A very bad West team might make the NBA playoffs

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

RUDY SEES ALL: Paul Flannery’s Sunday Shootaround this week lasered in Rudy Gobert, who is fully a star now ... on both ends. His Jazz are on pace for 50 wins and the playoffs despite injuries because Gobert has been making a huge difference in the middle. Check it out.

THE WEST IS ONLY A HOME: Much has been made of the West’s failure to conjure up a legitimate No. 8 seed. The four teams closest to that spot have lost a combined 12 straight games; Portland, who currently warms the seat, is seven games under .500, on pace for just 34 wins, which is unprecedented for a playoff team in the modern era.

Yet the top seven in the West are far superior to what the East has on offer. Oklahoma City, the West No. 7, would be No. 4 in the East by record. If you ordered the top 16 teams in the NBA by record, the West would have four of the top five and seven of the top 10. The West has more really good teams than the East; the East makes up for that with more average teams. Which would you prefer?

This is long way of saying: keep the West’s name out of your mouth. Also, can we please just seed the top 16 teams regardless of conference?

SCORES GALORE ...

Sixers 105, Nets 95
Wizards 107, Bucks 101
Heat 86, Clippers 98
Rockets 129, Raptors 122
Jazz 79, Grizzlies 88
Cavaliers 120, Suns 116
Pistons 125, Blazers 124 (2OT)
Warriors 117, Kings 106
Magic 95, Lakers 111

BARN BURNER: The Pistons won a double-OT thriller in Portland on Sunday. The game was supposed to happen Saturday but a vicious winter storm in western Oregon delayed it. (Yep, we had weather on the West Coast, too.) Mason Plumlee came impossibly close to reaching the oft-promised triple-double. So close ...

POINT GOD SHOWS OUT ON A SUNDAY.

RED ZONE FOR THE NBA? The NBA is working out a way to offer a paid channel/stream for fans to watch the final five minutes of close games. I’m ... not sure how this is going to work in practice. We’ll see.

SWISH OPTIONS: Tim Cato looks at how Kyle Korver will bolster the Cleveland attack, especially as J.R. Smith recovers. We should note Mike Dunleavy hasn’t yet reported to Atlanta, and is asking for a buyout.

YIKESVILLE: Dwight Howard came to Atlanta searching for stability. Now the Hawks are breaking apart.

[CUE UP THE GINUWINE] Myles Turner dunked on Courtney Lee then rode him like a pony.

OH MY GOD! Nevada trailed New Mexico by 14 with a shade over a minute left ... and won in overtime thanks to Simeon Rice’s son. The final minute is mesmerizing. Two banked threes!

SPEAKING OF BLOWN LEADS ... The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

HOLD UP! WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS ... The Warriors blew a 24-point lead to the Grizzlies on Friday. Here’s how it happened.

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER: Daman Rangoola on the questionable trend of coaches acting as GMs.

HAPPY TRAILS: Matt Bonner (hilariously) says goodbye to the NBA.

NEXT UP: Light schedule in deference to the college football national championship game. Nothing on NBA TV, but Thunder-Bulls at 8 p.m. ET is interesting.

Be excellent to each other.