NBA Talking Points: LeBron James, Celtics and Pacers, All-NBA selections and more
Watch Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (12:30am)
Wednesday 3 April 2019 13:13, UK
Join the conversation as we present a handful of the biggest current NBA talking points and invite you to have your say.
LeBron's next Lakers coach?
The future of Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton has been questioned all season and now, with LeBron James absent from the playoffs for the first time since the 2004/05 season, that speculation will surely intensify.
Walton, who memorably took temporary charge of the Golden State Warriors in Steve Kerr's absence and led them to a franchise-best winning streak in 2015/16, has found leading the Lakers' mismatched roster a far harder task.
Walton has received the backing of Lakers team owner Jeanie Buss but may find himself the scapegoat as the Lakers draw to the close of a nightmare season.
James' former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Ty Lue and iconic point guard-turned-coach Jason Kidd have both been strongly linked with the Lakers coaching role, should it become vacant. Another candidate with a link to James, Miami Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard - who played a veteran bench role on James' title-winning teams in South Beach - has also been mentioned as a potential candidate.
Who takes homecourt in the Eastern Conference playoffs?
With Milwaukee, Toronto and Philadelphia all-but-locked in the top three places in the East, the fourth place Boston Celtics and fifth place Indiana Pacers are on a collision course to meet in the first round of the playoffs.
Live NBA: Boston @ Miami
The teams boast identical 46-32 records and meet on Friday night in Indiana. Boston also have to face Miami, Orlando and Washington while the Pacers will face Brooklyn, Detroit and Atlanta in their remaining games.
Which team will claim fourth place that will earn vital homecourt advantage in the opening round of the playoffs?
Which top-four Western Conference team is most vulnerable in the opening round of the playoffs?
The top four teams in the Western Conference all have four or five games left to play - Golden State, Denver, Houston and Portland.
Were all four teams to remain in those positions at the conclusion of the regular season, it paves the way for some headline-grabbing match-ups in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Warriors, seeking a third consecutive NBA title, have struggled for momentum and motivation during the regular season but have handed down two heavy beatings to the Nuggets over the last month.
To add to Denver's woes, their star man Nikola Jokic has been ejected from two games in the past two weeks and complained about a lack of protection from officials over the physical manner in which opposing teams are now defending him.
Portland's recent playoff history is woeful, they have lost 10 consecutive playoff games dating back to 2016. Their starting center Jusuf Nurkic is gone for the season after suffering a horrific leg-break while their second-leading scorer CJ McCollum is out with a knee injury and as yet has no timetable for his return.
Houston, powered by the otherworldly scoring power of James Harden, currently sit fourth and, as things stand, would face a tricky first-round series with the defensively-minded Utah Jazz?
Is Towns worthy of third-team All-NBA selection?
This Timberwolves season will be primarily remembered for the Jimmy Butler trade saga and Minnesota's losing record would make it easy to overlook Karl-Anthony Towns' when All-NBA voting takes place.
Live NBA: Oklahoma @ Minnesota
Since the All-Star break, Towns has consistently produced monstrous numbers, averaging 28.5 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 blocks and 2.4 three-pointers per game.
It is safe to assume Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic will scoop the center spots on the All-NBA first and second teams but, with Anthony Davis out of the picture through injury, the third-team center berth is open.
Towns' closest rival for that spot is Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year has overcome some early season woes to anchor the NBA's second-meanest defense (105.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) with 12.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game.
Moreover, the Jazz are playoff-bound with a winning record (47-30) while the T-Wolves (34-43) are heading to the Draft lottery.
The race for playoff seeding is reaching the final furlong. Watch five live NBA games on Sky Sports Arena this week, starting tonight with Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat.
