One day of games remain and five seeds still up for grabs in the Western Conference — and you say there isn’t parity in the NBA.
Okay, there isn’t parity. Not really. But for one day we can at least pretend because a lot of things can happen in the Western Conference. (The East is set, it got its act together a couple of days ago.)
Here’s how it breaks down:
San Antonio is the top seed, locked up.
The Lakers control their own destiny, they will be the No. 2 seed if they win in what promises to be a very raucus Sacramento arena Wednesday (in what everybody thinks will the last game ever for the Kings in Sacramento, which sucks).
If Los Angeles loses and Dallas beats New Orleans, Dallas is the two seed (they will have one-more win) and the Lakers the three seed. If Dallas loses then they can do no better than finishing tied with Los Angeles, and the Lakers have the tiebreaker so they are the two seed no matter what.
If Dallas loses to New Orleans and Oklahoma City beats Milwaukee, then the Thunder and Mavericks will be tied, but Oklahoma City has the tiebreaker and gets to be the three seed, and Dallas falls to the four spot.
So, the Lakers will be the two or three seed, Dallas can be anywhere from two to four, and Oklahoma City can be the three or the four seed. Still with me?
Denver is the five seed, Portland the six, both locked in.
New Orleans and Memphis are now tied for the seven and eight seeds, but New Orleans has he tiebreaker so they are the seven seed. If the Hornets beat the Mavericks, then New Orleans is the seven seed. If the Hornets lose and the Grizzlies beat the Clippers, then Memphis is the seven and the New Orleans the eight.
What will really be interesting Wednesday: The important Dallas vs. New Orleans game starts at 8 p.m. Eastern, two-and-a-half hours before both the Lakers and the Grizzlies tip off in their respective games. If Dallas were to lose then the Lakers incentive to play their starters at all goes away. If New Orleans were to lose — and Memphis wanted to make sure it lost and kept the eighth seed — it also could suddenly start pulling key players off the floor.
So, we all clear now? Oh, what if there is a three-way tie? The Lakers still get to be the No. 2 seed by virtue of the conference record tiebreaker. There, that should answer everything. I think.
