Plenty still at stake late in NBA regular season

The Celtics have locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with nearly a month left in the regular season. And the race for that slot has essentially been over for weeks.

Yet the last few weeks of the regular season will be packed with intrigue as 21 teams fight for 20 playoff spots and several teams are battling to avoid the play-in tournament or playing for home-court advantage.

Here’s a look at some of the intriguing races, including for the Eastern Conference play-in, which affects the Celtics.

■ No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. It’s a three-team race for the top seed between the Thunder, Timberwolves, and Nuggets, with Oklahoma City and Denver tied at the top, 1½ games ahead of Minnesota entering Friday’s games.

The top seed may or may not have the easiest road to the Finals, depending on who you ask. The top seed is most likely to face the Lakers or Warriors in the first round, and the Lakers privately would love to face the Thunder, who they’ve beaten three times already this season.

The Thunder also have the most difficult road to gaining that top seed. Their remaining schedule is treacherous, with two meetings against the Bucks, games at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Indiana, as well as against the Pelicans, Suns, and suddenly-hot Rockets. The Thunder conclude the season with a home game against the Mavericks.

The defending champion Nuggets will be a threat regardless of their seed and likely have the least to lose because of their experience.

■ The play-in race in the West. While it once appeared a cinch the Lakers and Warriors would occupy the final two playoff spots (9 and 10), the Rockets have emerged as a contender and entered Friday 2½ games behind the 10th-place Warriors. The Lakers entered Friday a half-game ahead of the Warriors but with eight of their final 11 games on the road, including a sixgame East Coast trip. The Lakers have one meeting left with the Warriors (April 9) and do not play the Rockets. The Warriors have one meeting left with the Rockets and nine of their final 12 games on the road.

Of the Rockets’ final 13 games, five are against the Jazz and Trail Blazers. But there’s also matchups with the Thunder, Timberwolves, Mavericks (twice), Heat, Magic, and Clippers.

■ The race for No. 2 in the East, and the play-in. The Bucks entered Friday with a 1½-game lead over the Cavaliers for the second seed and potential homecourt advantage in a second-round series. But the Magic (three games back) and Knicks (3½) are lurking. Bucks coach Doc Rivers said he’s going to try to give his veterans some rest down the stretch, confident in his team’s ability to make a Finals run.

So, who will the Celtics play in the first round? That’s left to be determined by the play-in tournament, but the field is close to being set with the Hawks 4½ games ahead of the reeling Nets for the 10th seed. The Hawks would need a late-season surge to catch the Bulls for the ninth seed, meaning they’ll likely be headed to Chicago for the 9-10 game. The winner of that game would play the loser of the 7-8 game for the eighth seed.

Just a half-game separates the Pacers, 76ers, and Heat for the sixth seed, and there is major intrigue because Philadelphia may get reigning MVP

Joel Embiid back in time for the stretch run. The Heat, a major threat regardless of their seed, have matchups left with the 76ers and Pacers.

The 76ers still have two games left with the Clippers and a matchup with the Thunder, but also a season-ending stretch that includes the Grizzlies, Spurs, Pistons, and Nets.

Indiana, without top reserve Bennedict Mathurin for the season, has eight of its final 11 games against teams competing for the playoffs.