Finally, when it comes to play-in tournaments, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to finish ninth in the West with only 19 games in the season. Below we’ll take a look at the current situation on March 7 and a picture of the playoffs in the West, along with our predictions about how things could turn out.
NBA Playoffs Picture 2022
- Phoenix Suns (51-13)
- Golden State Warriors (43-21) 8 GB
- Memphis Grizzlies (44-22) 8 GB
- Utah Jazz (40-23) 10.5 GB 10.5 GB
- Dallas Mavericks (39-25) 12 GB
- Denver Nuggets (38-26) 13 GB
Play-in tournament
- Minnesota Timberwolves (36-29) 15.5 GB
- Los Angeles Clippers (34-32) 18 GB
- Los Angeles Lakers (28-35) 22.5 GB
- New Orleans Pelicans (27-37) 24 GB
- Portland Trail Blazers (25-38) 25.5 GB
- San Antonio Spurs (24-40) 27 GB
NBA Predictions 2022
| REGULAR SEASON | PLAYOFFS | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CURRENT RATING | TEAM | CONFERENCE | FULL-STRENGTH RATING | PROJ. RECORD | PROJ. POINT DIFF/G | CHANCE OF MAKING PLAYOFFS | FULL-STRENGTH RATING | CHANCE OF MAKING FINALS | CHANCE OF WINNING FINALS | ||
| 1691 |  | Celtics39-27 | East | 1693 | 50-32 | +5.5 | >99% | 1725 | 29% | 17% | |
| 1533 |  | Suns51-13 | West | 1654 | 62-20 | +6.7 | >99% | 1696 | 30% | 16% | |
| 1620 |  | Bucks40-25 | East | 1666 | 50-32 | +3.6 | >99% | 1717 | 27% | 16% | |
| 1580 |  | Nuggets38-26 | West | 1651 | 50-32 | +3.5 | >99% | 1708 | 24% | 12% | |
| 1647 |  | Heat44-22 | East | 1645 | 55-27 | +5.2 | >99% | 1691 | 22% | 12% | |
| 1655 |  | 76ers40-24 | East | 1655 | 52-30 | +3.0 | >99% | 1685 | 18% | 9% | |
| 1607 |  | Jazz40-23 | West | 1643 | 52-30 | +5.9 | >99% | 1675 | 16% | 7% | |
| 1624 |  | Grizzlies44-22 | West | 1628 | 54-28 | +4.4 | >99% | 1648 | 11% | 4% | |
| 1293 |  | Warriors43-21 | West | 1602 | 53-29 | +5.1 | >99% | 1628 | 7% | 2% | |
| 1561 |  | Mavericks39-25 | West | 1610 | 50-32 | +3.3 | 99% | 1633 | 6% | 2% | |
| 1473 |  | Clippers34-32 | West | 1623 | 41-41 | -0.7 | 64% | 1686 | 2% | 0.8% | |
| 1587 |  | Timberwolves37-29 | West | 1587 | 46-36 | +2.7 | 91% | 1599 | 2% | 0.5% | |
| 1540 |  | Nets32-33 | East | 1602 | 42-40 | -0.4 | 50% | 1647 | 1% | 0.4% | |
| 1541 |  | Pelicans27-37 | West | 1590 | 37-45 | -0.6 | 36% | 1605 | 1% | 0.4% | |
| 1486 |  | Bulls39-26 | East | 1558 | 47-35 | +0.9 | 97% | 1582 | 1% | 0.3% | |
| 1588 |  | Hawks31-33 | East | 1588 | 42-40 | +1.5 | 63% | 1597 | 0.9% | 0.2% | |
| 1504 |  | Raptors34-30 | East | 1546 | 43-39 | +0.9 | 72% | 1560 | 0.5% | 0.1% | |
| 1514 |  | Hornets32-33 | East | 1519 | 40-42 | -0.3 | 29% | 1536 | 0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1399 |  | Lakers28-35 | West | 1494 | 34-48 | -2.8 | 7% | 1562 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1476 |  | Cavaliers37-27 | East | 1493 | 46-36 | +2.5 | 88% | 1502 | 0.2% | <0.1% | |
| 1457 |  | Spurs24-40 | West | 1459 | 32-50 | -0.4 | 3% | 1475 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1457 |  | Kings24-42 | West | 1462 | 31-51 | -4.6 | 0.8% | 1480 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1399 |  | Wizards29-34 | East | 1438 | 36-46 | -3.1 | 0.7% | 1451 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1462 |  | Knicks26-38 | East | 1484 | 34-48 | -1.6 | 0.5% | 1484 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1202 |  | Trail Blazers25-39 | West | 1486 | 31-51 | -6.0 | 0.5% | 1526 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1419 |  | Pacers22-44 | East | 1480 | 29-53 | -2.4 | <0.1% | 1498 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1337 |  | Pistons18-47 | East | 1335 | 23-59 | -8.3 | <0.1% | 1339 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1327 |  | Rockets16-49 | West | 1309 | 21-61 | -8.6 | <0.1% | 1294 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1326 |  | Magic16-49 | East | 1352 | 22-60 | -7.4 | <0.1% | 1364 | <0.1% | <0.1% | |
| 1282 |  | Thunder20-44 | West | 1321 | 25-57 | -7.2 | <0.1% | 1329 | <0.1% | <0.1% |
NBA Playoffs Bracket 2022
For the third consecutive season, the NBA would continue with a play-in tournament for 7–10 seeds in each conference before introducing the traditional 16-team playoff format.
After the play-in tournament, we have a traditional playoff bracket, with eight teams from both the Eastern and Western Conferences competing in four rounds of seven game series post-season. The opening round matchups are 1-8, 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5. If the upset happens so the NBA doesn’t seed again, the bracket is settled.
