It’s all about the drama. A few years back, the NBA borrowed an idea from European soccer leagues and had all its teams play at the same time — or at least within the same conference — so there was no advantage to knowing what was needed. It sets up a situation in which two games are ending nearly simultaneously, with major playoff implications.
This year, nine of the 15 games on Sunday have some level of postseason implications. Here is everything you need to know.
Eastern Conference
The top four seeds in the East are locked in: 1) Detroit; 2) Boston; 3) New York; 4) Cleveland.
Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat, 6 p.m. ET, League Pass
Brooklyn Nets at Toronto Raptors, 6 p.m. ET, League Pass
Atlanta can lock up the No. 5 seed with a win in Miami, setting up a first-round matchup with Cleveland. However, an Atlanta loss combined with a Toronto win would move the Raptors up to fifth and drop the Hawks to sixth (and a first-round meeting with New York). A Toronto loss also secures Atlanta the No. 6 seed.
If Toronto loses, it could fall to seventh if Orlando wins, which brings us to the next games that matter.
Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN
Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers, 6 p.m. ET, League Pass
If Orlando can win on the road, it locks into the No. 7 seed, with an outside chance of jumping past Toronto to No. 6 and avoiding the play-in if the Raptors lose at home to the Nets (unlikely but not impossible). However, if Orlando loses in Boston, Philadelphia would jump up to No. 7 it can win at home over the tanking Bucks.
Orlando and Philadelphia will likely face each other in the first round of the play-in, but the No. 7 seed will host that game.
Charlotte Hornets at New York Knicks, 6 p.m. ET, League Pass
Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat, 6 p.m. ET, League Pass
Charlotte had an impressive end to the season, but needs one more win to secure the No. 9 seed and be at home for the first of two play-in games it must win to make the playoffs. If Charlotte loses and Miami wins, the Heat jump up to ninth and host the play-in game.
Western Conference
The top two seeds are locked in: 1)Oklahoma City; 2) San Antonio. That doesn’t mean the Spurs don’t have something to play for on Sunday.
Denver Nuggets at San Antonio Spurs, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
The Nuggets at Spurs is the juiciest game of the day.
San Antonio can give itself a likely much easier path to the Western Conference Finals if it shows up on the final day of the season and beats Denver. If the Nuggets lose and the shorthanded Lakers can beat tanking Utah at home, then the Lakers jump the Nuggets to be the No. 3 seed (Los Angeles and Denver would be tied, but the Lakers have the tiebreaker thanks to that wild game a few weeks back where Austin Reaves’ intentionally-missed free throw rebound and bucket forced overtime, then Luka Doncic won it in OT with an amazing baseline jumper).
Neither Oklahoma City nor San Antonio wants to see Nikola Jokic and Denver in the second round. Denver is — for my money — one of the three best teams in the NBA and a true title contender. If the Nuggets fall to the No. 4 seed, they would line up to face the Thunder in the second round in a titanic battle (assuming both win their first-round series). Also in that scenario, if the Spurs win their series against a play-in team, they would face the winner of the Rockets vs. Lakers first-round series — two good teams, but neither as threatening as the Nuggets.
Sacramento Kings at Portland Trail Blazers, 8:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Clippers, 8:30 p.m. ET, League Pass
The Trail Blazers beat the Clippers on Friday night and, with that, control their own destiny — beat the Kings on Sunday and Portland finishes No. 8 in the West and will travel to Phoenix for a win-and-you’re-in play-in game (and the Trail Blazers would just need to win one of two games to make the playoffs). However, if the Trail Blazers stumble and the Clippers beat the Warriors, the Clippers would move up to No. 8 and travel to Phoenix, while Portland would fall to ninth and host the Warriors in the first of two play-in games it would have to win to advance.
The Warriors at Clippers game is a little odd because those two teams are very likely to turn around and face each other a few days later in a win-or-go-home game, so we could see some unusual lineups and two coaches trying not to tip their hands.
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