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TIM BONTEMPS
With 81 games in books for each NBA team there is still a lot where you can play until Sunday, the last day of regular action.
Even after playing 1,215 games, there are still several positions in the Play -off ranking and lotteries that remain for catching, because all 30 teams are devoted to the floor for their 82 and the last game of the season.
For some teams, it will mark the beginning of offseason and wait to see where Pingpong Balls land in the NBA Lottery Draft 12 May. For others, this is just the beginning of what they hope to be a two-month-old Odyssey over the playoffs, which will end up with the team and Larry O’Brien Troph.
With regard to all this is what is at stake, when the regular season is approaching, starting with a wide open west:
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West | East
Draft lottery
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Jaylin Williams throws it out of a glass
Jaylin Williams throws it out of a glass
Western conference
Who is locked?
1. Thunder has long been closed to the highest place not only at the conference but in the NBA, and the benefits of the domestic court during the playoffs are guaranteed. With the winning Sunday in New Orleans, they would become the seventh team in the history of NBA to win at least 68 games in the season.
2. Like OKC, missiles have been seated in second place for some time and finished one of the most impressive and surprising campaigns in the NBA by locking a bargain court during the first two rounds. Houston will have a major role to play, how other things are shaking (more about it below).
3. With Friday’s victory over Houston, the Lakers are locked in the third seed. But Lakers, like thunder and missiles in front of them, wait for the chaos to shake at the bottom of the western parenthesis.
What is left to be determined
In short: everything else!
4. Denver controls his fate. If Nugets defeated missiles-which are locked to seed no.
5. Clippers
It is a similar way for Clippers who won on Friday in Sacramento to get to the brink of locking on the place of play -off. Unlike Denver, however, Clippers have a much harder test: San Francisco’s game against warriors.
The victory associated with the loss of Denver means that Clippers would be the fourth. Victory and victory in Denver mean that Clippers faced nuggets in the first round. The loss would probably push Clippers to play.
6. Timberwolves would be in a position for the advantage of the domestic court if they did not give up the 24-point second half to Bucks at the beginning of this week. Yet if Minnesota can beat Utah jazzThey guarantee the highest six place in the west. (And thanks to the season sweeps above Nuggets and Clippers, Minnesota could catch the fourth seed if both teams lost Sunday before them.)
Here’s a place where things are complicated because the late slate games decide who will stay outside the western playback.
7. Warriors as well as wolves Harrison Barnes Hit a 3-proof of victory in the game to beat his former team on Wednesday evening. After defeating Portland on Friday, Golden State enters Sunday and needs victory to guarantee the highest six place in the west.
If warriors and wolves win, wolves would finish fifth, Warriors Sixth and Clippers seventh, based on the record between the three teams.
Golden State, thanks to the tiebreaker over the head above Memphis, cannot end lower than the seventh and at least ensure the chance to host the first playing game.
8. Grizzlies had a chance to create even more order by defeating Nuggets on Friday evening. However, this loss means that Grizzlies – who host Dallas – need help to get out of the eighth place.
Now Memphis cannot escape playback. But Grizzlies can move to the seventh if Minnesota loses a living cellar. Memphis will either travel to Golden State or host minnesot, because wolves would end up eighth in this potential tie.
9. Sacramento Kings10. Dallas Mavericks
Let’s get to (relatively) simple equation for the last two postseason spots of the west.
Kings and Mavericks enter Sunday tied to the ranking after the kings lost with La Clippers and Mavericks beat Toronto Rapors Friday evening.
But Kings controls his fate. Sacramento sweeps Mavericks in a regular season, needs victory over Phoenix-or Dallas’s loss to ensure a home game for playing with playing 9-10.
Eastern Conference
What is locked:
All! It is remarkable that Friday results locked at all 10 locations in the east:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Boston Celtics
3. New York Knicks
4. Indiana Pacers
5. Milwaukee Bucks
6. Detroit Pistons
7. Orlando Magic
8. Atlanta Hawks
9. Chicago Bulls
10. Miami Heat
Placing a lottery ranking
1/2. Utah jazz and Washington Wizards
After Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards both lost on Friday, they entered the Sunday event tied up for the worst league record in 17-64. If both teams end up tied – Utah plays in Minnesota while Washington plays in Miami – Flip Coins will determine which team will move higher if neither moves in the proposal (the first three teams in the lottery have the same chances, so it doesn’t change in the way).
7. Toronto Rapors
Six other teams for jazz and wizard are locked in position. The team most ended that Philadelphia, which officially locked fifth, despite its loss in Atlanta on Friday. Philadelphia now retains its top -of -the -line selection from the first round if more teams for 76ers do not jump in the next monthly lottery. If this happens and the selection lands on No. 7 or lower, it will go to Oklahoma City Thunder as part Al Horford-Danny Green Trade five years ago.
9/10. Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns
On the last day of the regular season, Blazers Lakers are played, who are locked in seed no. If both teams lose, the rolling of the coins will determine which of them they choose before the other in the lottery, if neither moves up, even if the ping -pong balls are evenly distributed between them.
However, Phoenix does not check his choice of turn. The Houston missiles got it from Brooklyn Nets Last Offseason in an agreement that gave Brooklyn back to its 2025 and 2026 tips.
11. Miami Heat
The heat is in an interesting position: nothing to play in the ranking when it comes to departure from 10, gives them all the reasons to lose Washington and ensure that they stay at 11. However, Washington is also motivated to lock in its own position.
12. Chicago Bulls
13. Atlanta Hawks
14. Dallas Mavericks
15. Sacramento Kings
The kings owe Hawks their choice if they land outside the TOP 12. But if the kings defeated the sun and locked up ninth in the ranking of the game, the losses of Hawks and Mavericks would mean that Sacramento would choose the highest than the 13th if the kings do not get out of the game.
The loss of the kings would put them in a position to maintain their choice – either directly if Atlanta or Dallas wins, or via a coin of flip if they lose. It could also become a four -way tie if bulls and Hawks, Mavericks and Kings win. This scenario would give Sacramento up to three chances of moving up through the Flip coin and keep your choice.
16. Orlando Magic
