The NBA has it's own Final Four brewing

March is here ladies and gentlemen! That can only mean one thing for sports fans...the annual bonanza known as March Madness is rapidly approaching. As the NCAA college basketball regular season comes to a close this weekend, casual fans will start to check out the conference tournaments...in hopes of getting a head start on this year's tourney bracket. Which...by the way...I can't wait for.

But in between tournament games, keep an eye on the NBA's Western Conference playoff race...specifically the final four teams looking to grab the last three spots in this year's playoffs.

Golden State (6th), Phoenix (7th), Dallas (8th), and Memphis (9th) are all within three games of each other with approximately 20 games to go. The race for the final two spots in even tighter, with one game separating the Suns, Mavs, and Grizzlies. A quick look at the current standings.

Golden State  39-24
Phoenix          36-25
Dallas              37-26
Memphis        35-26

What's so great about this playoff race, is that all four teams are playing lights out...and show no signs of conceding a thing. In the last week or so...Golden State went into Indiana and won, Phoenix beat OKC, Dallas beat Portland, and Memphis beat the Clippers...all of those teams have all but secured playoff births.

Since Marc Gasol's return in mid January, the Memphis Grizzlies have the second best record in the entire league...and have still been unable to leapfrog the Warriors, Suns, or Mavs. That's how strong the West is...again. Case in point, a good friend of mine sent me a text during the Grizz Bulls game last night...telling me that Memphis (currently 9th at 35-26) would be the 3rd seed in the East. I shook my head...and as a Grizz fan I should move on in a hurry.

So I digress.

With no one giving an inch...head to head match ups coming down the stretch could determine this year's playoff participants. Some notable upcoming games....

March 9th:   Phoenix at Golden State
March 11th: Dallas at Golden State
March 28th  Memphis at Golden State

Two things we should know by the time this playoff race is over.

1.One of the best 16 teams in the league will not be in this year's playoffs.
2. Whoever takes those last three slots would have played their way in...translation..the top 3 seeds in the West are officially on upset alert.

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