Here's a roundup of where things stand and what's at stake Sunday. Because I am either an AI robot or paid millions of dollars by RGM to do this on the GB every morning. You decide.
- West 1 Seed: The Thunder (vs. Mavs), Wolves (vs. Suns) and Nuggets (at Memphis) finally settle their months-long battle for the top of the West
- East 2 Seed: The Bucks and Knicks are tied (Bucks own tiebreaker) so New York needs to win (vs. Bulls, ESPN) and Milwaukee to lose (at Magic) to move up
- West 6 Seed: The Suns need a win (at Wolves) and a Pelicans loss (vs. Lakers, ESPN) to claim the final guaranteed playoff spot via tiebreaker over NOLA
- East 5-6 Seeds: The Magic (vs. Bucks), Pacers (vs. Hawks), Sixers (vs. Nets) and Heat (vs. Raptors) all have a shot at securing one of the final two guaranteed playoff spots in the East
- West 8 Seed: The Lakers control their own destiny as a win (at Pelicans) clinches No. 8. A loss opens the door for the Kings (vs. Blazers) and Warriors (vs. Jazz)
Western Conference update:
⬆️ Oklahoma City: Rises from 3rd to 1st via tiebreakers over (2) Minnesota and (3) Denver
↔️ Minnesota: Remains 2nd via tiebreakers with (1) OKC and (3) Denver
⬇️ Denver: Drops from 1st to 3rd via tiebreakers against (1) OKC and (2) Minnesota
↔️ LA Clippers: Locked into 4th with Mavs’ loss, one game up on (5) Dallas with Clippers holding tiebreaker
↔️ Dallas: Locked into 5th with loss, one game up on (6) New Orleans with Mavs holding tiebreaker
↔️ New Orleans: Remains 6th, one game up on (7) Phoenix for the final guaranteed playoff spot
↔️ Phoenix: Remains 7th, one game back of (6) New Orleans
⬆️ L.A. Lakers: Rise from 10th to 8th, one game up on both (9) Sacramento and (10) Golden State
⬇️ Sacramento: Drops from 8th to 9th, holding tiebreaker over (10) Golden State, one game back of (8) Lakers
⬇️ Golden State: Drops from 9th to 10th via tiebreaker to Sacramento, one game back of (8) Lakers
Eastern Conference update:
↔️ Milwaukee: Remains 2nd via tiebreaker over (3) New York, both one game up on (4) Cleveland
↔️ New York: Remains 3rd via tiebreaker to (2) Milwaukee, both one game up on (4) Cleveland
☑️ ↔️ Cleveland: Remains 4th while clinching playoff berth, one game back of (3) NY and (2) Milwaukee
↔️ Orlando: Remains 5th via tiebreakers over (6) Indiana and (7) Philadelphia, one game up on (8) Miami
↔️ Indiana: Remains 6th via tiebreakers with (5) Orlando and (7) Philadelphia, one game up on (8) Miami
↔️ Philadelphia: Remains 7th via tiebreakers with (5) Orlando and (6) Indiana, one game up on (8) Miami
↔️ Miami: Remains 8th, one game back of (5) Orlando, (6) Indiana and (7) Philly
↔️ Boston (1), Chicago (9) and Atlanta (10): All were previously locked in their seeds
Standings entering Sunday:
Only 5 of the 20 seeds are locked in!
- 3-way tie record-wise for top seed in West
- NOP & PHX each seek 6th spot
- 1 game separating 8 through 10
- 7 spots undetermined in the East
- MIL, NYK & CLE all have a chance for 2 seed
- ORL, IND, PHI & MIA all still alive for 5 seed
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