1 Thing To Watch For Every Western Conference Playoff Team

As the NBA’s regular season winds down, the playoff pictures for each conference are growing increasingly clear. Both the East and West’s top-eight seeds have separated themselves from the rest, even if the chaos of the Play-In Tournament looms for spots 7-10.

With seeds becoming firmer and firmer, it’s hard to glean too much from the final few weeks of the regular season, given teams are often prioritizing preparation for the imminent physical and schematic grind of the postseason. But there remain salient storylines to watch among all these playoff contenders.

After examining intriguing storylines for Eastern Conference teams yesterday, the Sportscasting NBA crew now shifts our focus out West – identifying one angle to monitor for each Western Conference team with a top-eight seed.

Oklahoma City Thunder: A Dominant Offensive Pairing In Isaiah Hartenstein And Chet Holmgren

The Thunder have run away with the West’s No. 1 seed and look like formidable championship contenders gearing up for a deep postseason run. They’ve already begun the process of resting players — because they can, not because they’re tanking — and there’s truthfully very little one can take away from their end-of-season games.

That said, they haven’t been healthy all year, particularly at the big man position. Chet Holmgren has played just 26 games while Isaiah Hartenstein has played in 51 of 73 games. These absences haven’t provided head coach Mark Daigneault the proper runway to experiment with his talented frontcourt players, both of whom were presumed as full-time starters back in October.

Across 15 games, Hartenstein and Holmgren have played 248 minutes together. The Thunder are excellent in those minutes, with a plus-13.9 net rating and dominant 122.6 offensive rating. More recently, they’ve been using this duo as a way to keep things on track when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is off the floor. Earlier this month, Oklahoma City beat the Boston Celtics on the road because of this – winning the 10 minutes without Gilgeous-Alexander by six points as the Hartenstein-Holmgren duo led the charge.

The Thunder have now played 327 possessions with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein on the floor.

Their offensive rating is 127.2 and they have a +12.9 net rating. Wednesday's win over Boston showed all the ways they can leverage this size and skill together offensively. pic.twitter.com/P1PwKvRcTb

— Sportscasting NBA (@SportcastingNBA) March 15, 2025

Holmgren’s two-way versatility — offensively as a shooter and lob threat and defensively as the weak-side helper — pair excellently with Hartenstein’s passing, screening and rim protection.

This look provides the Thunder a new wrinkle in their offensive scheme. While they usually like to hunt mismatches with Gilgeous-Alexander at the forefront, the Hartenstein-Holmgren duo leans on cutting and ball movement as its identity, giving the Thunder a well-rounded approach.

Versatility is key if they want to make a deep playoff run punctuated by an NBA championship. This duo will help unlock that possibility. Watch them experiment with it even more over the next couple of weeks as the playoffs inch closer. -Es Baraheni

Houston Rockets: The Development Of Their Double-Big Lineup

Before falling flat on their face versus the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets Sunday, the Rockets had won nine games in a row. While the loss can be chalked up to an exhilarating game from Jamal Murray, who poured in an efficient 39 points and carved up the Rockets’ point-of-attack defense, something else was noticeable from Houston in that game.

The Rockets deployed a lineup featuring both Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun to try and win extra possessions on the offensive glass. The duo was effective. The Rockets won their 14 minutes together by eight points and rebounded a whopping 71 percent of their missed shots during that span.

Looking deeper, they haven’t used that lineup all too frequently. Of the 12 teammates Sengun has been paired with for at least 10 minutes this season, he and Adams have shared the court the least: 117 minutes across 36 games. Although it’s a small sample, the Rockets destroy opponents in those minutes, boasting a net rating of plus-33.3, with a 125.9 offensive rating and 92.6 defensive rating, per NBA.com.

With the Rockets locked into a top-six seed and likely going to clinch homecourt advantage in the coming weeks, they have been afforded the luxury of experimentation. They should use the final games of the regular season to try out this double-big lineup more frequently and find out just how effective it could be against different matchups.

After all, versatility reigns supreme in the postseason. While the Rockets don’t have experience on their side, they could holster a useful changeup option with the Sengun-Adams lineups to help combat their youthfulness and make noise in the playoffs. -Es Baraheni

Denver Nuggets: Is Their Offense Actually Elite?

Led by its Serbian Sorcerer, Nikola Jokic, Denver is fielding a top-five attack for the fifth time in six years and sits third in offensive rating.

Dig a little deeper, though, and the Nuggets’ offense looks more mortal. In 22 games against teams with top-10 point differentials — the type of opponent they’ll encounter in the playoffs — they fall to eighth in offensive rating with a 7-15 record.

Across all 74 games this year, their 121.1 offensive rating is 6.3 points better than league average. They overwhelm clubs with Jokic’s multifaceted brilliance, Jamal Murray’s secondary creation, dominant paint scoring, fast break forays, heady off-ball movement and selectively elite shooting.

During those 22 games against postseason-caliber foes, their 115.0 offensive rating is only 2.7 points better than league average. The biggest culprit for this dissonance is Denver’s transition game cratering in these spots.

Overall, the Nuggets rank sixth in transition frequency and fifth in points per 100 possessions (130.0). When they face top-10 squads, they generate just 121.3 points per 100 possessions in transition (21st). Shrewd opponents bottle up Russell Westbrook in the open floor, are diligent about Jokic’s outlet artistry and force the Nuggets to play in the half-court, where they dip from third in offensive rating against everyone to eighth versus teams with a top-10 net rating.

Eighth is very good, but it’s not elite. Denver’s lack of shooting somewhat neuters its dynamism and a very good offense hasn’t often been enough to offset wilting point-of-attack depth defensively, which magnifies Jokic’s struggles as a rim protector.

The Nuggets’ defense isn’t magically going to remedy itself. Jokic said as much last week. Their path to a deep playoff run is through an elite offense and the results aren’t as shiny as preferred through five months. But their final eight games feature three opportunities against teams among the top 10 in net rating (as well as the Golden State Warriors). They could use those contests to stymie these worries or they may further reinforce notions of a good offense masquerading as an elite one. -Jackson Frank

Los Angeles Lakers: Defensive Creativity

Since trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers have suffocated elite offenses on the defensive end. Shockingly, the post-Davis Lakers rank fourth in defensive rating against top-10 offenses (113.3 defensive rating), winning seven of those nine games.

Their defense has slipped a bit lately, allowing an offensive rating north of 124 in four of their last five games, four of which resulted in losses. Smaller, faster lineups can result in defensive volatility, especially late in the regular season. However, teams in the playoffs will exploit the Lakers’ lack of size, with Jaxson Hayes as their only reliable center option.

Against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers have won defensively with immense physicality, speed and aggression on the back side. We’ll see if they can sustain this form of defense in the playoffs. Effort levels for LeBron James and Luka Doncic will be key to monitor. When James is at his best, this Lakers defense plays like an elite unit.

Doncic and James are two of the greatest offensive playoff performers in league history. With those two on offense, Los Angeles won’t need a perfect defense to win. If James can carry this effort over to a playoff setting, we could see the Lakers make a run beyond the first round of the playoffs. -Ben Pfeifer

Memphis Grizzlies: Can Ja Morant Return To Form?

When you think about it, the Memphis Grizzlies are kind of a marvel. They’re 44-29 with the fourth-best net rating in the league, despite having the fifth-most games lost due to injury (per Spotrac) and their best player failing to play up to his usual level.

Ja Morant has not been the jaw-dropping paint purveyor we’re used to seeing. His points per game, true shooting, rim finishing and rim rate are all down compared to past seasons. On top of that, he’s missed 30 of the team’s 73 games.

The fact the Grizzlies have made it this far with this version of their franchise star is commendable. However, they’re going to need Morant to rediscover his old groove if they plan on avoiding a swift exit in the postseason.

How do we know this? The league has already started catching up to the Grizzlies and their cutting-edge offensive philosophy. During their first 53 games, the Grizzlies were 36-17 with the NBA’s fifth-best offense. Since then, they are 8-12 with the 16th-best offense.

If they’re going to break through this plateau, the Grizzlies need the 2022-2023 version of Morant to emerge. Now, the question is: can Morant get healthy, return to the court and conjure up his old self in this final stretch? -Mat Issa

Los Angeles Clippers: Are They Truly A Dominant Two-Way Force?

Over their last 11 games, Clippers are 9-2 with the second-ranked offense, third-ranked defense and third-best net rating. Meanwhile, their cyborgian superstar, Kawhi Leonard, has also received a software update and now looks like the player who used to vanquish playoff defenses; in his last seven games, he’s averaging 26.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals on 67.3 percent true shooting.

Kawhi Leonard has averaged 26.3 PPG on 67.4% TS over his last six games ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9aOYHWQju0

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) March 24, 2025

All signs point to the Clippers being primed to make some noise in the playoffs. However, their recent run has been aided by some fortunate bounces. During this 11-game stretch, they have the highest 3-point percentage (43.2) and the fourth-lowest opponent 3-point percentage (33.6).

Improved 3-point shooting is to be expected (although, not to this degree) after adding Bogdan Bogdonavic, with Leonard back to being one of the better volume shooters in the league.

Other teams not hitting their threes is more a matter of luck, especially when the Clippers have been fielding more offense-first players (like Bogdanovic and Leonard) instead of the defensive-centric ones (Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr. and Amir Coffey) they were spamming earlier this year.

Are the Clippers still a monster on both sides of the ball if or when their opponent shooting luck runs out? Or, are they sacrificing one end of the court any time they try to prioritize the other? The answers there will be worth monitoring as they vie for seeding in a crowded Western Conference. -Mat Issa

Golden State Warriors: Can Jonathan Kuminga Find A Role?

Discerning an optimal role feels like the prevailing theme of Jonathan Kuminga’s Warriors tenure. It’s a question looming particularly large with the playoffs mere weeks away after Golden State reshaped its roster and (ideally) accelerated its title hopes by bringing in Jimmy Butler, a two-fold event which transpired while Kuminga was sidelined for 2.5 months with a sprained ankle.

The fourth-year forward finally returned earlier this month and the fit has been clunky. In seven games back, he’s averaging 14.0 points (51.5 percent true shooting), 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He’s shooting 49.2 percent on 2s and 17.6 percent from deep. The Warriors are 21.8 points better per 100 possessions without him on the floor over that span.

In many ways, Butler is an enhanced version of the role Kuminga has offered Golden State for years. He’s a burly forward who instills paint pressure, attacks mismatches as a face-up and mid-post scorer, and blends into the motion offense as a screener, cutter and roller. He’s just far better at it than Kuminga, while also bringing much more playmaking and defensive spunk.

This Warriors roster is fairly bereft of true wings outside of Butler, particularly with how much they rely on Draymond Green at the five these days. Theoretically, Kuminga could emerge as a viable and crucial wing scorer to boost the frontcourt offensively. But “theoretically” is still too often the caveat for his fit in Golden State. The Warriors need him to figure it out because their options aren’t abundant elsewhere and the postseason is fast arriving.

These next handful of games feel pivotal, both for his prospects as a member of the playoff (or Play-In) rotation and his long-term outlook ahead of restricted free agency this summer. -Jackson Frank

Minnesota Timberwolves: Exceptional Depth

While many think of depth as purely a regular season benefit, a wide variety of talented players is key for playoff success. That’s especially true for this Minnesota team constructed around a single offensive star in Anthony Edwards. The Wolves don’t rely as much as other teams on their bench for scoring, but they’re as well-rounded as any reserve unit in the NBA.

All nine of Minnesota’s minute per game leaders place in the 60th percentile or higher in Estimated Plus-Minus. That depth does more than merely help Minnesota weather the bumps and bruises of an NBA season and playoff series. It brings matchup versatility, which is paramount in the playoffs, where teams will pick out every hole their opponent has.

If the Wolves need more offensive firepower, they can lean on Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo’s scoring and creation. Minnesota can overwhelm smaller teams with athletic wings, throwing Jaylen Clark, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaden McDaniels at them. Relying on rookies in the postseason can be risky, but Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. have both played promising ball this season.

Minnesota’s high-end playoff success will depend on Anthony Edwards playing like a superstar, Julius Randle sharpening his decisions and Rudy Gobert anchoring the defense. But if the opponent calls for a certain X Factor to swing a series, the Wolves have myriad options to change the dynamic of a game on either end. -Ben Pfeifer