TODAY (Manila time) marks the final playdate of the National Basketball Association’s 1,230-game regular season. It’s one exciting finale for various seeding positions entering the real season that is the 2017 playoffs have yet to be determined.
A total of 14 games are scheduled to be played on the last day of the regular wars – Detroit at Orlando, Toronto at Cleveland, Milwaukee at Boston, Philadelphia at New York, Washington at Miami, Brooklyn at Chicago, Dallas at Memphis, Minnesota at Houston, Denver at Oklahoma City, Atlanta at Indiana, San Antonio at Utah, Sacramento at the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State and New Orleans at Portland.
Seven of the aforementioned contests have playoff implications.
All eight playoff tickets from the Western Conference have been secured although the Los Angeles Clippers (50-31) and Utah Jazz (50-31) are still fighting it out for the important No. 4 seed. The two teams are slated to tangle in the first-round playoffs but the fourth-seeded team will enjoy home-court advantage against the No. 5 seed in their best-of-seven series.
Out in the Eastern Conference, six teams have qualified for the postseason but the final two (seventh and eighth) are still being contested by three teams – Indiana Pacers (41-40) Chicago Bulls (40-41) and Miami Heat (40-41) – and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference is still up for grabs between the Boston Celtics (52-29) and the reigning NBA titlist but slumping Cleveland Cavaliers (51-30).
Here are the playoff scenarios heading into the final regular playdate on Thursday, April 13 (Manila time):
1-If the LA Clippers beat the lottery-bound Sacramento Kings or Utah loses to No. 2 seed San Antonio (61-20), the Clippers will secure the No. 4 seed. Granting that LAC and Utah both win or both lose, the Clippers will still land at No. 4 because of their tie-breaking, season-series win over the Jazz. If LAC loses and Utah wins, the Jazz will get the 4-seed.
Golden State, which owns the best regular-season card in the NBA for the third year in a row at 66-15, will have home-court advantage during the entire playoffs, including the NBA Finals, assuming the Warriors advance that far.
With Houston (54-27) locked in at No. 3 and Oklahoma City (47-34) at No. 6 in the West, a Rockets-Thunder matchup in the first-round playoffs – and Clash of the Titans warfare between the top two NBA Most Valuable Player contenders and scoring and triple-double machines in James Harden (21 T-D games) and Russell Westbrook (an all-time league record 42 T-Ds) – is guaranteed.
Memphis (43-38) is a lock at No. 7 and Portland (41-40) has the No. 8 slot.
2-If Boston beats No. 6 seed Milwaukee (42-39) or if Cleveland loses to No. 3 seed Toronto (50-31), the Celtics will have the No. 1 seed in the East. If Boston loses to the Bucks and the Cavaliers beat the Raptors, the Celts and Cavs will be deadlocked at 52-30. However, Cleveland will have the tie-breaker advantage because of its 3-1 season-series win over Boston.
If Cleveland loses to Toronto, both the Cavs and Raptors will own identical records. Cleveland, though, owns the tie-breaker advantage over the Raptors and will still be ranked No. 2.
A loss by Toronto and a win by No. 4 seed Washington (49-32) over Miami will produce a deadlock between the Raptors and Wizards at 50-32. Toronto will be ranked higher at No. 3 because of its tiebreaker advantage over Washington.
3-Atlanta (43-38), with its 100-76 victory over Charlotte yesterday, has clinched the
No. 5 seed even with a loss at Indiana today. The Hawks (43-38) own the tie-breaker edge over temporary No. 6 seed Milwaukee (42-39) in case Atlanta loses to Indiana and the Bucks beat Boston to create a deadlock at 43-39.
Atlanta will take on No. 4 seed Washington (49-32) in the first-round playoffs with the Wizards enjoying home-court advantage.
If Toronto (50-31) loses to Cleveland and Washington beats Miami, both teams will be 50-32. The Raptors will be seeded No. 3 with their tiebreaker advantage over the Wizards.
A win by Indiana (41-40) over Atlanta and a loss by Milwaukee (42-39) to Boston will create a deadlock between the Pacers and Bucks at 42-40. Indiana will move up to No. 6 and Milwaukee will slip to No. 7 due to a tiebreak advantage.
4-If Indiana (41-40) beats Atlanta and Chicago (40-41) beats Brooklyn in their respective games today, Miami (40-41) will automatically be eliminated even if it beats Washington. The Bulls own the tiebreaker advantage over the Heat, which was once mired at 11-30.
A final-day loss by either Chicago or Miami will assure the Pacers of a playoff berth even if they drop their game against the Hawks. If both Indiana and Chicago lose and Miami downs Washington in their respective 82nd games, the Heat will slip into the No. 7 slot because of its tiebreaker advantage against the Pacers, who nonetheless will qualify for the playoffs at No. 8.
5-If Chicago (40-41) beats Brooklyn and Miami defeats Washington, both will wind up with 41-41. The Bulls, however, will advance as the eighth and final seed due to their tiebreaker advantage over the Heat.
6-Should Indiana lose to Atlanta and both Chicago and Miami win, a three-way tie would ensue at 41-41. Under the tiebreaker system, the Bulls will be seeded seventh and the Heat eighth. The Pacers will exit with no playoff stint.
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