srijeda, 18.04.2007.
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NBA TO BE OR NOT TO BE: J-RICH & WARRIORS ARE ALMOSTTT THERE - IN THE PROMISED LAND OF PLAY-OFFS, AFTER PORTLAND..
Last call: Key games in the regular season finale
Think you know who’s facing who in this year’s NBA playoffs?
You could wake up tomorrow with a radically different reality staring you in the face.
While you could identify 15 of the league’s 16 postseason participants on the morning of the regular season finale, only two first-round matchups are set in stone: the San Antonio Spurs will play the Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets will host the Northwest Division champion Utah Jazz.
That means there are a lot of teams playing to win tonight.
Here’s a quick run-down of the meaningful games so that you know who’s playing for keeps.
WEST SIDE
The top six seeds in the West are set, with three teams playing for the final two spots: the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers.
The Lakers are in the playoffs, but could drop from No. 7 to No. 8 if they lose and the Warriors win. Finishing seventh in the West means a battle with the Phoenix Suns, while dropping one spot means they face the Dallas Mavericks. Choose your poison.
The Lakers wrap up the season against the Sacramento Kings at Arco Arena. They’re are 2-1 against the Kings this season and won their earlier game in Sacramento. Tonight’s tip is at 10 p.m. ET.
Golden State is also on the road, facing the Portland Trail Blazers. It’s also a 10 p.m. tip from the Rose Garden. The teams have split the season series so far, but the Blazers won by 19 points when the Warriors visited Oregon in March.
NAJBOLJE NOĆAŠNJE AKCIJE (18/04/07)..
The Warriors control their own destiny – win and they’re in. As noted above, they can also climb to seventh spot. They’ll finish out of the picture if they lose and the Clippers win.
The Clippers are on the outside looking in, but at least they’re playing at home. The Clips and New Orleans Hornets tip off at 10:30 p.m. ET from the Staples Center, meaning L.A. should know in the fourth quarter whether they still have a shot at the postseason.
The Clippers are 2-1 against New Orleans this year but the Hornets pulled out a 3-point win last week in Oklahoma City.
EAST SIDE
The only spots already determined are No. 1 (Detroit Pistons), No. 3 (Toronto Raptors) and No. 4 (Miami Heat).
That means we don’t have a clue who’s playing who in the playoffs until tonight’s action wraps up. On the positive side, we at least know the eight teams who’ll battle for conference supremacy in the postseason. Here’s a capsule of the positioning battles going on tonight.
The Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers are in a dogfight in the Central Division standings. Winner finishes second and takes on the No. 7 seed, loser drops to the No. 5 slot and opens against the defending champs.
The Bulls hold the tiebreaker, so they’ll finish second with a win over the New Jersey Nets no matter what Cleveland does. The Cavs host the Milwaukee Bucks and need help from New Jersey to have a shot at the second seed.
Adding intrigue to the clashes is the fact that the Nets have a lot to play for, while the Bucks do not.Chicago and New Jersey tip off from the Continental Airlines Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET, while Milwaukee and Cleveland tip off at Quicken Loans Arena a half-hour earlier.
The Nets can jump to the No. 6 spot with a win combined with a Washington Wizards loss. Such a jump would mean a first-round date with the Raptors as opposed to the second-place finisher in the Central.
The Wizards can finish sixth, seventh or eighth in the East, just to complicate things. Washington tips off against the Indiana Pacers at 8 p.m. from Conseco Fieldhouse.
The shorthanded Wizards are slumping, but so are the Pacers – and Washington's posted a pair of lopsided wins over Indiana already this season. A win in Indiana paired with a Nets loss restores the Wizards to the sixth spot.
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The Wizards drop to eighth in the East, however, if they lose and the Orlando Magic beat the Heat at home tonight. The tip from Amway Arena is early – 7 p.m. ET.
Miami head coach Pat Riley has already given indications that he’ll rest his stars, giving Orlando hope that they can avoid the Pistons in the first round. Also giving the Magic hope is their perfect 3-0 record against their state rivals this season.
Tim Roberts
