With two days left in the NBA regular season, one playoff spot is still up for grabs.
That spot will be decided by the Denver at Minnesota game on Wednesday night, which is essentially a play-in game as the winner will secure the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
It wasn’t a lock that game would take on the magnitude it currently possesses until late Monday night after New Orleans, San Antonio and Oklahoma City all won to currently clinch the right to the No. 5, 6 and 7 seeds in the West, respectively.
However, with two games left for some teams and one for others, there is still much to be decided as Portland, Utah, New Orleans, San Antonio and Oklahoma City could all move up or down in the standings depending on what happens on the court on Monday and Tuesday.
The Nuggets and Timberwolves can’t concern themselves with any of that and must focus solely on Wednesday’s de facto playoff game.
In the Eastern Conference, Toronto and Boston are locked in at No. 1 and No. 2, while Indiana is entrenched at the No. 5 spot. Depending on what happens, Cleveland and Philadelphia could both finish No. 3 or No. 4 while Milwaukee, Miami and Washington all have the potential to flip-flop with one another and finish anywhere from No. 6 to No. 8.
On the other end of the spectrum, the tanktastic Phoenix Suns (20-61) have already clinched the NBA’s worst record with one game left to play.
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