Four Teams in the NBA’s Western Conference are Red Hot

The race for the top seed in the NBA Western Conference is a two horse race between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, but there is plenty of competition for the remaining six conference playoff slots. After games of March 6th, there were eight teams in the West within four and a half games of each other for those six slots.

The Rockets are the hottest team in the NBA right now, period. Houston won its 16th in a row on the 6th, winning at Oklahoma City 122-112. The Rockets, 50-13, are on top of the conference, but just a half game behind are the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors (50-14) trailed the Brooklyn Nets 53-48 at halftime before surging back for a 114-101 win in Oakland. The Warriors have won nine of 10 and six in a row.

The Portland Trail Blazers won their eighth straight game and ninth of 10 with a home 111-87 victory over the New York Knicks, who are again having a non-playoff bound year. The Blazers were led by a 37 point performance by Damian Hillard. Portland improved to 39-26 on the season, and would be the third seed.

Right behind the Trail Blazers are the New Orleans Pelicans, who won their ninth in a row with a 121-116 win over the Clippers in Los Angeles. New Orleans upped its record to 37-26. San Antonio (37-17) and Minnesota (38-28) are just half game back of the Pelicans; the Spurs and Timberwolves were idle on March 6th. Oklahoma City (37-29) is a game behind those two, with the Denver Nuggets, 118-107 losers at Dallas, claiming the current eighth seed a game behind OKC with a record of 35-29. But the Clippers (34-29) are just a half game behind the Nuggets, and the Utah Jazz trail the Nuggets by one game at 34-30. Utah has won eight of 10.