Kentucky Wildcats: Anthony Davis in the Final Stretch in Playoff Race

As the NBA season nears its end, a few teams with not-so-great records are fighting their way into the postseason. However, the rebuilding timeframe for the New Orleans Pelicans has been shortened, thanks to former Cat Anthony Davis.

The Western Conference has just 2 teams left with undecided postseasons. The New Orléans Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder have the exact same records, but the Pelicans currently hold the eighth spot in the West with 2 tiebreaker wins over Oklahoma City, meaning if both teams win out, New Orléans gets the green light.

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Former Kentucky Wildcat Anthony Davis and the New Orléans Pelicans are seeking their first playoff appearance in the post-Chris Paul era, where they would play the postseason favorite Golden State Warriors in the first round.

Just last night, the Pelicans and the Thunder suffered losses. Leaving the eight-seed race to only 2 games.

Luckily for Davis, the Thunder will be playing their next contest against Portland without MVP contender Russell Westbrook, who received his 16th technical foul Sunday night in the Thunder-Pacers matchup, forcing the league to suspend him for a game. If you weren’t watching the game, here’s the foul:

Fortunately for Westbrook, There is still the possibility of the foul being overturned by the league.

"“I ain’t got no view on it,” Westbrook said. “He called it and we’ll move on from it.”If not rescinded by the league, Westbrook will sit Monday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.“I’m pretty confident that one will be rescinded,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said following the game. “That’s not my decision, but I feel confident about it.”All technical fouls are automatically reviewed by the league office.“That’s not my decision,” Westbrook said of it potentially being rescinded. “The league will take care of that.”Westbrook was handed the technical by referee Ed Malloy after being called for a foul trying to fight through a screen in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 116-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Westbrook had a technical rescinded against the Phoenix Suns on March 29, which would’ve been his 15th."

Should the league uphold Westbrook’s technical foul, the Pelicans are almost a lock to clinch the highly-coveted eighth-seed in the western conference.

Tonight’s Thunder-Trail Blazer matchup is Oklahoma City’s most important game of the year, playing the game without arguably their best player could prove fatal, but If the Thunder can grab two wins over Portland and Minnesota, the Pelicans just might be watching this year’s playoffs from the couch, as New Orléans will likely lose to the Spurs on Wednesday night.

If the rest of the season plays out as expected, Davis and his squad will move on to the postseason.

UPDATE: The league reviewed Westbrook’s technical foul and came to a decision to withdrawal his one-game suspension.

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