to the Warriors yesterday, the gap between the two teams has widened to four wins, leaving both sides with six games remaining. Since the Rockets don't have a dominant head-to-head history against the Warriors, they must win five more games than the Warriors in their remaining six games to squeeze out the Warriors. If the Rockets lose to the Heat and the Warriors beat the Mavericks, then the gap between the two sides will widen to five, and the Rockets will have to win six more games than the Warriors, and with only five games left, the Rockets will obviously not even have the theoretical possibility of doing so.
Therefore, this game against the Heat will be the real back-to-back battle for the Rockets, and if they lose this game, they will be even more passive, and once the Warriors beat the Mavericks, the Rockets' season will be over.
In addition, the NBA official also posted 4 teams that have locked up the playoffs: only the Celtics in the East, and the Timberwolves, Thunder and Nuggets in the West. Nine teams have been eliminated: the Nets, Hornets, Pistons, Raptors and Wizards in the East, and the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Spurs and Jazz in the West.
Will the top 10 spots in the West be decided today?