NBA Storylines That Will Define the Rest of the 2021-22 Season

There are seven weeks left in the 2021-22 NBA season, and the sprint to the finish leaves us with several interesting storylines. 

The MVP race and competition for the scoring title could go down to the wire. Looking at the standings, the only playoff seeding that appears locked up is the Phoenix Suns as the top team in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors have a surprise team breathing down their necks for the No. 2 spot, and the East is a roller coaster from No. 1 all the way down to No. 11. Don’t forget, too, that a couple of big trades from the deadline are going to change how teams play down the stretch. 

With 25 games or fewer remaining for each team, here are the storylines that deserve our attention.

Last season, the competition between Stephen Curry and Bradley Beal for the NBA scoring title went down to the final game, with Curry claiming the crown by seven-tenths of a point. This season, it’s a three-way race between Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James, who are separated by just five-tenths of a point. 

Embiid is leading the bunch, averaging 29.6 points while carrying the Sixers offense. The addition of James Harden could hurt his chances. 

Antetokounmpo is second, averaging 29.4 points for the Bucks. He has come on strong, averaging 33.4 points in the month of February. 

James has turned the clock back in the scoring department. His 29.1 points this season represent his highest average since the 2009-10 season. With Anthony Davis injured and out for at least the next month, LeBron is going to have to keep it up.

It has been 10 years since the last time the scoring title was truly more than a two-man competition, when Kevin Durant edged out Kobe Bryant and James to be the scoring champ. 

Like last year, this may not be decided until the final day of the regular season.

Nikola Jokic, Embiid and Antetokounmpo are all neck and neck for the award.    

The on/off splits for Jokic are absurd—the Nuggets experience a 20-point swing in net rating when he goes to the bench. Embiid kept the Sixers afloat during the Ben Simmons saga, with Philadelphia going 31-15 when its star big man plays. Antetokounmpo is showing off why he is a menace on both ends of the floor.  

It seems these players are one-upping the others almost on a nightly basis. On Feb. 15, Antetokounmpo dropped 50 points. The next night, Jokic had a game-winning assist to beat the Warriors. On the following night, Embiid put up 42 points in a victory over Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.

Even though those three are the front-runners for MVP, do not sleep on DeMar DeRozan crashing the party. In the 10 games leading to the break, he led the Bulls in scoring with 35.8 points and shot 57.2 percent from the field while the Bulls maintained a share of the top seed in the East. His candidacy will continue to climb if he hits more game-winners like he did against Atlanta in the Bulls' first game back from the break. 

Any of Jokic, Embiid and Antetokounmpo is MVP-worthy at the moment, and DeRozan is knocking on the door. How they all play the final quarter of the season is going to decide this increasingly close race.   

This season is unlike any we've seen in a while out East. The Bulls have a half game lead on the Heat for the best record. The Sixers and Bucks are three games back. The Cavaliers are three-and-a-half games behind them. Three-and-a-half games can be overcome in no time.

Miami and Chicago have both survived injuries and been able to maintain their winning ways, but they have not built a large cushion. With Harden now in the fold, Philadelphia will try to make a charge. Cleveland is playing with house money, but even as one of the "fun" stories this season, it doesn't appear to be slowing down. The defending champs in Milwaukee look like a flip-the-switch team that could make a run with a healthy Big Three down the stretch.

With the teams so bunched up, the standings can and will shift on a nightly basis. A three-game winning or losing streak can change the complexion of the playoffs. Each matchup among these teams will be must-watch TV.

There is a fun competition brewing to stay out of the play-in tournament. The Celtics are sitting in the sixth seed. The Raptors are right on their tail, just a game behind them and hoping to find a way out of the play-in tournament.

Both teams are rolling, with the Celtics going 10-1 in their past 11 games and the Raptors essentially keeping pace at 9-2. The bad news for the Celtics is they have the 11th-toughest remaining schedule with 21 games left. The Raptors' strength of schedule ranks 25th, and they have eight games against teams that will have nothing to play for—and may actively be trying to lose—at the end of the season. 

Besides competing with each, both teams have to watch out for the Brooklyn Nets, who are 3.5 games back of the Celtics. They took a big loss against Boston coming back from the break, but that was with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons all out. 

There are still many questions about the new-look Nets. One question has been answered by New York City mayor Eric Adams, who plans to phase out the city's vaccine mandate in the coming weeks, which would open the door for Kyrie Irving to play home games. Irving's return to being a full-time player will undoubtedly have an impact on the play-in race, as Brooklyn aims to move up the standings and out of the play-in conversation entirely.

The Nets have three games left against Boston and Toronto. They will likely have to go 3-0 in those contests to have a chance to send both the Celtics and Raptors into the play-in tournament.    

While Boston, Toronto and Brooklyn are aiming to stay out of the play-in, there are a few teams further down the standings that will be vying to get or stay in it. Charlotte, Atlanta and Washington are all in the mix for the final two spots.    

The Hornets have been in a free-fall, losing nine of their past 10 games. The Hawks have rebounded after a horrific start to the season. The Wizards, which are currently 11th and on the outside looking in, started hot but fell off quickly and face the added challenge of losing Bradley Beal for the season. 

Atlanta and Washington both have easier schedules compared to Charlotte's, according to tankathon.com. The Hornets have one game remaining against both the Hawks and Wizards, and the season series is on the line in both cases. 

Charlotte's last matchup against Washington falls on the final day of the season, and it could be a play-in game to get into a play-in game! That should be the outcome everyone is rooting for. 

There has been plenty of high drama in Lakerland. Coming out of the break, the Lakers are closer to missing the play-in tournament than getting out of it. They are ahead of the 11th seed by 4.5 games and trail the sixth seed by six games.

It gets worse for the Lakers. Anthony Davis badly sprained his ankle just before the break and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. To make matters worse, they have four games remaining against the Suns and Warriors, and they own the third-toughest schedule going forward.   

On top of all the on-court drama, there is drama brewing off it. 

After L.A. stood pat during the trade deadline, LeBron James waxed poetically about Oklahoma City Thunder team general manager Sam Presti during All-Star Weekend—a not-so-subtle shot at current Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. On that same day, a story surfaced that James plans to pair with his son, Bronny James, if he gets drafted in the NBA. 

So on top of the Lakers having to get out of the hole of their own creation, they now have to ponder LeBron's future.

The Memphis Grizzlies have surprised everyone this season. Even the most optimistic fan would be shocked to hear the Grizzlies are third in the Western Conference, just 2.5 games behind the Warriors.

Memphis has the 28th-toughest schedule the rest of the way, while Golden State has the seventh-toughest and has been without Draymond Green since Jan. 11. When and in what condition Green returns will be a huge factor for the Warriors as they try to hold off the upstart Grizzlies. 

The NBA’s tiebreaker rules have the Grizzlies in an advantageous position in their pursuit of the No. 2 seed. Memphis is likely to win its division by a wide margin, and that is the second tiebreaker. If Memphis and Golden State end up tied in the standings and their season series is tied—Memphis currently leads the season series 2-1—the Grizzlies will get the nod. 

The second seed carries a nice prize: the opportunity to take on a team that had to play in the play-in tournament, meaning the No. 7 seed will have less rest and less preparation time. Both teams would rather play either Minnesota or the L.A. Clippers (the current Nos. 7-8 seeds) than Nikola Jokic and Denver (current 6th seed).

No one is catching the Suns, so this is definitely the race to watch out West.

Just before the All-Star game tipped off, word got around that Chris Paul will be sidelined the next six-to-eight weeks because of a thumb fracture. The Suns, when fully healthy, are head and shoulders above every team in the NBA. They have the best record in the West by 6.5 games and are 10.5 games better than any team in the East. 

The good news for the Suns is their remaining schedule is one of the weakest in the league, and their huge cushion affords them plenty of margin for error. The bigger question, though, is the toll Paul’s injury will take on Devin Booker, as point guard depth is Phoenix’s only potential weakness. 

Cameron Payne is day-to-day with a wrist injury, Aaron Holiday just arrived and Elfrid Payton can give spot minutes—but ask Knick fans about the perils of playing him heavy minutes. With Paul out, it will put a lot more pressure on Booker to produce. He is fully capable of doing that, but there has to be a concern about wearing him out before the playoffs. 

The Suns have been a machine this season and handled everything with stride. This could put a wrinkle in their plans for the playoffs.       

Ben Simmons not only got his wish to be traded, but he also got sent to quite possibly the best situation he could have asked for. That leads to the next big question: When will he make his season debut? Not his Nets debut, but his season debut. 

Whenever Simmons chooses to come back, that game will have all eyes on it. The Nets need him out there sooner rather than later as they try to claw their way out of the play-in tournament. The good news, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, is that Simmons "is going to really ramp it up this week and see where he's at at the end of the week. But he's getting close."

Whenever Simmons steps on the court for Brooklyn, he will immediately become their best defender, a position of real need for the Nets. As fans, we all must hope he's ready to play in time for the March 10 matchup in Philadelphia.      

There is some hope for the Knicks; not a lot, but there is some. Despite being as bad as they have been this season, they are still just 3.5 games out of the 10th seed. But it is going to take a bit of a miracle. 

Tom Thibodeau has done a poor job this year. Julius Randle has regressed. Derrick Rose has been out since December 18. The Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier signings have not paid off the way the front office hoped. The young players are not getting enough minutes to develop.

In sum, the season has been a nightmare for New York. It has gotten so bad the home fans have started to boo the team. 

Coming out of the break, the Knicks have the fourth-toughest schedule. It will take a massive run against some of the best teams in the league just to maybe squeeze into the play-in tournament. The more prudent thing to do might be just to focus on the development of RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin and Cam Reddish. 

However, with Thibodeau as the coach, that seems very unlikely. 

It appears James Harden will make his 76ers debut in Minnesota on Friday night. It is like a brand new season for the Sixers, and all eyes will be on the pairing of Harden and Joel Embiid.

The Sixers are tied for third in the East, which is an especially impressive feat considering they were without Simmons all season. Now that Embiid has a new running mate, it has led to so many questions. 

How will the pick-and-roll work? 

What will Harden do when Embiid is posting up? 

Do the Sixers have enough shooting?

How will they play on the defensive end?

Will Doc Rivers stagger them, and if so, how?

Is adding Harden going to hurt Embiid's MVP chances?

Can Harden stay healthy? Can Embiid?

Those are only some of the questions, and the only way to get the answers is for games to get started, beginning Friday night. Now, we just need to hope for a Philadelphia-Brooklyn playoff series!

Mo Dakhil spent six years with the Los Angeles Clippers and two years with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator, as well as three years with the Australian men's national team. Follow him on Twitter, @MoDakhil_NBA.