Southwest Division cements itself as NBA’s best

All five Southwest Division teams made the playoffs when New Orleans beat San Antonio Wednesday night to claim the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

Houston, San Antonio, Memphis and the Dallas Mavericks also qualified for the postseason.

“It’s the toughest division in all of sports,” Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “It has been the last few years. I don’t see it getting any easier. The good thing is it makes you tougher and makes you better. There’s never an easy one waiting for you around the corner. But it’s all right. If it isn’t rough, it isn’t right.”

Only one team from the Northwest Division, Portland, and two from the Pacific Division, Golden State and the Los Angeles…