NBA Notebook: Banged-up Lakers are still Western Conference favorites

We have less than a week to go until the 2021 NBA Playoffs begin! The regular season has mostly sorted itself out, and the only real drama remaining is which team will secure the coveted sixth seed in the Western Conference.

Let’s catch up on the latest stories from around the Association in this week's NBA Notebook.

Russell Westbrook is the NBA's triple-double king 

One of the NBA's more polarizing figures has achieved an absolutely incredible accomplishment. Russell Westbrook now has more triple-doubles than the great Oscar Robertson, posting 183 for his career. The Wizards guard very clearly fills up the stats sheet as effectively as any player in the league, and his electric play in recent weeks has propelled Washington to the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Westbrook is averaging 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 11.7 assists per game this season, and is set to average a triple-double for the third time in four years. We may go another lifetime before we see another player with his tenacity.

The Toronto Raptors have been eliminated

For the first time in eight years, the Toronto Raptors will miss the playoffs. It is a sudden fall from grace for a franchise that has front-run the Eastern Conference for many years. At 27-42, the Raptors are dead last in the Atlantic Division, and by refusing to trade legacy star Kyle Lowry at the trade deadline, are left wondering where they go to reload for next season and beyond.

Gary Trent Jr. has shown flashes brilliance, Fred Van Fleet is a solid player, and Pascal Siakam was the 2019 Most Improved Player Award winner. But the Raptors lack size in the paint and it showed, as they were 22nd in the league in rebounds allowed. By contrast, they were fifth during the 2018-19 season. It will be fascinating to see whether the Raptors look to completely rebuild or just rearrange pieces this offseason.

Victor Oladipo's season is officially over

The Miami Heat are currently the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and will almost certainly land somewhere within the fourth and sixth spot for playoff seeding. As the defending Eastern Conference champions, they’ve been relatively lost in the conversation as the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and New York Knicks have all garnered significantly more attention.

Midseason acquisition Victor Oladipo has not played since he injured his quadriceps on April 8, but optimists may have hoped he was saving himself for the postseason. That has now been confirmed to not be the case, and the Heat will attempt to take on Eastern Conference heavyweights with a similar lineup to the one they rolled out in last year’s bubble.

The Lakers are Favored!?

Somehow, the Los Angeles Lakers have maintained favoritism in Western Conference betting odds throughout the season. LeBron James is still banged up, Anthony Davis is clearly not 100%, and they are presently outside the top-6 seeds in the Western Conference. While at their best with James and Davis they are supremely talented and the defending champions, everything about current conditions points to them being one of the worst favorites in recent history.

The Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, and even Denver Nuggets are playing better basketball. I will be looking elsewhere for Western Conference championship selections, and there looks to be decent value across the board with the Lakers still taking as much money as they are. The Jazz and Suns, especially, having earned their top seeds with quality play throughout the season, and offer plenty of value on the Western Conference futures sheet.

The Warriors are Surging

The Golden State Warriors have won seven of their last 10 games, including wins against the Suns and Jazz. Steph Curry is playing the best basketball of his career, and there are plenty of talented pieces on that roster.

Are the Warriors going to stir things up in the Western Conference, or are teams going to guard Curry more aggressively come playoff time? The Warriors are the wildcard in this year’s postseason, and while we aren’t used to them playing the underdog role it will be entertaining to watch them try to slay the conference's giants.