A wild Wednesday night added more intrigue and clarity to the Western Conference’s evolving playoff picture.
The San Antonio Spurs pulled the upset of the night by knocking off the Golden State Warriors. That game alone has put the Memphis Grizzlies in a favorable spot.
The goal is to avoid the NBA play-in by securing a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. Only the top six seeds avoid the play-in.
Memphis is currently seeded sixth, which would match it up against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
Sounds familiar?
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The last Grizzlies playoffs series in 2023 was a six-game battle against the Lakers. Memphis lost, but both teams have made notable changes in the last two years.
While the Lakers could be the opponent today, things could change by tomorrow. Memphis has a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday (8:30 p.m., TNT), then another matchup versus the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Here’s how the current playoff picture looks.
NBA Western Conference standings today
What’s next
Memphis is currently sixth, but there’s still no margin for error. Golden State holds the tiebreaker over the Grizzlies, so if Memphis loses and Golden State wins its next game, the Grizzlies would fall back into the play-in.
If that happens, Friday’s game against Denver would have even higher stakes. Memphis can still own a tiebreaker over the Nuggets by winning their final matchup, meaning finishing with a similar record would give Memphis the edge.
A win against the Timberwolves mean the Grizzlies can’t finish any lower than seventh in the standings. In that case, Memphis would host a play-in postseason game if it failed to finish in the top six.
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Grizzlies’ remaining schedule
April 11 at Denver (8 p.m.)
April 13 vs Dallas (2:30 p.m.)
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at [email protected]. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
