Game 82: End of the line for some in NBA

Game 82 for every team in the NBA has arrived. For 10 clubs, it’s the end of the season. For 13 others, it’s one last game before the postseason. And for seven teams in the Western Conference, Game 82 might feel like Game Seven.

The NBA regular season ends today, with seven postseason-bound West teams entering the final day wondering where they’ll land in the standings. And it all could be decided around the same time; each of the games that will affect those unclaimed West spots start a little after 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

All 30 teams will be in action. Some just want to get things over with. Some want answers – and will get them.

“I don’t want to be too dramatic,” Golden State guard Stephen Curry said. “It should be like a Game Seven-kind of vibe. You win, and you control your destiny on a guaranteed playoff series. You lose, and you roll the dice. Good teams find a way to win big games like that, and that’s what we’re aiming to be.”

There are four West teams – Golden State, Denver, the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota – vying for three guaranteed playoff spots, and one of them will even get home-court in Round One. The odd team out of that mix is headed to a play-in game on Tuesday.

For those four teams, it’s very simple: Win and you’re in.

Golden State play the Clippers, so the loser of that game likely – but not definitely – goes to the play-in. If Utah knock off Minnesota, the Timberwolves are play-in bound regardless of other outcomes.

Entering today, Minnesota would be the odd team out in the race for those last three West guaranteed spots. Denver enter the final day in the No. 4 spot, with the Clippers fifth and Golden State sixth. The Timberwolves close at home against Utah, the team with the worst record in the West.

“Win the game and then whatever happens after that happens,” Minnesota’s Julius Randle said. “We win the game, we’re where we want to be. So, focus on us and I always say control what we can control. And after that, we’ll figure it out.”

Also undecided: where Memphis, Sacramento and Dallas will end up. Memphis will be seventh or eighth in the West and in a play-in game on Tuesday, while Sacramento and Dallas will be ninth and 10th – in some order – with No. 9 hosting No. 10 in an elimination game on Wednesday.

“It’s good that we know who we’re playing,” Mavericks forward Anthony Davis said. “So, we’ll start prepping.”

ORDER SET

The Eastern Conference order is set going into today: Cleveland are No. 1, Boston are No. 2, New York are No. 3 (and will play No. 6 Detroit) and Indiana are No. 4 (and will play No. 5 Milwaukee). No. 7 Orlando host No. 8 Atlanta on Tuesday in a play-in game, and No. 9 Chicago host No. 10 Miami on Wednesday in an elimination game.

The West spots that are set: Oklahoma City are No. 1, Houston are No. 2 and the Los Angeles Lakers are No. 3. Next weekend’s openers will mark the first time that the Lakers host a Game One in Los Angeles since 2012; the Lakers were the home team for all four Game Ones they played on their way to the NBA title in the bubble in 2020, but those games were in Florida.

“I’m just incredibly proud of our team,” Lakers first-year coach JJ Redick said. “It’s an accomplishment to win 50 games in the regular season in any year. I think particularly this year, in this Western Conference, it is, and it’s a credit to our players. ... We want to go win one more game, and we’ll figure out Sunday who we play in the first round.”

AP