The final day of the NBA season arrives, with much to decide
(AP) – The final day of the season has arrived, with one playoff spot to decide, seven of the eight first-round matchups still unknown and nine different seeds still not clinched.
It’s also the last day that Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Miami’s Dwyane Wade will be NBA players before retirement. Dallas is in San Antonio, Miami is at Brooklyn. Nowitzki and Wade both played their final home games on Tuesday night — both scoring exactly 30 points apiece.
It’s the first day of the offseason for a few teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers — whose season ended Tuesday with a loss to Portland, and team president Magic Johnson stepping down in a move that hardly anyone could have predicted. Washington, Cleveland, New Orleans and Phoenix are also done.
The only known first-round matchup is in the Eastern Conference, that being Indiana and Boston meeting in Round 1. Every other matchup is a mystery.
At least there’s no major individual races left to decide: Houston’s James Harden is the scoring champion, Detroit’s Andre Drummond the rebounding champion, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook the assist champion.
But the playoff picture, it comes down to the last day in both conferences.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Seeds entering Wednesday
1. Milwaukee
2. Toronto
3. Philadelphia
4. Boston
5. Indiana
6. Brooklyn or Orlando
7. Brooklyn, Orlando or Detroit
8. Orlando, Detroit or Charlotte
GAMES OF NOTE
Miami at Brooklyn
Orlando at Charlotte
Detroit at New York
IN BUT UNSEEDED
Brooklyn and Orlando
TRYING TO GET IN
Detroit and Charlotte
SCENARIOS
— Brooklyn is No. 6 with a win over Miami.
— Orlando is No. 6 with a win over Charlotte and a Brooklyn loss.
— Orlando is No. 6 if the Magic and Nets both lose and Detroit wins.
— Brooklyn is No. 6 with a loss, combined with losses by the Magic and Pistons.
— Detroit’s only path to No. 7 is if it wins, the Nets win and Charlotte wins. That is also the only scenario where the Magic finish No. 8.
— Charlotte only gets in with a win and a Detroit loss. The Hornets cannot get higher than No. 8.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Seeds entering Wednesday
1. Golden State
2. Denver or Houston
3. Denver, Houston or Portland
4. Portland or Houston
5. Utah
6. Oklahoma City or San Antonio.
7. Oklahoma City, San Antonio or the L.A. Clippers.
8. Oklahoma City, San Antonio or the L.A. Clippers.
GAMES OF NOTE
Minnesota at Denver
Sacramento at Portland
Dallas at San Antonio
Oklahoma City at Milwaukee
Utah at L.A. Clippers
IN BUT UNSEEDED
Denver, Houston, Portland, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, L.A. Clippers
TRYING TO GET IN
None
SCENARIOS
— Denver is the No. 2 seed with a win.
— Houston is the No. 2 seed with a Denver loss. Denver is the No. 3 seed with a loss.
— Portland is the No. 3 seed with a win and a Denver win.
— Portland is the No. 4 seed with a win and a Denver loss.
— Portland is the No. 4 seed with a loss.
— Oklahoma City is the No. 6 seed with a win or a San Antonio loss.
— San Antonio is the No. 6 seed with a win and an Oklahoma City loss.
— San Antonio is the No. 7 seed with a win and an Oklahoma City win.
— L.A. Clippers are the No. 7 seed with a win and a loss by either San Antonio or Oklahoma City.
— Oklahoma City is the No. 7 seed with a loss, a San Antonio win and a L.A. Clippers loss.
— San Antonio is the No. 7 seed with a loss and a L.A. Clippers loss.
— San Antonio is the No. 8 seed with a loss and a L.A. Clippers win.
— Oklahoma City is the No. 8 seed with a loss, a Spurs win and a Clippers win.
— L.A. Clippers are the No. 8 seed with a loss, OR if the Clippers, Thunder and Spurs all win.