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Tim Bontemps
With 81 games in the books for each NBA team, there is still a lot to play for Sunday, the last regular season action day.
Even after 1,215 games have been played, there are still several positions in the playoff and lottery classification that remain at stake, since the 30 teams take the floor for their 82nd and last game of the season.
For some teams, it will mark the beginning of the low season and wait for the pingpong balls will land in the NBA draft lottery on May 12. For others, it is only the beginning of what they expect to be a two -month odyssey through the playoffs that will end a team that raises the Larry O’Brien trophy.
With all that in mind, this is what is at stake as the regular season comes to an end, starting in the Open West:
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West | This
Lottery
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Jaylin Williams throws it from the glass for Slam
Jaylin Williams throws it from the glass for Slam
West Conference
Who is locked up?
The Thunder have been blocked for a long time in the first place not only at the conference, but also in the NBA, and are guaranteed with the advantage of the domestic court during the playoffs. With a victory on Sunday in New Orleans, they would become the seventh team in the history of the NBA to win at least 68 games in a season.
Like OKC, the rockets have been installed in second place for some time, limiting one of the most impressive and surprising campaigns of the NBA by blocking the advantage of the domestic court in the two initial rounds. However, Houston will have an important role in how the rest of things are shaken (more about this below).
With Friday’s victory over Houston, the Lakers are locked in the third seed. But the Lakers, such as thunder and rockets in front of them, are waiting for chaos to be stirred in the lower part of the west support.
What remains to decide
In summary: Everything else!
Denver controls his destiny. If the Nuggets beat the Rockets, which are locked in seed No. 2, a chaotic week for the franchise will end with obtaining the advantage of the domestic court in the first round.
It is a similar path for the clippers, who won in Sacramento on Friday to get about to lock themselves in a playoff place. However, unlike Denver, clippers have a much more difficult test ahead: a game in San Francisco against the Warriors.
A victory, along with a loss of Denver, means that the clippers would be fourth. A victory and a victory of Denver means that the clippers would face the Nuggets in the first round. A loss would probably push the clippers to the play.
The Timberwolves would have been in position for the advantage of the domestic court if they had not given an advantage of 24 points in the second half to the Bucks earlier this week. Even so, if Minnesota can overcome Utah jazz, they will guarantee a place among the top six in the West. (And, thanks to seasonal sweeps on Nuggets and Clippers, Minnesota could take the fourth seed if both teams in front of them lose Sunday).
Now, this is where things are complicated, since the late list of the games will decide who stays out of West’s game.
The Warriors, like the Wolves, have their own game to start the last day, after Harrison Barnes connected a triple winner of the game to overcome his former team on Wednesday night. Even so, after beating Portland on Friday, Golden State enters Sunday that needs a victory to guarantee a place among the top six in the West.
If the Warriors and the wolves win, the wolves would end in fifth place, the sixth Warriors and the seventh clippers, by virtue of the direct record between the three teams.
Golden State, thanks to the face to face on Memphis, cannot end up under the seventh, ensuring at least the opportunity to organize the first game game.
The Grizzlies had the opportunity to create an even greater disaster by defeating Nuggets on Friday night. That loss, however, means that the Grizzlies, who receive Dallas, need help to get out of the eighth place.
Now Memphis can’t escape the game. But the Grizzlies can go to the seventh place if Minnesota loses to the jazz living in the winery. Memphis will travel to Golden State or the host of Minnesota, since the wolves would end eighth in that potential three -track draw.
9. Sacramento Kings, 10. Dallas Mavericks
We go to the equation (relatively) simple for the two postseason points of the West.
The Kings and the Mavericks enter Sunday tied in the classification after the Kings lost to the Los Angeles Clippers and the Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
The kings, however, control their destiny. When sweeping the Mavericks in the regular season, Sacramento needs a victory over Phoenix, or a loss of Dallas, to ensure a house game for the confrontation of 9-10.
Eastern Conference
What is locked up:
All! Surprisingly, Friday’s results blocked the 10 places in the postseason of 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
Draft Lottery Ralquería
1/2. Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards
After the Wizards of Utah Jazz and Washington lost on Friday, they enter the action of Sunday tied in the worst record of the League in 17-64. If the two teams end up tied, Utah plays in Minnesota, while Washington plays in Miami, a currency flip will determine which team will be located at a higher if neither of them moves in the draft (the three main teams in the lottery have the same probabilities, so that will not change in any way).
3. Charlotte Hornets
4. Pelícans de New Orleans
5. Philadelphia 76ers
6. Brooklyn Nets
7. Toronto Raptors
8. San Antonio Spurs
The next six teams behind the jazz and the Wizards are locked in position. The team hit more for that is Philadelphia, which officially locked himself in fifth place despite his loss against Atlanta on Friday. Philadelphia will now maintain its selection of Protected First Round among the first six unless several teams behind 76ers jump them into the draft lottery next month. If that happens, and the selection lands at number 7 or lower, it will go to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Green Trade to Horford-Danny five years ago.
9/10. Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns
On the last day of the regular season, the Blazers are playing the Lakers, who are locked in seed number 3, and the Suns are playing the Kings, who fight for playoff positioning. If both equipment loses, a coin flipping will determine which of them will choose ahead of the other in the lottery if none moves up, although the pingpong balls will be divided evenly between them.
Phoenix, however, does not control your draft selection. The Houston Rockets acquired it from the Brooklyn Nets the last low season in an agreement that gave Brooklyn the control of their selections 2025 and 2026. Houston could end with a better choice than Brooklyn in this year’s draft with a moderate lot of lottery.
11. Miami Heat
The heat is in an interesting position: nothing to play in the classification as to leave the tenth, giving them all the reasons to lose against Washington and make sure they remain in the 11th place of lottery. Washington, however, is also encouraged to block its own draft positioning.
12. Chicago Bulls
13. Atlanta Hawks
14. Dallas Mavericks
15. Sacramento Kings
The Kings owe their choice to Hawks if it lands outside the top 12. But if the Kings beat the Suns and locate themselves in the ninth place in the game classification, the losses of the Hawks and Mavericks would mean that Sacrament will choose more than 13 if the Kings do not advance out of the play.
A loss of the Kings would put them in position to maintain their choice, whether directly, if Atlanta or Dallas wins, or by currency if they lose. It could also become a four -way draw if the bulls win and the Hawks, Mavericks and Kings lose. That scenario would give sacrament to three opportunities to upload through coins and maintain your choice.
16. Orlando Magic
