The 2022/23 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season is over and the race to the finish has truly started.

The explosive finish that was expected from the Dallas Mavericks fizzed last weekend, as they tanked their season by limiting their starters against the Chicago Bulls in a loss last Friday, then totally surrendered the season on Sunday by playing their bench in a blow-out loss to the lowly San Antonio Spurs.

The Mavericks were teetering between the fourth and fifth seed in the Western Conference in February and must have felt confident in their chances of making the play-offs after signing Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets at the end of the same month. Now, less than six weeks from that signing, last year’s beaten Western Conference finalists are reduced to mere play-off spectators in what must be considered the most disappointing close to a most promising year.

However, for the NBA, the offensive output of the league has been nothing short of spectacular this season. In a year when LeBron James became the NBA’s scoring leader (surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), teams averaged 114.7 point per game (the most in a season in the last 50 years) and 14 teams averaged 115 points per game (the most all time and five more than any other season). The Sacramento Kings averaged the highest with 120.7 points.

Six players averaged over 30 points per game (tied with the 1961/62 season for the most ever) and there were 203 40-point games — the most ever in NBA-history (61 more than any other season) — and Damian Lillard had 15 of those games. There were 25 50-point games and two players had 70-point games (Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard) for the first time in a single NBA season. And, for the first time in NBA-history, there was a 60-point, 20-rebound and 10-assist game registered by Luka Doncic.

Now that the regular season is over and the Play-In Tournament will be in the rear view by tonight, 16 teams will remain with hopes of hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. The strength of the league would appear to be skewed to the East as there were four team with 50-plus wins in the conference (Milwaukee Bucks 58-24, Boston Celtics 57-25, Philadelphia 76ers 54-28, and Cleveland Cavaliers 51-31), while the West had only two (Denver Nuggets 53-29 and Memphis Grizzlies 51-31). But the three most intriguing matchups this weekend will be in the West, and only one of those six teams registered 50 wins.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the No 6 Golden State Warriors (44-38) will visit the No 3 Sacramento Kings (48-34) for the start of an expected explosive offensive series. The Warriors were 29-29 at the All-Star break and were sitting in ninth place in the West, due mainly to their dismal away record (11-30), the worst of any play-off team and only better than three teams in the league. The defending champions went 8–2 over their final 10 games, including a three-game winning streak to close out the regular season. They will carry plenty of momentum into the post-season and Andrew Wiggins will reportedly rejoin the team for the play-offs after a lengthy absence for personal reasons (he last played on February 13).

The Kings lost the final three games of their season to the Mavericks, Warriors and Nuggets but were able to rest their stars ahead of the franchise’s first play-off appearance in an NBA-record drought of 16 years. Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox have been offensive juggernauts all season and should lead the Kings on the scoreboard in this series.

The Warriors and Kings have never met in the post-season, but the Warriors won the season series 3-1 — three of those meetings coming before mid-November last year, and the fourth in the penultimate game of the season when Sacramento already had the No 3 seed locked up, and rested its stars. The three early meetings were close encounters and a long six or seven-game series is expected.

The Los Angeles Lakers (43-39) barely avoided missing the post-season when they muscled a 108-102 overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night (April 11) in the Play-In, to capture the No 7 spot in the West, earning them a first-round face-off with the No 2 Memphis Grizzlies (51-31). The Lakers closed the regular season on a hot streak, going 3-1 last week with two wins over the Utah Jazz and one over the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers won the season series 2-1 (with each team winning at home) and are 10-5 in their last 15 games to close the year, which is a good indication that they are rolling at the right time ahead of the play-offs.

For a second-year straight, the Grizzlies have made the NBA play-offs as the second seed in the West, and they seem to be up to the task presented to them this Sunday afternoon. But LeBron James, who missed 13 games in the second half of the season, including two games against the Grizzlies, has been playing like a man-on-a-mission to close the season. Unfortunately for Memphis, Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke are going to be out, but they have Ja Morant and a reservoir of talent in Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks and Jaren Jackson Jr (if he can avoid foul trouble) — get your popcorn and hold on for the ride.

On Sunday evening, the No 5 Los Angeles Clippers (44-38) visit the No 4 Phoenix Suns (45-37) for the start of another anticipated humdinger. Kevin Durant played just eight games with the Suns after he was acquired at the trade deadline, but they were undefeated with him in the lineup. The Suns will enter the post-season as the JustBet favourites to win the West but should be tested by the Clippers in a rematch of the 2021 Western Conference finals.

The Clippers closed the year on a three-game winning streak with victories over the Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Suns last week, without Paul George, who has been sidelined since March 21, and will reportedly miss the beginning of the play-offs. However, Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell combined to carry the Clippers across the line and Leonard in particular has been on a tear in April. The Suns enter the weekend heavily favoured to win the series — especially since the Clippers have never faced the Suns with Durant suited up — but it may not be so cut and dry, even with George missing.

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NBA CHAMPION 2023

TeamOdds

Milwaukee Bucks3.45

Boston Celtics4.20

Phoenix Suns5.20

Golden State Warriors9.00

Philadelphia 76ers9.60

Denver Nuggets10.00

Los Angeles Lakers16.00

Memphis Grizzlies20.00

Cleveland Cavaliers35.00

Los Angeles Clippers35.00

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

Note: Odds are subject to change