NBA Standings: The battle for homecourt advantage in both conferences

Parity has been the story of this season and the NBA standings show nearly half the league is still within striking distance of homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

The parity we’re seeing in the NBA standings is stretching from top to bottom. We have nearly a dozen realistic contenders and plenty more teams fighting for all-important homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Race for homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference

4. Brooklyn Nets — 31-20
5. Cleveland Cavaliers — 32-22 (0.5 GB)
6. Miami Heat — 29-24 (3.0 GB)

Right now, the Brooklyn Nets hold the No. 4 seed. They’re 2.5 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 3 seed and have two other teams — the Cavs and Heat, within 3.0 games of them for No. 4. All that makes for an actual race but one that is much smaller than what we’ll see in the West (more on that later).

FiveThirtyEight’s projection model currently estimates that the Nets, Cavs and Heat will finish in the same order they currently sit in the standings. But a lot may come down to Kevin Durant’s health and what upgrades the Cavs and Heat might be able to make at the trade deadline. The Cavs have reportedly been shopping Caris LeVert for an upgrade on the wings, looking at players like Cam Reddish.

Durant has been out for the last 11 games with an MCL sprain but is hoping to be back on the court for All-Star Weekend.

Race for homecourt advantage in the Western Conference

4. Los Angeles Clippers — 28-25
5. Dallas Mavericks — 29-26
6. Minnesota Timberwolves — 28-26 (0.5 GB)
7. Phoenix Suns — 27-26 (1.0 GB)
8. Utah Jazz — 27-26 (1.0 GB)
9. Golden State Warriors — 26-26 (1.5 GB)
10. New Orleans Pelicans — 26-27 (2.0 GB)
11. Portland Trail Blazers — 25-26 (2.0 GB)
12. Los Angeles Lakers — 25-28 (3.0 GB)
13. Oklahoma City Thunder — 24-27 (3.0 GB)

The Clippers currently hold the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference but there are a whopping nine other teams within three games of them in the standings — including the Suns and Warriors, the last two teams to advance to the NBA Finals from the West.

FiveThirtyEight’s projection model estimates that the Mavs will get the final homecourt spot, finishing just one game ahead of the Clippers, Warriors, Suns and Jazz, all with identical records. Like the East, a lot of this may come down to who can make the biggest upgrades at the trade deadline.

The Lakers have already managed a trade, landing Rui Hachimura from the Washington Wizards. But essentially every other team on this list has been mentioned in trade rumors, all as buyers looking for upgrades for the playoff race.

We may know a lot more in a few weeks but right now these races are all far too close to call.

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