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Entering Sunday\u2019s 15-game slate to close out the regular season, only half of the postseason seeds have been locked in place. That means there are 10 seeds that could change hands on Sunday. Here\u2019s a breakdown of each team\u2019s seeding scenarios.<\/p>\n
EASTERN CONFERENCE\u00a0<\/p>\n
The top four teams are locked into their seeds entering the regular-season finale.<\/p>\n
No. 1 Detroit (59-22)
\nNo. 2 Boston (55-26)
\nNo. 3 New York (53-28)
\nNo. 4 Cleveland (51-30)<\/p>\n
The remaining teams in the East have not been locked into a seed. Here is where each can finish, and how they can get there.<\/p>\n
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Atlanta (46-35): The Hawks enter Sunday\u2019s game at Miami (6 ET, League Pass) at No. 5 and can finish either No. 5 or No. 6.<\/p>\n
A Hawks win on Sunday locks up No. 5 regardless of other outcomes. They can still get No. 5 with a loss as long as Orlando wins or Toronto loses. The Hawks would fall to No. 6 with a loss coupled with an Orlando loss and Toronto win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. 5 Finish: With a win, the Hawks lock up No. 5. With a loss, the Hawks need a win by Orlando or a loss by Toronto
\nNo. 6 Finish: With a loss and an Orlando loss plus a Toronto win<\/p>\n
Toronto (45-36): The Raptors enter Sunday\u2019s game vs. Brooklyn (6 ET, League Pass) at No. 6 and can finish No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Raptors win on Sunday locks up a top six seed. However, with a loss they can finish No. 6 (with losses by Atlanta and Orlando), No. 7 (with wins by either Orlando or Philadelphia) or No. 8 (with wins by both Orlando and Philadelphia).<\/p>\n
No. 5 Finish: With a win and losses by Atlanta and Orlando\u00a0
\nNo. 6 Finish: With a loss and losses by Orlando & Philadelphia
\nNo. 7 Finish: With a loss and wins by either Orlando or Philadelphia (but not both)
\nNo. 8 Finish: With a loss and wins by both Orlando and Philadelphia<\/p>\n
Orlando (45-36): The Magic enter Sunday\u2019s game at Boston (6 ET, ESPN) at No. 7 and can finish No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8.<\/p>\n
A Magic win on Sunday guarantees at least a No. 7 finish. A Magic win coupled with a Raptors loss would vault Orlando to No. 6. A Magic loss coupled with a Sixers win would drop Orlando to No. 8.<\/p>\n
No. 6 Finish: With a win and a Toronto loss
\nNo. 7 Finish: With a win and a Toronto win or with a loss and a Philadelphia loss
\nNo. 8 Finish: With a loss and a Philadelphia win<\/p>\n
Philadelphia (44-37): The 76ers enter Sunday\u2019s game vs. Milwaukee (6 ET, League Pass) at No. 8 and can finish No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8.<\/p>\n
A Sixers win on Sunday gives them a chance at a No. 6 finish, while a loss guarantees a No. 8 finish. A Sixers win would lift them to No. 6 if both the Raptors and Magic lose, and it would lift them to No. 7 if either the Raptors or Magic lose.<\/p>\n
No. 6 Finish: With a win and losses by both Toronto and Orlando
\nNo. 7 Finish: With a win and a loss by either Toronto or Orlando (but not both)
\nNo. 8 Finish: With a loss, or with wins by both Toronto and Orlando<\/p>\n
Charlotte (43-38): The Hornets enter Sunday\u2019s game at New York (6 ET, League Pass) at No. 9, and they can finish No. 9 or No. 10.<\/p>\n
The Hornets are locked into the 9 vs. 10 Play-In game with Miami. Sunday will determine which team has home-court in that single-elimination game. A Hornets win or a Heat loss locks Charlotte into No. 9, while a Hornets loss coupled with a Heat win would drop Charlotte to No. 10.<\/p>\n
No. 9 Finish: With a win or a Miami loss
\nNo. 10 Finish: With a loss and a Miami win<\/p>\n
Miami (42-39): The Heat enter Sunday\u2019s game vs. Atlanta (6 ET, League Pass) at No. 10. But Miami can finish No. 9 or No. 10.<\/p>\n
A Heat win coupled with a Hornets loss is the only way for Miami to leap to No. 9 and host the 9 vs. 10 Play-In game as the Heat look to earn a fourth consecutive playoff berth through the Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n
No. 9 Finish: With a win and a Charlotte loss
\nNo. 10 Finish: With a loss or a Charlotte win<\/p>\n
WESTERN CONFERENCE\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following teams are locked into their seeds entering Sunday.<\/p>\n
No. 1 Oklahoma City (64-17)
\nNo. 2 San Antonio (62-19)
\nNo. 5 Houston (51-30)
\nNo. 6 Minnesota (48-33)
\nNo. 7 Phoenix (44-37)
\nNo. 10 Golden State (37-44)<\/p>\n
That leaves four teams looking to improve their standing on Sunday, including a key distinction between the top half and bottom half of the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n
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Denver (53-28): The Nuggets enter Sunday\u2019s game at San Antonio (8:30 ET, ESPN) at No. 3 and can finish No. 3 or No. 4.<\/p>\n
A Nuggets win clinches the No. 3 seed, while a loss coupled with a Lakers win would drop the Nuggets to No. 4 via tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
No. 3 Finish: With a win or a Lakers loss
\nNo. 4 Finish: With a loss and a Lakers win<\/p>\n
Los Angeles (52-29): The Lakers enter Sunday\u2019s game vs. Utah (8:30 ET, League Pass) at No. 4 and can finish No. 3 or No. 4.<\/p>\n
A Lakers win coupled with a Nuggets loss earns the Lakers the No. 3 via tiebreaker. A Lakers loss locks them into No. 4.<\/p>\n
No. 3 Finish: With a win and a Nuggets loss
\nNo. 4 Finish: With a loss or a Nuggets win<\/p>\n
Portland (41-40): The Blazers enter Sunday\u2019s game vs. Sacramento (8:30 ET, League Pass) at No. 8 and can finish No. 8 or No. 9.<\/p>\n
A Blazers win clinches the No. 8 seed, while a loss coupled with a Clippers win would drop the Blazers to No. 9.<\/p>\n
No. 8 Finish: With a win or a Clippers loss
\nNo. 9 Finish: With a loss and a Clippers win<\/p>\n
LA (41-40): The Clippers enter Sunday\u2019s game vs. Golden State (8:30 ET, League Pass) at No. 9 and can finish No. 8 or No. 9.<\/p>\n
Since Portland owns the tiebreaker, the only way for the Clippers to reach No. 8 is with a win and a Blazers loss. A Clippers loss locks them into No. 9.<\/p>\n
No. 8 Finish: With a win and a Blazers loss
\nNo. 9 Finish: With a loss or a Blazers win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Entering Sunday\u2019s 15-game slate to close out the regular season, only half of the postseason seeds have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,226914,218716,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-598646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-nba-playoff-scenarios","12":"tag-regular-season-finale","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}