NBA Playoff Race and tiebreakers

While there is only 1 spot in the playoffs left to be filled in either conference, there are still some battles left for seeding. If you are not interested in reading all this, here are the important meaningful games left -

Tonight
Orlando vs Washington tonight - big game for both teams
Cleveland vs Philidephia tonight
Golden State vs Dallas tonight
Clippers vs Phoenix tonight

Tomorrow
Milwaukee vs Cleveland tomorrow (provided they win against Philly)
Miami vs Orlando tomorrow (maybe)
Chicago vs New Jersey tomorrow - Huge game
Washington vs Indiana tomorrow (maybe)
Golden State vs Portland tomorrow
Lakers vs Sacramento tomorrow
Clippers vs New Orleans tomorrow

Here is a breakdown of who is still fighting.

East:
#2 seed - Chicago and Cleveland are still battling for the second seed and home court for the first two rounds. Chicago has 1 game left against New Jersey, and the Nets may or may not need to win that game. Cleveland has 2 games left against Philadelphia and Milwaukee, both winnable games. Chicago holds the tiebreaker with Cleveland with a better division record. Both Chicago and Cleveland hold tiebreakers against Toronto. Whoever does not get the 2nd seed will be the 5th seed. Cleveland must win out and have Chicago lose its last game.

#5 seed - Chicago or Cleveland - see above

#6 seed - either Washington or New Jersey - Washington needs to win out or 1 win and 1 NJ loss. If NJ wins their game against Chicago, then Washington must win out

#7 seed - either Washington or New Jersey or Orlando - Washington needs 1 win or 1 Orlando loss to cinch at least the 7 seed. Orlando can only get 7th if Washington loses out and they win out.

#8 seed - either Washington or Orlando

Washington is a half game up on New Jersey and two games up on Orlando
Washington has two games left, against Orlando and Indiana
New Jersey is 1.5 games up on Orlando and owns the tiebreaker
New Jersey has 1 game left against Chicago
Orlando has 2 games left, against Washington and Miami

This could get interesting depending on what happens in the Washington/Orlando game. New Jersey will be a higher seed then Orlando regardless of what happens. Washington is so beat up that they could lose both their games. New Jersey could easily lose to Chicago as well, so the Orlando move up is not out of the question.

The West side is much easier

7. Lakers or Golden State - Lakers are in already. 1 win or 1 GS loss and they have the 7 seed.

8. Lakers or Golden State or Clippers - Lakers can do no worse then the 8 seed. Golden State needs 2 wins, or 1 win and 1 clipper loss, or 2 clipper losses to stay in. The Clippers own the tiebreaker over Golden State, and cannot move higher then the 8 seed.

Lakers have 1 game left against Sacramento
Golden State has 2 games left, against Dallas and Portland
Clippers have 2 games left, against Phoenix and New Orleans

This could get really interesting. Dallas vs Golden State tonight could be a preview of their series. Do the Mavericks show them anything tonight? I say yes, because the Mavs do not want to play them. Dallas will do what they can to get the Clippers in the first round. Then you have Phoenix versus the Clippers. If I was Phoenix, I would be thinking about trying to win this one to make it easier for Golden State to get in and give Dallas fits, tire them out, etc. Golden State has owned Dallas the last couple of years. The Clippers would not be that interesting.