Here are the NBA playoff scenarios heading into last night of the season
Buckle up. There isn’t a single playoff matchup set yet.
There is nothing perfunctory about the final night of the NBA’s 2017-2018 season. There are 12 games on the schedule, including a de facto play-in game between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Even the 15 teams with playoff berths clinched have plenty at stake as zero playoff matchups set. There are only teams locked into specific seeds after 81 games.
Here is a rundown of the battle for seeding in each conference as well as a look at what is at stake for every team still in the playoff picture:
East No. 1 seed: Toronto Raptors (59-22)
This is locked in.
East No. 2 seed: Boston Celtics (54-27)
This is locked in.
East No. 3 seed: Philadelphia 76ers (51-30) OR Cleveland Cavaliers (50-31)
THE 76ERS ARE THE NO. 3 SEED IF: They beat the Bucks OR they lose and Cleveland also lose to the Knicks.
THE CAVALIERS ARE THE NO. 3 SEED IF: They beat the Knicks AND the 76ers lose to the Bucks. They would have the same record, but Cleveland earns the tiebreaker by virtue of being the Central division.
East No. 4 seed: 76ers OR Cavaliers
See above.
East No. 5 seed: Indiana Pacers (48-34)
This is locked in.
East No. 6 seed: Milwaukee Bucks (44-37), Miami Heat (43-38) or Washington Wizards (43-38)
THE BUCKS ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They beat the 76ers OR they lose to the 76ers AND the Heat and Wizards also lose.
THE HEAT ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They beat the Raptors AND the Bucks lose to the 76ers. Washington’s result in this scenario is irrelevant because the Heat win three-team tiebreaker scenarios between the teams.
THE WIZARDS ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They beat the Magic AND the Bucks lose to the 76ers AND the Heat lose to the Raptors.
East No. 7 seed: Bucks, Heat, or Wizards
THE HEAT ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They win AND the Bucks win. OR they lose AND the Wizards lose. Washington’s result is irrelevant in the first scenario. Milwaukee’s result is irrelevant in the second.
THE WIZARDS ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They win AND the Heat lose, OR they win, the Heat win, AND the Bucks lose. That last scenario would result in a three-way tie, and the tiebreaker would go: Miami, Washington, Milwaukee.
THE BUCKS ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They lose AND either the Heat OR Wizards win.
East No. 8 seed: Bucks, Heat, or Wizards
THE WIZARDS ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They lose. OR, they win AND the Heat and Bucks both win.
THE HEAT ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They lose AND the Wizards lose.
THE BUCKS ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They lose AND the Wizards and Heat win.
West No. 1 seed: Houston Rockets (65-16)
This is locked in.
West No. 2 seed: Golden State Warriors (58-24)
This is locked in.
West No. 3 seed: Winner of Portland Trail Blazers (48-33) vs. Utah Jazz (48-33)
They play each other at 10:30 p.m. ET. This is relatively simple.
West No. 4 seed: Trail Blazers, Jazz, San Antonio Spurs (47-34), or Oklahoma City Thunder (47-34)
THE BLAZERS ARE THE NO. 4 SEED IF: They lose AND the Spurs lose to the Pelicans. Oklahoma City’s result doesn’t matter because Portland has the tiebreaker.
THE JAZZ ARE THE NO. 4 SEED IF: They lose AND the Thunder lose to the Grizzlies. San Antonio’s result doesn’t matter because Utah has the tiebreaker.
THE SPURS ARE THE NO. 4 SEED IF: They win AND the Jazz win AND the Thunder lose.
THE THUNDER ARE THE NO. 4 SEED IF: They win AND the Blazers win. The Spurs-Pelicans result is irrelevant because Oklahoma City wins the three-team tiebreaker over Utah and San Antonio.
West No. 5 seed: Trail Blazers, Jazz, Spurs, or New Orleans Pelicans (47-34)
THE BLAZERS ARE THE NO. 5 SEED IF: They lose AND either the Spurs or Thunder win.
THE JAZZ ARE THE NO. 5 SEED IF: They lose AND the Thunder win. The Spurs-Pelicans game is irrelevant because Utah wins the three-team tiebreaker over San Antonio and New Orleans.
THE SPURS ARE THE NO. 5 SEED IF: They win AND either the Jazz or Thunder win.
THE PELICANS ARE THE NO. 5 SEED IF: They win AND the Blazers and Thunder don’t both win, too. If only one of the two wins, the Pelicans stay at No. 5.
West No. 6 seed: Thunder, Spurs, Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves (46-35), or Denver Nuggets (46-35)
THE THUNDER ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They win AND the Jazz win. The Spurs-Pelicans game is irrelevant.
THE SPURS ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They win AND the Blazers win AND the Thunder win. The Minnesota-Denver game is rendered irrelevant in this scenario.
They lose and the Timberwolves and Grizzlies win (the Utah-Portland game is irrelevant in this scenario).
THE PELICANS ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They win AND the Blazers win AND the Thunder win. The Minnesota-Denver game is irrelevant in this scenario.
THE TIMBERWOLVES ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They beat the Nuggets AND the Spurs win AND the Thunder lose.
THE NUGGETS ARE THE NO. 6 SEED IF: They win AND the Thunder lose.
West No. 7 seed: Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, or Spurs
THE NUGGETS ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They win AND the the Thunder win. San Antonio-New Orleans is irrelevant.
THE TIMBERWOLVES ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They win AND the Thunder + Spurs win OR the Grizzlies + Pelicans win.
THE PELICANS ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They lose AND the Thunder win.
THE SPURS ARE THE NO. 7 SEED IF: They lose AND the Thunder win.
West No. 8 seed: Thunder, Pelicans, Timberwolves, or Spurs
THE THUNDER ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They lose. The other results are irrelevant.
THE PELICANS ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They lose AND the Thunder win. Minnesota-Denver is irrelevant.
THE TIMBERWOLVES ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They win AND the Pelicans and Thunder both win.
THE SPURS ARE THE NO. 8 SEED IF: They lose AND the Nuggets and Thunder both win.
West No. 9 seed: Loser of Denver vs. Minnesota
Well that one was easy at least.
If that confused you, here’s the scenario by team:
RAPTORS: No. 1 no matter what.
CELTICS: No. 2 no matter what.
76ERS: No. 3 with a win. No. 3 with a loss AND Cavaliers loss.
CAVALIERS: No. 3 with a win AND 76ers loss. No. 4 in all other scenarios.
PACERS: No. 5 no matter what.
BUCKS: No. 6 with a win. No. 6 with a loss and losses by the Wizards + Heat. No. 7 if one of those two teams wins, and No. 8 if the Wizards and Heat both win.
HEAT: No. 6 with a win AND Bucks loss. No. 7 with a win AND Bucks win. No. 7 with a loss AND a Wizards loss. No. 8 with a loss AND a Wizards win.
WIZARDS: No. 6 with a win AND Bucks + Heat losses. No. 7 with a win AND Bucks OR Heat loss. No. 8 with a win AND Bucks + Heat wins. No. 8 with a loss.
ROCKETS: No. 1 no matter what.
WARRIORS: No. 2 no matter what.
BLAZERS: No. 3 with a win. No. 4 with a loss and a Spurs loss. No. 5 with a loss and a Thunder win OR wins by both the Pelicans and Grizzlies.
JAZZ: No. 3 with a win. No. 4 with a loss and a Thunder loss. No. 5 with a loss and a Thunder win.
SPURS: No. 4 with a win and a Jazz win and a Thunder loss. No. 5 with a win and Blazers + Thunder wins OR Jazz + Grizzlies wins. No. 6 with a win and Jazz + Thunder wins. No. 7 with a loss AND Nuggets-Grizzlies wins OR Wolves-Thunder wins.
THUNDER: No. 4 with a win and a Blazers win. No. 6 with a win and a Jazz win. No. 8 with a loss.
PELICANS: No. 5 with a win and only one of the Thunder and Blazers winning. No. 6 with a win and both the Thunder and Blazers winning. No. 7 with a loss and Grizzlies win. No. 8 with a loss and Thunder win.
NUGGETS: No. 6 with a win and Thunder loss. No. 7 with a win and Thunder win. No. 9 with a loss.
TIMBERWOLVES: No. 6 with a win win and Spurs + Grizzlies wins. No. 7 with a win and a Spurs win and a Thunder win. No. 7 with a win and a Pelicans win and a Grizzlies win. No.8 with a win and Pelicans win and Thunder win. No. 9 with a loss.