There's still a lot to decide as the NBA enters the final day of the regular season. Here's a rundown of the playoff seeding and draft implications on the line Wednesday.
After nearly six months and over 1,000 games, the NBA regular season comes to a close Wednesday in the best fashion possible. Several playoff seeds are still up for grabs on the final day of the season, and four teams are still battling to decide which two will reach the postseason. Only one postseason matchup is locked in: the No. 2 seed Cavaliers vs. the No. 7 seed Celtics. Every other one is up for grabs.
That means there's a lot to watch for on a loaded 14-game slate, even if the draft lottery is the only thing to look forward to for many teams. A lot has yet to be decided on that end, too, with odds for the Jahlil Okafor/Karl Towns sweepstakes not settled 81 games into the season.
With so much going on, here's a rundown of everything that will get decided by the end of Wednesday night.
The No. 8 seed in the West
New Orleans can earn a playoff spot Wednesday night with a victory. The Pelicans (44-38) are tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the standings, but hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series. If they can beat a full-strength San Antonio on Wednesday night -- an admittedly tall task -- the team will have its first postseason appearance in the Anthony Davis era.
Beating the Spurs won't be easy, however, so the Thunder still have some hope on the final day of the season. Oklahoma City faces the lowly Timberwolves on Wednesday night and could take the No. 8 seed with a win and a New Orleans loss. The Pelicans may be in the driver's seat right now, but they're not exactly in stellar position.
The No. 8 seed in the East
Indiana looked to be in serious trouble a few days ago, but the return of Paul George jammed some urgency into a talented defensive team. The result has been a season-saving six-game winning streak, capped off Tuesday night with a double-overtime win over the Washington Wizards.
Now the Pacers control their playoff hopes entering the final game of the season. Indiana won't have it easy Wednesday on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies, but the situation is fairly simple for Game 82: Win, and they're in the playoffs.
If Indiana loses, the Brooklyn Nets could back into the No. 8 seed despite some big losses down the stretch. Deron Williams and company had two chances to clinch the playoffs in the past week, and ended up with two blowout losses. Still, the Nets have a chance if they can beat the Magic in a game that tips an hour and a half before Indiana's showdown with Memphis.
Here's to guessing top-seeded Atlanta would prefer to avoid a Pacers team finding some rhythm.
The No. 3 seed in the East
Chicago can clinch the third seed in the East on Wednesday by beating the Hawks, who will likely be sitting most of their top players to prepare for the playoffs. The Bulls are currently 49-32 after blowing out Brooklyn on Monday and sit a game ahead of Toronto in the standings after the Raptors fell to the Celtics on Tuesday.
The Raptors hold the tiebreaker between the two teams by virtue of being a division winner, however, so there's still a chance they grab the third seed. That scenario would require Toronto to beat Charlotte on Wednesday in addition to the Bulls losing their game against Atlanta. If both the Raptors and Bulls lose on Wednesday, Chicago will take the No. 3 seed.
The third seed will face the Bucks, with the winner of the Cavaliers-Celtics series waiting in the next round. The fourth seed will get the Wizards in the first round with Atlanta likely waiting in the second round.
The Nos. 2-6 seeds in the West
The 2, 3, 5 and 6 seeds in the Western Conference still need to be determined. A trio of games -- Spurs-Pelicans, Jazz-Rockets and Pacers-Grizzlies -- will decide how the West bracket ultimately looks. (The Blazers are locked into the No. 4 seed by virtue of winning the Northwest Division, though they won't have home-court advantage).
IF THE SPURS WIN: They will clinch the No. 2 seed, with the Clippers taking the No. 3 seed. The Rockets claim the No. 5 seed with a win or Memphis loss. The Grizzlies can only climb out of the No. 6 seed with a victory and a Houston loss in this scenario.
IF THE SPURS LOSE: The Rockets will have a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed with a win, which would leave the Clippers with the No. 3 seed. Memphis would be able to clinch the No. 5 seed with a win, which would drop the Spurs to the No. 6 seed. If Memphis loses, the Spurs get the No. 5 seed, while the Grizz get the No. 6 seed.
IF BOTH THE SPURS AND ROCKETS LOSE: The Clippers, whose season is finished, will clinch the No. 2 seed. Memphis will have a chance to clinch the No. 3 seed with a win, which would leave the Spurs with the No. 5 seed and the Rockets with the No. 6 seed. If Memphis joins San Antonio and Houston in losing, the Spurs would get the No. 3 seed, the Rockets would get No. 5 and the Grizzlies would get No. 6.
The league's worst record
Despite the best efforts of the 76ers and Knicks to be the league's worst team, the Timberwolves actually enter the final day of the season with the worst record in the NBA at 16-65. Minnesota has been wrecked by injuries throughout the year and now could get a chance to pair another top pick with a core of Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Ricky Rubio.
The Knicks and Timberwolves entered the week with the same number of wins, but New York handed a major blow to its own lottery odds by beating Atlanta on Monday, something that didn't thrill many fans. Now, Minnesota can clinch top odds for the lottery with a loss against OKC on Wednesday, which would leave New York with the second-best odds unless it wins again in its season finale against Detroit. The 76ers can claim the second-best odds with a loss and a Knicks win.
New York can still claim the top odds, but it would require a loss to Detroit and a Timberwolves victory. Given that Minnesota is playing a Thunder team with its playoff hopes on the line, that's highly unlikely. Still, for these three teams, losing will be incentivized Wednesday.
The tank-off in Philly
The Heat are set to send their first-round pick to the 76ers this season unless it falls in the top 10. If it's No. 11 or lower, Philadelphia will be getting the pick. Miami could significantly change its odds of keeping the pick depending on what happens Wednesday.
By pure chance, the Heat will be playing -- the 76ers! That should be fun!
The Heat currently have the league's 10th-worst record, but just a game separates them from Brooklyn. If Miami wins and Brooklyn loses on the final day of the season, the two teams will be tied in the standings. In that case, there will be a coin flip to see who has the 10th-worst odds to win the lottery. If Miami loses that coin flip, chances are it hands its pick to the 76ers.
But if Miami stays below Brooklyn in the standings, either with a loss or a Nets win, the odds of the pick staying in South Beach are significantly. It would require a team leaping from outside the top 10 into the top three picks to knock Miami's pick down to No. 11 and into Philly's hands.
So the Heat want to lose Wednesday to keep their pick, while the Sixers want to lose to get that pick. This may be the game to watch.
Full schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m.: Hornets at Raptors (ESPN)
8 p.m.: Hawks at Bulls
8 p.m.: Blazers at Mavericks
8 p.m.: Jazz at Rockets
8 p.m.: Celtics at Bucks
8 p.m.: Thunder at Timberwolves
8 p.m.: Spurs at Pelicans
8 p.m.: Magic at Nets
8 p.m.: Wizards at Cavaliers
8 p.m.: Pistons at Knicks
8 p.m.: Heat at 76ers
9:30 p.m.: Pacers at Grizzlies (ESPN)
10:30 p.m.: Nuggets at Warriors
10:30 p.m.: Kings at Lakers
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