The Western Conference takes up the majority of the NBA power rankings' top 10, and the standings entering the final week of the regular season show why. The East has six teams with winning records, while the West has eight teams with winning records.
Six of the eight Western Conference teams that have clinched winning records are battling for a top-three seed, including the Memphis Grizzlies. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies have work to do to avoid the play-in tournament, but the opportunity awaits them.
A couple of battles with teams they are tied with, but looking up at is also the case in the NBA's final power rankings before the regular season ends.
NBA.com: 12th
The Grizzlies moved up one position from 13th to 12th in the Week 25 NBA Power Rankings. This likely confirms that they will finish the season outside of the top 10 after spending the majority of the season in the top 10, and a good chunk battling for a top five standing.
The going got tough as former coach Taylor Jenkins was relieved of his duties with nine games remaining in the season. The takeaway that NBA writer John Schuhmann had for the Grizzlies was that despite their struggles, this season still has been the second-best season in franchise history for their point differential.
ClutchPoints: 13th
The Grizzlies retained their 13th ranking from two weeks ago in the ClutchPoints rankings. Their writer, Brett Siegel, noted the lack of confidence in the Grizzlies to go on a deep playoff run. The firing of Taylor Jenkins still looms over the organization, with only a limited amount of time for interim coach Tuomas Iisalo to make his imprint on the team.
ESPN: 12th
ESPN was the only outlet that still had the Grizzlies in their top 10 of the power rankings through the end of March. However, they dropped them three spots from ninth to 12th despite their three-game winning streak. Their reasoning was all the smoke alarms going on with the organization after the firing of coach Taylor Jenkins.
The playoffs aren't a guarantee anymore as the Grizzlies sit in the play-in position as of April 9th, but they control their own destiny to make the West's top six. Upcoming on their schedule is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who blew a 24-point fourth-quarter lead at the Milwaukee Bucks to fall behind the Grizzlies in the standings.
Following that is a matchup against another team in disarray after firing their coach and general manager on April 8th in the Denver Nuggets. If the Grizzlies want to prove they can compete in the playoffs, winning those games will show that making their coaching change at the time they did can pay off.