Key games ahead for East's playoff race

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The end, of the regular season in the NBA at least, is near. In the next couple of weeks, the postseason fates of several teams will be decided.

And while talent and good health will certainly factor into how things play out, there’s another factor that’s very much in play that no one at this point has any control over: the schedule.

This takes on even greater significance in the Eastern Conference where there’s still little to no elbow room for most of the playoff contenders.

In fact, there’s only a 1.5 game cushion between the No. 3 seed currently (Atlanta) and the sixth seed (Charlotte).

Tie-breakers certainly deserve more attention now than usual, but teams have time to take care of business to make sure their playoff seeding won’t be determined by how many games they won over another team this season.

Here’s a look at the four teams (Atlanta, Boston, Miami and Charlotte) mentioned above in the Eastern Conference’s No. 3-6 cluster, and how the remainder of their schedules shake down this season.

 

ATLANTA (44-30)

Home games: 4

Road games: 4

Remaining schedule: At Chicago, tonight; at Toronto, March 30; Cleveland April 1; Phoenix, April 5; Toronto, April 7; Boston April 9; at Cleveland April 11; at Washington April 13.

 

BOSTON (43-30)

Home games: 4

Road games: 5

Remaining schedule: At Los Angeles Clippers, tonight; at Portland, March 31; at Golden State, April 1; at Los Angeles Lakers, April 3; New Orleans, April 6; Milwaukee, April 8; at Atlanta, April 9; Charlotte, April 11; Miami, April 13.

 

MIAMI (42-30)

Home games: 4

Road games: 6

Remaining schedule: Brooklyn, tonight; at Los Angeles Lakers, March 30; at Sacramento, April 1; at Portland, April 2; Detroit, April 5; Chicago, April 7; at Orlando, April 8; Orlando, April 10; at Detroit April 12; at Boston April 13.

 
CHARLOTTE (42-31)

Home games: 3

Road games: 6

Remaining schedule: At Philadelphia, March 29; Philadelphia, April 1; at Cleveland, April 3; at Toronto, April 5; at New York, April 6; Brooklyn, April 8; at Washington, April 10; at Boston, April 11; Orlando, April 13.

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