Shamefully ripped off from some guy's tweeted photo:
EASTERN The BULLS are #3 if they can beat the Hawks in Chicago OR if the RAPTORS lose to the Hornets at home, which would put Toronto #4. If the Hawks AND the Raptors win, then it's Toronto as the third seed, Chicago the fourth.
NETS are #8 if they beat the Magic at home OR if the PACERS lose to the Grizzles in Memphis. If the Pacers AND the Magic win, then the Pacers are #8.
WESTERN This one's a little more complicated.
The SPURS can end up with one of four different seeds:
Here's the easy part. They'll be the #2 seed if they beat the PELICANS in New Orleans.
If they lose, they can either be #3 if the Jazz beat the ROCKETS in Houston, #5 if the Rockets win AND the GRIZZLIES lose at home to the Pacers, or #6 if both the Rockets AND Grizzlies win. Got it?
The CLIPPERS are already done; they're just waiting to see what the Spurs and Rockets do. If they both lose, they'll be the #2 seed. If the Spurs win, they'll be #3 no matter when the Rockets do. But they'll also be #3 if the Spurs lose AND the Rockets win.
The Rockets can be #2 if they win AND the Spurs lose, but if they both win, they're knocked back to #5. They're also #5 if they lose but the Grizzlies also lose. If they lose and the Grizzlies WIN, then they're down to the #6 seed.
For Memphis, it's most likely #6 - they're stuck there if both the Spurs and Rockets win. If either of them lose AND the Grizzlies win, they're #5.
The Pelicans need to get by the Spurs to make the playoffs as the #8 seed. They can also get in if the Timberwolves miraculously beat the Thunder tonight at Target Center - and since we've locked up the worst record in the league, maybe we won't feel that urge to tank (but most likely, that will not matter in the slightest). As for the THUNDER, even after they defeat the Timberwolves, they'll need the Spurs to take care of the Pelicans if they want the #8 seed.
Whew!
Tonight's national games, as you might expect, have playoff implications: at on at 7PM Eastern, followed by at at 9:30PM. Everything else is local/League Pass.
While I'm kinda excited to see how the #8 seeds turn out, I'd be lying if I didn't say I had a perverse interest in the Sixers-Heat matchup where both teams should be trying to tank. Thanks to the complicated Kevin Love trade, the Heat gave the Sixers a top-10 protected draft pick for this year. If the Heat lose, they're guaranteed the #10 pick. If the Sixers lose and the Nets win, a coin flip determines the #10 pick and the Sixers could get the Heat's pick at #11.
This crap happens all the time in soccer (not draft-related, of course) but rarely in American pro sports. I'm excited to see how blatant the tanking will get.
Well, Mark Cuban is already proving, once again, that year-to-year roster consistency is a four-letter word. But he's clearly maneuvering to attempt to get Shaq... Read about it here. So...
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EASTERN
The BULLS are #3 if they can beat the Hawks in Chicago OR if the RAPTORS lose to the Hornets at home, which would put Toronto #4. If the Hawks AND the Raptors win, then it's Toronto as the third seed, Chicago the fourth.
NETS are #8 if they beat the Magic at home OR if the PACERS lose to the Grizzles in Memphis. If the Pacers AND the Magic win, then the Pacers are #8.
WESTERN
The Pelicans need to get by the Spurs to make the playoffs as the #8 seed. They can also get in if the Timberwolves miraculously beat the Thunder tonight at Target Center - and since we've locked up the worst record in the league, maybe we won't feel that urge to tank (but most likely, that will not matter in the slightest). As for the THUNDER, even after they defeat the Timberwolves, they'll need the Spurs to take care of the Pelicans if they want the #8 seed.
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at 7PM Eastern, followed by 
