With only a handful of games left in the 2022/23 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season for all teams, the play-off picture is yet to provide much clarity on who’s in, and all the placings are still up for grabs.

The four teams that booked their place up to last week this time — the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets — were joined by only the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies this week, signalling how closely packed the teams are in the standings.

Both the Eastern and Western Conferences will see the top-6 teams enter the play-offs, while No 7-10 will participate in the Play-In Tournament to decide the last two contestants for the post-season. There are a number of teams appearing to close the regular season in impressive style, including the Los Angeles Lakers, who welcomed the return of LeBron James last week, the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who appear to be fixing their road-game woes (their away record is the worse of all play-off contenders) and the Grizzlies, who have been on a tear since the return of Ja Morant last week Wednesday.

However, arguably, the most remarkable let-down in the last few weeks has been the performance (or lack thereof) of the Dallas Mavericks. Just last weekend, the Mavericks lost twice (Friday and Sunday) to the play-off-eliminated Charlotte Hornets (who have not cared about basketball since Christmas), with Luka Doncic scoring 34 and 40, respectively. The Hornets are the fourth-worst team in the NBA and the Luka-Kyrie Irving era hit a new low when the Mavericks were booed by their own fans at the end of Sunday night’s game.

Dallas made the Western Conference finals last season and when they made the high-risk, potentially high-reward trade for Irving in February, they must have expected to seriously contend for the 2023 championship. However, they are currently at risk of not even making the play-in. At the end of the Sunday night embarrassment, they were 7-12 since the Irving signing, and 3-7 with both Irving and Doncic together on the floor, bringing into question the chemistry of this pairing.

Irving is a former champion with the LeBron-led Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and his basketball talent is without question, but his off-court distractions have been well documented. Maybe it’s coincidence, but the Mavericks were doing a lot better prior to his arrival and the question of him being in Dallas next season is being asked. Doncic, for his part, has been the core of the team since his arrival four years ago, and the 24-year-old made the NBA first team three times before his last birthday, joining a short list of athletes to do so: Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, and Max Zaslofsky. In fact, for players to get three first teams within their first four seasons, that list was equally small before Doncic joined it: Larry Bird, George Gervin, and Duncan. Duncan and Doncic are the only names that appear on both lists, amplifying Doncic’s talent and emphasising who would remain if the pair were to split.

The Mavericks are now on the outside looking in on the play-in race and they have one of the easiest schedules the rest of the way, but their results over the last six weeks inspire very little confidence. They have slipped a few notches, but JustBet still has them in the top 10 to win it all — there may be hope yet.

One benefit of having the NBA standings so close at the end of the regular season is that almost every game will feature a play-off-level atmosphere, as teams fight for post-season inclusion and position. The last few days have been no exception, with the Denver Nuggets sending a mini-statement last Saturday in a dominant second-half blow-out victory over the impressive Milwaukee Bucks, and the Warriors overcoming a 20-point, second-half deficit to pull out a tough win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. And this weekend promises more of the same.

This evening, the fourth-place Cavaliers welcome the fifth-place New York Knicks into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for an Eastern Conference battle. Donovan Mitchell has revived his career in Cleveland and is carrying the brunt of the load, but the New York pair of Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson have been wreaking havoc all season, so this should be an entertaining watch. The Knicks lost 108-121 when they last visited Cleveland in October 2022, but have beaten the Cavaliers twice since, in December 2022 and January 2023 — this should go a long way in determining their final East placings.

Later tonight, the West-leading Nuggets travel to Phoenix to engage Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Suns in what may feel like a conference final. The reigning and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Nikola Jokic got the better of the Suns in their two meetings thus far and will be looking to send a strong message in this, the third of four meetings for the year. However, those two meetings were prior to Durant’s arrival and the Nuggets have shown signs of sputtering this month, so anything can happen. First place in the West is still up for grabs and no team can afford to give up ground at this point – get your drinks and popcorn for this one.

On Sunday evening, the league-leading Bucks will greet the Philadelphia 76ers on the floor of Fiserv Arena for a top-of-the table East clash. Milwaukee had a big stumble against Denver last Saturday but has been mowing over almost every team in its wake, while the 76ers had a poor run last weekend, losing to the Warriors, Suns and Nuggets last Friday, Saturday, and Monday, respectively. The Bucks won the first meeting this season but have lost the last two–The current run of form should see the season series draw even.

Twenty-eight total games are slated for the weekend and all games leading into the next couple of weeks will be interesting, some teams will rise to the occasion and others will stumble under pressure.There’s no accurate way to predict the final placings…… That’s game.

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NBA CHAMPION 2023

TeamOdds

Milwaukee Bucks3.75

Boston Celtics4.30

Phoenix Suns6.00

Denver Nuggets8.00

Philadelphia 76ers10.00

Golden State Warriors12.00

Los Angeles Clippers16.00

Memphis Grizzlies16.00

Los Angeles Lakers26.00

Dallas Mavericks30.00

*Only Top 10 odds shown (see website for full list)

Note: Odds are subject to change