4th Quarter Report: NBA Playoffs Time

With approximately 63 games done for everybody, the NBA is officially in the 4th quarter of the regular season. Teams on the bubble have less than 20 games to bail themselves out of the lottery and continue to challenge for the NBA Championship. Now let's take a snapshot of what would be the playoff match-ups had the playoffs started today.

East
1. Cleveland (51-15) vs 8. Toronto (32-31)
2. Orlando (46-20) vs. 7. Miami (34-32)
3. Boston (41-23) vs 6. Charlotte (33-31)
4. Atlanta (41-23) vs 5. Milwaukee (35-29)

On the bubble: 9. Chicago (31-34)

West
1. LA Lakers (48-18) vs 8. Portland (40-28)
2. Dallas (45-21) vs 7. San Antonio (38-25)
3. Denver (44-21) vs 6. Phoenix (40-26)
4. Utah (42-23) vs Oklahoma (40-24)

On the bubble: 9. Memphis (35-21), 10. Houston (32-31), 11. New Orleans (32-34)

Personally, I think all Playoff teams should have winning records. This is why particularly, this year's performance pleases me. In previous years, Western conference teams having winning records were booted out even they could have had 5th seed in the East. Somehow, that just didn't seem right.

As it stands now, we're bound to see some exciting series: LeBron-Bosh, Wade-Howard, Lakers-Blazers, Texas Shootout, Mile High-Grand Canyon. But I'm here to take a look at the chances of those teams on the bubble - Chicago, Memphis, Houston, New Orleans.

Chicago

Their fate lies in the hands and more importantly, health of Derrick Rose. He's very banged up. We hear or a hip, a knee, a wrist and all sorts of minor dings to him that we wonder if he can survive the grueling chase to the playoffs. Last year, Rose and Ben Gordon practically shot the Bulls into that thrilling series with the Celtics. But he doesn't have a shot-maker like Ben Gordon or even John Salmons anymore, so we've seen the wear and tear on him this year. If he's healthy, maybe they have a shot of pulling into the 8th spot especially with Toronto never really getting chemistry going the whole year.


Memphis
This picture was just too good to not post. Zach Randolph has been consistent for the Grizzlies the whole year up to the point that he even became a first-time All-Star. But them vaulting into another level of success really depends on Rudy Gay. Gay should be their superstar, the one teams watch and prepare for first before Randolph. He has to pick it up and act like the physical freak that he is or else, it's another lottery pick for the Griz.


Houston
Ariza was forced to become a scorer due to the absence and now, departure of T-Mac. Unforutnately for the Rockets, he hasn't come up to standards. Yao's absence can really be felt even with the herculean efforts of Scola, Hayes, Battier and the rest of their 6'8 and under front court. How they're even contending is actually a thing of roughneck beauty with a scrappy team performing hard every night. But, Ariza has to stop chucking and start scoring if the Rockets want to keep their streak of being in the playoffs alive.


New Orleans
Injury could not have struck at a worse time when CP3 went down. With the Thunder picking up their game, the once-considered contender Hornets now are just struggling to reach .500 with Paul down with a bum ankle. David West and Emeka Okafor have been unable to find a right mix to make things work underneath even if Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton have been playing like vets on the perimeter. Paul coming back isn't soon enough for this team as they seem to be on the way out of the playoffs.