Tomorrow is the last day of the NBA‘s regular season. There are 15 games scheduled for tomorrow, and the fate of seven teams hang in the balance. Some teams are looking to just sneak into the playoffs, while others are battling for the playoff seeds. Most of the uncertainty is in the West. Here’s a look at how the West is stacked up right now-
- OKC Thunder – 60-212. San Antonio Spurs- 58-233. Denver Nuggets – 56-254. LA Clippers- 55-265. Memphis Grizzlies- 55-266. Golden State Warriors- 46-357. Houston Rockets 45-368. LA Lakers- 44-379. Utah Jazz- 43-38
Talk about a close race. A few months ago, it seemed inconceivable that the Lakers could even make it to the postseason. But after an inspired run by them, punctuated with a bunch of Deus Ex Machina plays from Kobe Bryant, they have barely managed to give themselves a fighting shot tomorrow. With his last breath, Kobe hit a couple of threes and tore his Achilles’ and after that, sunk in two free throws to keep the playoff dream alive for the Lakers by beating the Warriors. They aren’t out of the woods yet though and they are not the only team who have a lot to play for tomorrow, although unquestionably they are the one with the most to lose. Here’s a look at 7 teams whose playoff seeding hangs in the balance and whose fate will be decided tomorrow-
- Lakers
If the Lakers win tomorrow vs the Rockets, they will have the 8th seed locked up and will advance to the playoffs. But if they lose and the Jazz win, the Lakers and Jazz will end up finishing the season with a 44-38 record. Since the Jazz own the tie breaker with the Lakers, this would put them at the 8th seed and have the Lakers eliminated from the playoffs. Pau Gasol has told his brother Marc Gasol to go all out vs the Jazz tomorrow- “I told him to please go out there and compete and try to win the game.” said Pau. But the Grizzlies’ starters only played 24 minutes in their previous contest, so there’s no guarantee that they will be in action for long tomorrow. It would be fitting if one brother helped the other make it to the postseason.
- Jazz
The Utah Jazz are on a two game win streak and they have won eight of their last ten games. Tomorrow they will play the Memphis Grizzlies in a must win game. If both the Jazz and the Lakers lose their games, the Lakers will advance. So while the Lakers have the luxury of knowing that if Utah loses then they can still advance, the Jazz have no such comfort cushion. Their entire season hangs in the balance tomorrow.
- Warriors
If the Warriors lose to the Portland Trailblazers tomorrow, and Houston ends up defeating the Lakers, then the Warriors will fall to the 7th seed and will face the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs.
- Rockets
The Houston Rockets hold the fate of many teams in their hands tomorrow. If they lose, they Lakers are through to the playoffs and on to the 7th seed while dropping the Rockets to the 8th seed where they face the Thunder in the playoffs. The Rockets can improve to the 6th seed if the Warriors lose to the Blazers.
- Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks need to win tomorrow or have the Chicago Bulls lose to the Wizards, in order to climb up to the 5th seed. They have split the season series vs their two possible opponents, Nets or Pacers, but they will prefer to finish 5th. The Hawks-Knicks game will be live on Sony SIX tomorrow morning at 6 AM.
- Bulls
The Bulls have a 1-3 record vs the Pacers and a 3-1 record vs the Nets this season. If the Bulls can hold on to the 5th seed, then they will face the Nets in the playoffs vs whom they have played well this season.
- Clippers
The Clippers can defeat the Sacramento Kings and assuming the Nuggets to the Suns, climb up to the third seed in the West. But even if the Nuggets win vs the Suns, the Clippers still have home court advantage to play for.
One could hardly hope for a tighter finish to the regular season.
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