The NBA playoff scenarios are not infinite headed into the final day of the regular season Sunday.
But the permutations for seeding in the Western Conference playoffs are numerous as all 30 teams conclude an 82-game schedule with a jam-packed 15-game slate.
The Eastern Conference seeds are set 1-10 while the West still remains a jumble of possibilities. The Minnesota Timberwolves could finish with the fourth seed … or the eighth seed.
In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the No. 1 seed, the Houston Rockets are the No. 2 seed, and the Los Angeles Lakers are the No. 3 seed. And the Sacramento Kings will play the Dallas Mavericks in the 9-vs.-10 play-in game though which team is ninth and which is 10th won’t be known until after the Kings (vs. Phoenix) and Mavs (vs. Memphis) play Sunday.
In the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers earned the No. 1 seed, followed by the Boston Celtics at No. 2, New York Knicks at No. 3, Indiana Pacers at No. 4, Milwaukee Bucks at No. 5 and Detroit Pistons at No. 6. Indiana will play Milwaukee, and New York will play Detroit in a first-round series.
No. 7 Orlando Magic will play No. 8 Atlanta Hawks in a play-in game with the winner earning the seventh seed and a matchup against Boston in the first round. The winner of No. 9 Chicago Bulls vs. No. 10 Miami Heat will play the loser of Orlando-Atlanta for the No. 8 seed and first-round series against Cleveland.
Here’s what we don’t know:
Seeds 4-8 are underdetermined in the West. The Denver Nuggets (49-32), Los Angeles Clippers (49-32),
