From West to East in NBA, playoff seeds are up for grab
More than just Lakers are jockeying for position in the final week of NBA regular season.
In the final week of the season, the talk of the Los Angeles Lakers having to get into the postseason via the play-in tournament is all the rage.
But that was not the only compelling playoff push left in the NBA’s 2020-21 regular season, which ends Sunday.
The top seeds aren’t locked just yet, and teams are jockeying for position throughout the standings.
We take a look the scenarios in the Eastern and Western Conferences headed into Monday’s games and see who is in solid position, a precarious situation and on the outside looking in while factoring in the tiebreakers that could be the difference between a guaranteed playoff spot and the play-in game format.
Eastern Conference
The top three seeds
Philadelphia is close to locking up the top seed in the East. The Sixers are three games up on Brooklyn and 3 1⁄2 ahead of Milwaukee.
The Bucks are trying to catch the Nets for the No. 2 seed, and they own head-to-head tiebreaker.
Philadelphia: at Indiana, at Miami, vs. Orlando, vs. Orlando.
Brooklyn: at Chicago, vs. San Antonio, vs. Chicago, vs. Cleveland.
Milwaukee: at San Antonio, vs. Orlando, at Indiana, vs. Miami, at Chicago.
Spots 4-5-6
The Knicks are in fourth place but just a game ahead of Atlanta and Miami, both tied for fifth place with 37-31 records. The Knicks have the tiebreaker over the Hawks but not the Heat.
If the Knicks, Hawks and Heat finish with identical records, Atlanta would be the fourth seed, based on the Hawks winning the division on the head-tohead tiebreaker against Miami, which would end up fifth and the Knicks sixth. The Heat are in a situation where they could finish fourth or seventh.
No. 7 Boston is two games behind the Heat and Hawks and is trying to avoid the play-in game. Atlanta owns the tiebreaker over Boston and Miami, and in an important game on Tuesday, the Celtics play the Heat with the winner earning the tiebreaker.
New York: at LA Lakers, vs. San Antonio, vs. Charlotte, vs. Boston.
Atlanta: vs. Washington, vs. Washington, vs. Orlando, vs. Houston.
Miami: at Boston, vs. Philadelphia, at Milwaukee, at Detroit.
Boston: vs. Miami, at Cleveland, at Minnesota, at New York Knicks.
The play-in game scenario
With the head-to-head advantage over Charlotte, the Celtics should be able to avoid the eighth seed. Spots 8-10 are up for grabs in the East with the Hornets one game ahead of Washington and 1 1⁄2 games up on Indiana. The Hornets have the tiebreaker edge over Washington and Indiana, and the Wizards get the tiebreaker over the Pacers via a 3-0 season sweep.
Chicago is making a late run for the 10th spot with a three-game winning streak and the return of Zach LaVine. Though the Bulls have the tiebreaker edge over Indiana and Washington, the Bulls are 2 1⁄2 behind the Pacers and three behind the Wizards and have a difficult remaining schedule
Boston: vs. Miami, at Cleveland, at Minnesota, at New York Knicks.
Charlotte: vs. Denver, vs. LA Clippers, at New York Knicks, at Washington.
Washington: at Atlanta, at Atlanta, vs. Cleveland, vs. Charlotte.
Indiana: at Cleveland, vs. Philadelphia, vs. Milwaukee, vs. LA Lakers, at Toronto.
Chicago: vs. Brooklyn, vs. Toronto, at Brooklyn, vs. Milwaukee.
Western Conference
A two-team race for top seed
In the West, Utah owns a two-game lead over Phoenix for the No. 1 seed and needs to finish with a better record than the Suns, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Utah: at Golden State, vs. Portland, at Oklahoma City, at Sacramento.
Phoenix: at Golden State, vs. Portland, at San Antonio, at San Antonio.
Clippers or Nuggets for third seed?
The Clippers are a game ahead of Denver for the No. 3 seed with the Nuggets owning the tiebreaker. The Clippers get a break in the schedule, playing three teams not in the playoff chase.
LA Clippers: at Toronto, at Charlotte, at Houston, at Oklahoma City.
Denver: at Charlotte, at Minnesota, at Detroit, at Portland.
Can Lakers avoid play-in game?
Dallas has a one-game lead over Portland and a two-game lead over the Lakers for sixth place. The Mavericks are in a good spot when it comes to avoiding the play-in game, owning the tiebreaker over the Lakers. However, Portland has the tiebreaker if it finishes with the same record as Dallas.
The Lakers not only must win games to avoid the play-in game, they need Portland to lose games because the Trail Blazers are 2-1 against the Lakers this season, earning the tiebreaker. Portland finishes with a tough schedule, too – vs. Houston, at Utah, at Phoenix, vs. Denver. The Lakers close out against the Knicks and Houston and on the road against Indiana and New Orleans.
Eight-place Golden State has a halfgame lead on ninth-place Memphis. With the season series tied at 1-1, the final game of the season between the two teams could decide who gets the higher seed. The Grizzlies likely will avoid the 10th seed with a two-game lead and tiebreaker advantage over San Antonio. The 10th-place Spurs are 1 1⁄2 up on New Orleans, plus own the tiebreaker.
Dallas: at Memphis, vs. New Orleans, vs. Toronto, at Minnesota.
Portland: vs. Houston, at Utah, at Phoenix, vs. Denver.
LA Lakers: vs. New York, vs. Houston, at Indiana, at New Orleans.
Golden State: vs. Utah, vs. Phoenix, vs. New Orleans, vs. Memphis.
Memphis: vs. New Orleans, vs. Dallas, vs. Sacramento, vs. Sacramento, at Golden State.
San Antonio: vs. Milwaukee, at Brooklyn, at New York, vs. Phoenix, vs. Phoenix.
New Orleans: at Memphis, at Dallas, at Golden State, vs. LA Lakers.