THE RACE HOME W20

Week 20 is a weird time in NSL, half the league have check-out and have set their alarms for when the lottery balls hit the barrel, while the other half are refreshing the results and keeping an eye on the picture for what SHOULD be the MOST EXCITING TIME OF THE YEAR, the PLAYOFFS! At the time of writing this article, we are about 15 games into week 20 with a few positional changes possible. We have a chance for a swap at the top of the Western Conference (unlikely but possible), a chance for a change in the 2^nd seed in the Eastern Conference and a genuine 3 horse race coming to the final stretch for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Everywhere you look there is drama!

 

The West

With the Western Conference play-in being all but locked up we now need to look at the possibility of some seeding changes. In the three-four spot. the Grizzlies have leap frogged the trash-wolves and just a game clear, holding the 3^rd, setting them up for a first-round showdown with the glitch Thunder who are young, determined and not to be messed with. GM Ethan has quietly talked his Wolves down this week, insisting he is happy to hold the 4^th seed in order to land a series against the 5^th seeded Warriors, a team that Ethan has described as �his bunnies� when off air in a highly rating NSL pod. It�s unlikely the Wolves push too hard this week while Memphis favour themselves against anyone in the Conference on their night.

 

At the top of the West a somewhat civil clashing of titans is happening, though the outcome is probably a foregone conclusion. The Blazers sit one game clear of the Spurs and could hit the 70-win milestone for a second time (or third? God damn!) if they have a perfect week. If they drop one game and the Spurs go 4-0, it will come down to the tie-breaker. After an in-depth messenger chat with GM Jmac this evening, we determined neither of us knew who would get it in that case and it would likely come down to a Zoolander style �walk-off� to decide which team will secure the best record and top spot in the Western Conference come playoff time.

 

The East

Over in the East it looks as though there�s a big chance the Bucks can jump the Cavs, who hours ago dropped their second consecutive game to open week 20! The Bucks have a relatively easy run home with games against the tanking (oops can�t say that) Lakers, Pacers and Rockets (are Houston tanking, what are they doing?) and the Spurs. If the Bucks can pinch 3 of the 4, they�ll almost certainly jump to second and secure a match-up with the 7^th seeded team from the play-in, rather than a match up against the battered and bruised Raptors. It�s hard to tell if that�s a positive or negative, but a second seed on the resume is nothing to be scoffed at.

*Disclaimer, theirs is an outside shot that the Raptors jump the Celtics but there would have to be a lot of unpredicted results and it�s probably just not worth the energy writing about, if I�m being totally honest.*

 

So, with the disclaimer in mind, let�s look where things get really interesting, the 10^th seed in the Eastern Play-In tournament. There are currently 3 teams jostling for the 10^th seed, Miami, Orlando and a sneaky Detroit team. At the beginning of the week the Magic held the 10^th seed by 1 game. The Heat have featured heavily in early week 20 and as a result have 1 remaining game, while the Magic have 3 to go. The Heat currently sit ahead of the Magic who have one less win with games in hand. Lurking in the shadows is a guy you might�ve heard about, Conference Champ GM Sheed! And guess what, �HE�S STREAKING!�

 

The Pistons have two games left and need to win them both and rely on both teams above to fumble the ball hard to sneak in. If they win both, Miami lose their final game and Orlando go winless, they�re in. If Orlando win one, it�s a tiebreak which will signify the second walk-off in the same week- incredible!

 

Deciding Games:

Miami vs Atlanta

Detroit vs OKC
Detroit vs Utah

Orlando vs Phoenix
Orlando vs Warriors
Orlando vs Indiana

Looking at the schedule, it�s going to be awfully close. Detroit could win both but will be pushing against a quality OKC team. If they split and go 1-1, they�re eliminated.

Miami should dispose of a tanking (whoops, said it again) Atlanta, which will put them out of reach of Detroit and 2 wins up on the Magic if Orlando hasn�t played any of their final 3.

Orlando will likely be in a position where they need to go 3-0, they should dispose of the Warriors and the tanking (damn it) Pacers. Therefore, the deciding game will be Phoenix vs Orlando where the Magic will be face with a play-in for the play-in� WOW.

Whoever is simming, please save this game for the last of the round.

If it were me, I�d want to be in a position to win my way in, but that Magic vs Suns game could be a classic. Someone will get their heart broken come the last game of the round and there�s no doubt the league will stop and tune it for the biggest week 20 game we have had in recent memory.

NELBET ODDS:
TO MAKE PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

Miami $1.21
Orlando $2.35
Detroit $10.77

 

GOOD LUCK TO ALL PARTIES AND BUCKLE UP NSL WORLD!!