With only five days left in the basketball regular season, only one of the 20 postseason seeds is certain. The Boston Celtics will be the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference (and if they make it to the NBA Finals they will have home court advantage no matter their Western Conference opponent). Otherwise? All seeds are technically valid.
That alone makes this week's games exciting, but the people making the schedule did their part as well. The final week of games will be filled with high-stakes matchups for both teams. With seeding winners and losers determined in the coming days, here's a guide to watching Stretch His Run as you prepare to watch the final week of regular season basketball for the 2023-24 season. There are a total of 16 games remaining, which are important for both teams. Please note: There are no games scheduled on Monday, April 8th and Saturday, April 14th. Monday to honor his NCAA men's championship game and Saturday to ensure no one plays the final game as part of a back-to-back. return.
Tuesday, April 9th:
Tuesday's games are crowded due to Monday's off night, but only three stand out.
- Kings at Thunder. Oklahoma City's injury management over the past week or so suggests the Thunder are content to slide into the No. 3 seed in order to stay healthy, but this game still has pretty big implications for Sacramento. have The Kings need to win three of their final four games to secure a top-eight seed, and that won't be easy even with the Thunder fielding their entire roster for this game.
- clippers at suns. Both teams control the fate of important seeds themselves. Phoenix's win in the direct tiebreaker against New Orleans ensures that if the Suns win, they will finish in sixth place or higher and avoid the play-in. The Clippers hold a two-game lead on the No. 4 field, which guarantees them home court advantage in the first round. Here comes the problem. The Suns and Clippers will play twice in a row on Tuesday and Wednesday. If the Suns win two games, the Clippers are in danger of falling to fifth place. If the Clippers win two games, the Suns would drop to 34 losses on the season and could fall to ninth place considering their winless record against the Lakers.
- lakers warriors. The loser of this match will likely finish 10th in the West Division. The Lakers' victory drops the Warriors to two losses. If the Warriors win, Golden State will win a tiebreaker against Los Angeles. But here's where it gets interesting. The Warriors are dealing with injuries and managing their players conservatively. They have another game on Wednesday as the second half of the series, but in the grand scheme of things it might be better for the rising Lakers to move out of the No. 9 slot and replace the depleted Kings. . The Warriors probably think the chance of escaping No. 10 is too great to punt…but that may be in their best interest.
Wednesday, April 10th:
Wednesday and Thursday are the two lightest schedules this week, but both have some important games to cover.
- suns at clippers. We have already discussed them. The second half of the home-and-home series.
- bucks magic. Both of these teams are in control of their own fate for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference…because the Magic and Bucks will face each other twice in the final week of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Knicks, who have a fairly easy schedule with the rest of their games, are just sitting here ready to jump over whoever doesn't make it to No. 2 (and maybe even move up there themselves). Seeding issues aside, the Bucks have lost four straight against extremely dominant opponents. If he can't do the job against Orlando, should he be serious in the postseason?
- Timberwolves vs. Nuggets. Oh baby, this is the biggest one. Technically, we can't say for sure that the winner of this game is the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference…but that's the most likely outcome here. Minnesota's tiebreaker effectively guarantees the Timberwolves home court advantage, giving them a functional two-game lead with three games remaining. The champions have been plagued by injuries recently, and it's unclear how much they will need to worry about seeding after going 6-3 on the road last postseason. All things considered, this is the most important game of the week (and possibly the season).
Thursday, April 11th:
There are only five games on Thursday's schedule, and only one of those games has playoff implications for both teams.
- Pelicans vs. Kings. The Kings currently trail the Pelicans in the standings by just one game, so if they win this game (and others), they could potentially advance out of the play-in round. The Pelicans will need some help to escape the play-ins, but if New Orleans manages to do something about it, Phoenix's grueling remaining schedule creates a real chance.
Friday, April 12th:
Things get even more heated here. He has two days of games remaining, but nine of his 16 games remain.
- 76ers magic. Neither team is competing for the same seed, but both still have room to play. If the slots are set correctly, the 76ers and Magic could face off in the first round.
- Pacers vs. Cavaliers. Don't look now, but the Cavaliers were once competing for the No. 2 seed, and now lead the Pacers by one game for the No. 5 seed. If the Pacers win, they not only close that one-game gap, but also win the head-to-head tiebreaker.
- bucks at thunder. The Thunder may or may not be locked into the West as a No. 3 seed when this game begins, but either way the Bucks will have something to play for. This is a perfect adjustment game for both sides, even if the seeds are locked. Oklahoma City's biggest weakness is dealing with the kind of size Milwaukee throws at them. The Bucks have struggled to protect the point of attack, which is a big problem against guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
- Pelicans vs. Warriors. As of this writing, the Warriors probably can't catch up with the Pelicans by three games, but if the Warriors beat the Lakers, they'll need to keep winning to protect the No. 9 seed (and possibly the No. 1 seed). may rise). .8), the Pelicans are clearly fighting to move into sixth place.
- Sands at Kings. The good news for the Pelicans as they try to climb back into sixth place is that either the Suns or Kings have to lose this game. The bad news is, one of us has to win. The Pelicans will likely be rooting for the Kings, but that could change quickly with the Pelicans having their own head-to-head matchup on Thursday.
Sunday April 14th:
And then came the last day of the season. Almost every game is important in some way, but the four biggest are:
- bucks at magic. This match could decide not only the second seed, but also the third and fourth seeds. The tension increases even more. Of the three options, you could definitely argue that he's number 3 or he's number 4 is the most desirable. why? Well, it depends on how the bracket goes, but given their experience and top-end talent, it's safe to say that the Heat and 76ers could be scarier first-round opponents than the Cavs or Pacers. Not. If Miami and Philadelphia are in the play-in round, No. 3 suddenly becomes the best spot on the board. This will ensure an easier first round opponent and avoid Boston's side of the bracket. Don't be surprised if there's some ploy between the Bucks, Magic, and Knicks trying to tip the standings in their favor on the final day of the season.
- Timberwolves Suns. Minnesota may be clinched the No. 1 seed with a win against Denver, but if it's still there, this is a must-win game. Every game is a must-win for the Suns right now. No other team in the Western world has had such a huge fluctuation in seeding.
- Lakers vs. Pelicans. The Lakers still have a chance to pass the Pelicans. Winning this game would send the Lakers to a head-to-head tiebreaker, but with only two games separating the two teams, this is their only chance to secure a head-to-head victory over the chasing team. Rank.
- mavericks at thunder. Again, I don't know how much this game means to the Thunder. The same goes for the Mavericks, who currently have a two-game buffer in either direction from fifth place. In theory, either of these teams could hand this game to the other if their seeding is fixed.
