With less than five games left for each team before the start of the NBA playoffs, there is no more room for error. However, a number of teams teams are still struggling to get it going in the bubble despite the fact that the playoffs are only a few games away.

Whether it’s because of game rust, the absence of the crowd or maybe being overconfident, I’m not sure. But the fact remains that these three teams have been very disappointing so far and they need to get it going before the playoffs start.

DISHONORABLE MENTION:

Dallas Mavericks

New Orleans Pelicans

Utah Jazz

Sacramento Kings

Washington Wizards

NO. 3 – Memphis Grizzlies

Before the restart of the season, a lot of fans were expecting a very tight race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference between the bottom seeders; Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trailblazers, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns.

But things aren’t looking good for the three teams in the list. The two teams were already mentioned in the “dishonorable mention” above and the third team is Memphis.

Phoenix, Portland and San Antonio stepped up their game since the return of the season. However, the Grizzlies looks like they’re not putting up any fight to maintain their playoff spot.

Memphis started the resume of the season with a four-game losing streak from the hands of the Trailblazers (135-140), the Spurs (106-108), the Pelicans (99-109) and the Utah Jazz (115-124). Their only win so far came against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-92.

The three teams that still have a high chance of making the playoffs have been on a roll since the NBA bubble started. Portland has shown their greatness right away and are currently 3-2 so far in the bubble and ninth in the West with a 33-39 record. Phoenix has been the most surprising team so far with a clean slate under their belt, 5-0 record in the bubble, and slowly closing on overtaking the Trailblazers from the 10^th seed with a 31-39 record.

San Antonio has been showcasing their veteran experience with a 3-2 record in the bubble and 30-38 record for the season. They are currently sitting as the 11^th seed.

The numbers for Memphis have been down as well. For the season they’re averaging 26.8 assists as a team per outing but in their last five games, they’ve only been averaging 24.4. Their three-point shooting hasn’t been a big help as well as in the last five games, they’ve only been shooting 31.2 percent from the three-point line.

Maybe, it’s the inexperience kicking in for the young Grizzlies, nevertheless, they’re going to have to pick it up soon if they want to reach the playoffs this season. As of now, it looks like they’re going to have to go through a “play-in” against the ninth seeded Blazers. Considering how Damian Lillard’s playing right now, that’s not a great proposition for the Grizzlies.

NO. 2 – Milwaukee Bucks

Now, you might be surprised that the Milwaukee Bucks are on this list. But before you say that I’m stupid, hear me out.

Milwaukee hasn’t been disappointing stat-wise. As a team, they’ve been putting up great numbers. In their last five games, they’ve been averaging 122.6 points per game (higher than their usual 122.6 for the season), 53 rebounds (higher than their usual 51.8), six blocks per game (their usual number for the season) while shooting 48.6 percent in the field (higher than their usual 47.8).

While there were categories that they went down a little bit like their three-point shooting which is only 33.0 percent compared to their usual 35.3 percent, their assists numbers which is now 25.4 percent, lower than their usual 25.9 and turnovers which is now 16.4, higher than their usual 15 a game. Those factors aren’t really a problem since it only went down a little bit.

Key players, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton can’t be blamed for their losses as well as the two have been putting up stellar numbers in the bubble as well.

Antetokounmpo has been putting up his usual MVP numbers with 32.0 points while shooting 65.9 from the field and grabbing 13.6 rebounds per game. Middleton has been impressive as well with 20.1 points while shooting 43.8 in the field and 36.6 from the three-point distance.

If the Bucks are putting up great numbers, then why are they disappointing?

The answer is because of their inability to pull of big win in close game situations.

Milwaukee are currently 2-3 in the bubble. Their two wins came from a comeback win over the Boston Celtics, 119-112, and from blowing out the Miami Heat, 130-116.

Now, they did pull off the close game win against the Celtics but they failed to do it against the Houston Rockets, 116-120, the Brooklyn Nets, 116-119 and the Dallas Mavericks in Overtime, 132-136.

If you’re a championship contending team, you have to be disappointed and wary about these kinds of losses because close games in the playoffs are very different from close games in the regular season.

And if you lose to a team like Brooklyn, a team that you should easily beat that doesn’t have its superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant available, you should be disappointed. Either that, or you might become one of the people that think that teams just play better when Irving isn’t around to be disruptive.

NO. 1 – LA Lakers

I had the LA Lakers taking on the LA Clippers in the Western Conference Finals, but with what’s been happening to the Lakers, I might have to rethink my choices.

The LA Lakers opened the season restart in a big way by beating their rivals the Clippers in a tightly contested match-up, 103-101. So far, that’s the only silver lining for them as they’re currently 2-4 in the bubble.

The Lakers lost the Toronto Raptors in their second game, 92-107. They were able to bounce back against the Utah Jazz, 116-108 but lost three-straight games against Oklahoma (86-105), Houston (97-113) and recently to the Indiana Pacers (111-116).

As a team the LA Lakers has been performing poorly. For the season, they’ve been averaging 113.2 points, 45.9 rebounds, 25.3 assists, 15.2 turnovers, 8.7 steals and 6.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.8 percent in the field and 34.6 from the three-point line.

However, since entering the bubble, the Lakers have produced dismal numbers across the stat sheet. They’ve been averaging 101.7 points, shooting 40.2 percent in the field, 27.4 from the three-point area with 44.1 rebounds, 20 assists, 16.3 turnovers, 8.1 steals and 4.5 blocks.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis haven’t been a big help for their squad as well as the duo is currently in a slump too. James is only averaging 21.6 points while shooting 45.1 in the field and 28.3 percent from deep along with 9.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.5 turnovers.

Davis is in the same boat as well as he’s only been averaging 19.6 points and shooting 33.0 percent in the field and 20.5 from the three-point line with nine rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 blocks and 2.8 turnovers.

Despite their struggles, Davis thinks that their problem is all about making shots.

The Lakers’ shooters have been missing in action as well as Dion Waiters (13.6 from three) JR Smith (0.0) and Danny Green (12.3 from three) hasn’t made their presence felt in their last six games.

“I ain’t never missed this many threes in my life,” said Waiters in an interview. “I can get to the basket, but I ain’t never missed this many threes before. That’s just what’s frustrating right now.” He added.

If James, Davis and the whole Lakers crew failed to get it going and continue this kind of play in the playoffs, their quest for the championship may end earlier than the NBA Finals. This is especially true if they end up facing a hungry Portland Trail Blazers team in the first round.