Regular season’s end will decide seeds, matchups
There will be final-night intrigue in the NBA.
The two remaining playoff berths will be decided, along with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the site for Game 1 of the series that starts this weekend between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.
Most individual stat races are already sewn up. Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook will become the 16th player in NBA history to win two scoring titles, Houston’s James Harden will lead the league in assists for the first time and Miami’s Hassan Whiteside should be able to wrap up his first rebounding crown.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is a lock to lead the league in 3-pointers made for the fifth straight year, and Warriors teammate Klay Thompson will finish second in that category for the fourth consecutive season.
TOP OF THE EAST
Boston controls the race for the top seed in the East playoffs.
The Celtics will be No. 1 in the East if they beat Milwaukee or if Cleveland loses to Toronto. The Cavaliers won’t have LeBron James tonight and are 0-7 this season when he doesn’t play.
Depending on perspective, James will be resting, recovering or revving for the start of the playoffs. It’s part of his usual playoff preparedness, since he hasn’t appeared in a regular-season finale in a decade.
Cleveland can still be No. 1 with a win and a Boston loss.
BOTTOM OF EAST
Dwyane Wade helped Miami win three NBA championships. Now he might help keep the Heat out of the playoffs.
It’s down to three teams — Indiana, Chicago and Miami — for the last two spots in the East field. Indiana (which plays Atlanta) and Wade’s Chicago team (which plays Brooklyn) control their destinies.
If the Pacers win, they’re in. If the Bulls win, they’re in. If either loses, the door opens for Miami.
The Heat would reach the playoffs with a win over Washington and a loss by either Indiana or Chicago.
EAST MATCHUPS
The 1-8 and 2-7 matchups in the East cannot be finalized until tonight.
Toronto is the No. 3 seed and will face either Milwaukee or Indiana. Washington is the No. 4 seed and will open the playoffs against Atlanta or Milwaukee.
Everything else is still up in the air. Depending on results Tuesday and tonight, any of four teams — Indiana, Atlanta, Chicago or Miami — could wind up getting the No. 7 spot. And the Pacers might be No. 6, No. 7, No. 8 or out of the playoffs entirely at No. 9.
CLIPPERS-JAZZ
Utah hasn’t started the playoffs at home since 2001. The Jazz could change that this year, if they beat San Antonio tonight and the Clippers lose at home to Sacramento. That’s the only scenario where the Jazz would be seeded No. 4 in the Western Conference playoffs. Otherwise, the Clippers will get homecourt for the first-round series against Utah.
All the other seeds and matchups out West for the first round are set: No. 1 Golden State vs. No. 8 Portland, No. 2 San Antonio vs. No. 7 Memphis and No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 Oklahoma City.