Stacking the West: The clear favorite, playoff hopefuls and lottery-bound teams
The midpoint of the NBA's regular season has arrived, which is a good time to check the state of the Western Conference playoff race.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have separated themselves from everyone else in the West, taking a 6½-game lead in the standings. The next 11 teams are separated by just seven games total. A gap has opened among the handful of teams battling for home-court advantage with a clear path to the Western Conference finals while the rest are hoping to avoid the play-in tournament.
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