The 2015-16 NBA regular season will come to a conclusion Wednesday with 14 games on the slate. Of these games, only a handful have playoff implications. Out of that handful, only two will decide the final seed in the Western Conference.
Here’s a quick look at the playoff picture heading into the final day of the regular season.
Eastern Conference
What’s settled
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors have clinched the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds respectively.
Cleveland will take on the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons while Toronto will boast home-court advantage against the seventh-seeded Indiana Pacers.
It’s seeds three through six that has everyone in a frenzy back east.
Let’s look at that for a second here.
Miami Heat
This is rather simple. Miami can clinch the No. 3 seed with a win over the Boston Celtics or an Atlanta Hawks loss to the Washington Wizards.
If Miami loses, it will fall to the fifth seed with an Atlanta win over Washington and a Charlotte Hornets home loss to the Orlando Magic. If Atlanta and Charlotte both win with Miami losing to Boston, the Heat will drop to the sixth seed.
Simply put, Miami better take care of business against the Celtics. In no world can it expect teams like Washington and Orlando, both of whom are playing out the stretch, to get up for these season-ending games against playoff teams.
Atlanta Hawks
Simple on the surface, but much more complicated when we delve further into it. Atlanta can clinch the third seed with a win over Washington and a Heat loss to Boston. If that doesn’t happen, the scenario is enough for our heads to spin.
If there is a multi-team tie, the squad that wins its division will get the first tiebreaker. This means if Boston beats Miami and the Hawks lose to the Wizards, the Heat would get the third seed with Atlanta acquiring the fourth spot and the Celtics playing the Hawks as a fifth seed in the first round.
Boston Celtics
Boston cannot earn a top-three seed. It also can’t fall to below the sixth seed. A win over Miami coupled with Atlanta beating Washington would net the Celtics the fourth seed.
Brad Stevens’ squad will be the fifth seed should it lose and the Hornets fall to Orlando. It could also acquire that fifth spot with a win and a Hawks loss.
Should Boston drop to Miami and Charlotte beat Orlando, the Celtics would drop to the sixth seed.
Charlotte Hornets
Steve Clifford and Co. can only be seeded fifth or sixth when the postseason starts. Should Charlotte take care of business against Orlando and Miami beat Boston, the Hornets will be the fifth seed.
It can also earn the fifth spot with a win over the Magic as well as wins by the Celtics and Hawks.
Western Conference
What’s settled
The Golden State Warriors will be the top seed, followed in line by the San Antonio Spurs , Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers as top-four seeds.
This seems pretty clear cut, right? That’s until we realize none of these four teams know who they are going to play in the first round.
Seven teams have clinched a playoff spot with the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz doing battle for the eighth seed.
Here are the scenarios in play here.
Portland Trail Blazers
If Portland finds a way to take out the Denver Nuggets at home Wednesday night, it will take on the Los Angeles Clippers as the fifth seed in the first round.
Portland can also wrap up the fifth seed with a loss. That would require the Memphis Grizzlies to beat Golden State in Oakland and the Dallas Mavericks to take out the Spurs in San Antonio. Good luck there.
If Portland were to fall to Denver and the Mavericks defeat San Antonio, the Trail Blazers would be the sixth seed — a scenario what would force them to take on Oklahoma City in the first round.
Memphis Grizzlies
Taking on a Warriors team that’s going for the NBA record for wins in a season, Memphis is in a difficult position here. Assuming it falls to the defending champs in Oakland, this injury-plagued squad would need Dallas to lose in order to avoid San Antonio in the first round.
If the Grizzlies win and the Mavericks win, they will still be the seventh seed and take on San Antonio.
Dallas Mavericks
First off, Dallas has clinched a playoff spot. It also won’t be taking on Golden State in the first round. Outside of that, everything is up in the air.
The Mavericks can earn the fifth seed with a win and losses by both Portland and Memphis.
In order for Dallas to finish as the sixth seed and take on Oklahoma City in the first round, it would need to take care of business against San Antonio while watching Portland beat Denver and Memphis lose to Golden State. This scenario can also take hold should the Mavericks and Grizzlies both lose.
If Dallas were to fall to San Antonio and Memphis beats Golden State, Rick Carlisle’s squad would then become the seventh seed and take on the aforementioned Spurs in the first round.
Houston Rockets
Houston will clinch the eighth spot out west with a home win over Sacramento on Wednesday night. If this happens, the Rockets will take on Golden State in the first round.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz need to both defeat the Los Angeles Lakers on the road and watch Houston fall at home against Sacramento in order to earn the eighth spot. This is the same as Houston’s scenario in that Utah would take on the Warriors in the first round should it make the playoffs.