Over the course of six months, 1,215 regular season games were played.
The final 15 games of the regular season will be played on Sunday (no Saturday) and should be fun — 11 of the 15 games have playoff implications, including Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Denver. They are in a three-way tie for first place, including the top seed in their Western Conference.
This is the first time in NBA history that three teams will compete for the top seed going into the final day of the regular season.
The Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed remains up in the air between Milwaukee, New York and Cleveland, with 16 scenarios determining the East's No. 5-8 seeds between Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia and Miami.
If the Los Angeles Lakers win, they can lock up the 8th seed, but if they lose, they could fall to the 10th seed.
Below are the NBA tiebreaker scenarios heading into the final day of the regular season, followed by Sunday's schedule.
NBA Eastern Conference seeding and tiebreaker scenarios
1st seed
It's all Boston. The Celtics (63-18) survived the conference, becoming the only team to win at least 60 games.
Seed 2-4
The No. 2 seed could advance to either Milwaukee (49-32), New York (49-32) or Cleveland (48-33). Based on their head-to-head record, the Bucks own the tiebreaker against the Knicks. In the case of a 3-way tie, the Cavs would earn the 2nd seed (because they won the Central Division and the division winner would be the first tiebreaker in the 3-way tie), the Bucks would earn the 3rd seed, and the Knicks would receive the 3rd seed. will be obtained. the 4th. If New York and Cleveland win and Milwaukee loses on Sunday, the Knicks will be the No. 2 seed, the Cavs will be the No. 3 seed and the Bucks will be the No. 4 seed. Simply put, if the Bucks win, they get the 2nd seed, New York gets the 3rd seed, and Cleveland gets the 4th place. But in Milwaukee, simplicity wasn't part of the season.
seeds 5-8
This is crazy: Orlando (46-35), Indiana (46-35), Philadelphia (46-35) and Miami (45-36) end in a four-way tie, giving Miami the No. 5 seed. Possible regional winners include No. 6 seed Philadelphia, followed by No. 7 seed Indiana and No. 8 seed Orlando.
A dizzying series of tiebreakers were triggered, with all four teams potentially finishing fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth.
Here's the best way to clean up the mess.
≻Regardless of Miami's result, if Orlando, Indiana, and Philadelphia win, the rankings will be 5th place Orlando, 6th place Indiana, 7th place Philadelphia, and 8th place Miami.
≻If Orlando, Indiana, and Miami win and Philadelphia loses, the rankings will be 5th place Orlando, 6th place Indiana, 7th place Miami, and 8th place Philadelphia.
≻If Orlando and Indiana win and Miami and Philadelphia lose, the rankings will be 5th place Orlando, 6th place Indiana, 7th place Philadelphia, and 8th place Miami.
≻If Orlando and Philadelphia win, Indiana loses, and whether Miami wins or loses, it will be 5th place Philadelphia, 6th place Orlando, 7th place Indiana, and 8th place Miami.
≻If Orlando and Miami win and Indiana and Philadelphia lose, then Orlando will be 5th, Indiana 6th, Miami 7th, and Philadelphia 8th.
≻If Orlando wins and Indiana, Philadelphia, and Miami lose, then Orlando will be 5th, Indiana 6th, Philadelphia 7th, and Miami 8th.
≻If Indiana, Philadelphia, and Miami win and Orlando loses, the rankings will be 5th Indiana, 6th Philadelphia, 7th Miami, and 8th Orlando.
≻If Indiana and Philadelphia win and Orlando and Miami lose, then Indiana will be ranked 5th, Philadelphia will be ranked 6th, Orlando will be ranked 7th, and Miami will be ranked 8th.
≻If Indiana and Miami win and Orlando and Philadelphia lose, then Indiana will be ranked 5th, Miami will be ranked 6th, Philadelphia will be ranked 7th, and Orlando will be ranked 8th.
≻If Indiana wins and Orlando, Philadelphia, and Miami lose, the rankings will be 5th Indiana, 6th Philadelphia, 7th Orlando, and 7th Miami.
≻If Philadelphia and Miami win and Orlando and Indiana lose, then Philadelphia will be in 5th place, Miami will be in 6th place, Orlando will be in 7th place, and Indiana will be in 8th place.
≻If Philadelphia wins and Orlando, Indiana, and Miami lose, it will be 5th place Philadelphia, 6th place Orlando, 7th place Indiana, and 8th place Miami.
≻If Miami wins and Orlando, Indiana, and Philadelphia lose, the rankings will be 5th place Miami, 6th place Indiana, 7th place Philadelphia, and 8th place Orlando.
≻If Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia, and Miami lose, it will be 5th place Orlando, 6th place Indiana, 7th place Philadelphia, and 8th place Miami.
Seed 9-10
Chicago (39-42) is No. 9 and Atlanta (36-45) is No. 10. The winner of that play-in game stakes the No. 8 seed and he will play the loser of the 7-8 game.
NBA Western Conference seeding, tiebreaker scenarios
Seeds 1-2-3
If Oklahoma City, Minnesota, and Denver (all 56-25) win and the three-way team is tied for first place, Oklahoma City will be tied based on the head-to-head win-loss percentage of games played between the three teams. Win by breaking. Minnesota will get the No. 2 seed and Denver will get the No. 3 seed.
If the Thunder and Nuggets are tied, the Thunder will receive a better seed based on their head-to-head record. A two-way tie between Minnesota and Denver favors the Timberwolves based on their district record, while a tie between Minnesota and Oklahoma City favors Minnesota due to their better conference record. The only way Denver can earn the No. 1 seed is if Oklahoma City and Minnesota lose.
4-5 seeds are set on the west side
If the Los Angeles Clippers (51-30) and Dallas (50-31) finish with the same record, the Clippers will win the Breakers based on a 2-1 head-to-head advantage. The Clippers earned the No. 4 seed, and the Mavs secured the No. 5 seed because even though they finished with New Orleans, they would win the tiebreaker based on their better district record.
6-7 seeds
If New Orleans (49-32) defeats the Los Angeles Lakers, it will become the No. 6 seed. If the Pelicans lose and Phoenix (48-33_) wins, the Suns will earn the No. 6 seed based on their 2-1 head-to-head advantage. If the Pelicans and Suns lose, the Pels will finish with a better record. One of those teams will earn the No. 6 seed and avoid the play-in tournament, and the other team will earn the No. 7 seed and host a play-in game against the No. 8 seed.
8-9-10 Seeds
If the Lakers (46-35) beat New Orleans, they would earn the No. 8 seed and travel to either New Orleans or Phoenix in a 7-8 play-in tournament game.
The Lakers, Sacramento (45-36) and Golden State (45-36) could end up in a three-way tie. In this scenario, the Kings would win the tiebreaker based on the head-to-head win-loss percentage of the games played between the three teams. Sacramento will receive the No. 8 seed, Golden State the No. 9 seed and the Lakers the No. 10 seed.th.
In a two-way tie between the Kings and Lakers, the Kings emerge because they lead the season series 4-0, and in a two-way tie between the Lakers and Warriors, the Warriors get the better seed. They lead 3-1 in the season series. If the Kings and Warriors both lose on Sunday and finish 45-37, the Kings will win the district tiebreaker.
Sunday NBA schedule
- Brooklyn vs. Philadelphia, 1 p.m. ET, League Pass
- Milwaukee vs. Orlando, 1 p.m. ET, League Pass
- Chicago, New York, 1pm ET, ESPN
- Washington vs. Boston, 1pm ET, League Pass
- Toronto vs. Miami, 1 p.m. ET, League Pass
- Atlanta, Indiana, 1pm ET, League Pass
- Charlotte at Cleveland, 1pm ET, League Pass
- Portland, Sacramento, 1pm ET, League Pass
- Houston vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 3:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
- Golden State, Utah, 3:30pm ET, League Pass
- Detroit, San Antonio, 3:30pm ET, League Pass
- Dallas, Oklahoma City, 3:30pm ET, League Pass
- Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Phoenix, Minnesota, 3:30pm ET, League Pass
- Denver vs. Memphis, 3:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
What is the NBA tiebreaker?
Tiebreaker if two teams are tied:
- Increased win rate in each other's matches
- Division Winner (this criterion applies regardless of whether the tied teams are in the same division)
- Improved win rate against teams in your own division (only if tied teams are in the same division)
- Improving your winning percentage against teams in your own conference
- Increased winning percentage against teams eligible to participate in their own conference's playoffs or play-in tournaments (including tied teams)
- Improved winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs or play-in tournaments in opposing conferences (including tied teams)
- Improves the final result of total points and reduces the total points allowed for all opponents (point difference)
Tie-break if 3 or more teams are tied
- Division Winner (this criterion applies regardless of whether the tied teams are in the same division)
- 2 Increases the winning rate when playing against each other
- Improved win rate against teams in your own division (only if tied teams are in the same division)
- Improving your winning percentage against teams in your own conference
- Increased winning percentage against teams eligible to participate in their own conference's playoffs or play-in tournaments (including tied teams)
- Improves the final result of total points and reduces the total points allowed for all opponents (point difference)
