Thunder needs a win and some help to host first-round series

On Tuesday afternoon, the NBA released a chart, a handy reference guide for the final impactful games this week in the Western Conference playoff race.

A few hours later, it released a corrected one.

There are so many scenarios, potential outcomes and tiebreakers to take into account that even the league couldn’t get it straight the first time.

The Thunder alone could land anywhere between No. 4 and No. 8 in the West, depending on a variety of results.

This much is clear: Oklahoma City needs to beat Memphis on Wednesday.

If the Thunder completes a regular-season sweep of the Grizzlies in the season finale at Chesapeake Energy Arena, it’ll avoid top-seeded Houston and No. 2 seed Golden State in the first round of the playoffs.

A win against the Grizzlies guarantees OKC at least the No. 6 seed.

It’ll need some help to get higher.

The Jazz and Warriors played Tuesday in a late game in Salt Lake City. If Utah won that game but loses at Portland on Wednesday, the Thunder would lock up the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage in the first round with a win against Memphis.

That’s one of eight scenarios in which the Thunder can grab the No. 4 by winning against the Grizzlies and having Utah split its final two games, depending on what happens in other games.

If Utah sweeps the Warriors and Blazers, though, the Thunder can’t finish in the No. 4 or No. 5 spots.

It’s a dizzying array of options, but for the simple part for Oklahoma City is beating Memphis. Failure to do that could drop the Thunder as far as the No. 8 seed.

“We’ve got to go out and play good basketball,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “We’re coming off two road games. They’ve rested some guys, they’ve played some guys, but I think their system, style and how they want to play is pretty consistent. They’re really good defensively with their hands. They’ve always been a physical, disruptive defensive team.”

Abrines in concussion protocol

Alex Abrines suffered a concussion in the Thunder’s win at Miami on Monday and likely won’t play against the Grizzlies, Donovan said.

Abrines is in the NBA’s concussion protocol, meaning he’ll have to pass a series of tests designed to ensure he is free of concussion symptoms before he returns to play. There is no set timetable for completion of the protocol.

Donovan said he feels “really bad” for Abrines, who has been playing his best basketball lately and appears to have solidified a spot in the playoff rotation assuming he’s healthy.

Rookie Terrance Ferguson is likely to see more minutes in his absence, but Abrines had shown marked improvement in recent weeks. After an 11-game stretch in which he averaged 8.9 minutes, Abrines played 21 per game in the four games prior to his concussion.

And he could have been a boost on Wednesday. In three games this season against the Grizzlies, Abrines is averaging 12 points on 58.8 percent 3-point shooting.

“For him, you want him out there because he’s been through a lot this year,” Donovan said. “Training camp, injuries, battled, but I think he’s gotten himself to a place right now where he’s played really good basketball.”

Quotable

“We don’t care. We don’t care. I mean, we want a good seed, of course. But what we do, our destiny has always been in our own hands. The way we approach this is … we play a team seven times, and you have to beat us four times out of seven. A lot of times I’ll take my chances with that.” — Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony on if OKC prefers any particular first-round playoff opponent.