The 2021-22 NBA season is heading into the home stretch of the regular season schedule and with just over five weeks left of games, many teams in the league are still jockeying for playoff position. 

While some teams are struggling to maintain their position in the standings, other teams are taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them and rising up their conference standings at the right time. 

In the Eastern Conference, there is little separation between the teams currently out of the play-in tournament field and those who are projected to be in this year’s play-in tournament for the conference. 

In the Western Conference, the top teams have separated themselves, but the play-in tournament spots are still very much up for grabs at this point with some teams trending in the right direction at the right time. 

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Teams like the Hornets, Lakers, and Knicks are trending downwards right now, but these four teams are playing some of the best basketball out of any other team in the NBA and are locking up their playoff spots.