By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
A busy 10-game NBA slate awaits on Tuesday, and some clarity might come in terms of who’ll end up seeded where.
And keep in mind, the day begins with scenarios where six teams — Atlanta, Toronto, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami — all have mathematical chances of finishing fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth or 10th in a muddled Eastern Conference. (Many of those chances are improbable, but they exist.)
Miami and Toronto start a two-game series in Ontario, with the Raptors trying to keep the No. 6 spot in the East and the Heat desperate to start a final-week clawing out of the No. 10 spot.
The game of the night might be in Boston, where Charlotte will pay the Celtics a visit. The Hornets are 43-36, tied with Philadelphia and Orlando for the seventh-best record in the East, and they’ll hold either the No. 6, No. 7 or No. 9 spot in the conference — temporarily, anyway — when Tuesday’s slate is complete.
Both Los Angeles teams are home; the banged-up Lakers could jump back into the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a win, and the Clippers could strengthen their tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot.
Who’s in and who’s out?
Here’s what we know so far regarding the NBA playoff field for this season.
— Eastern Conference playoff teams: Detroit has locked up the No. 1 seed and will open the postseason on April 19. Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Toronto would get the other two guaranteed spots, but those are not clinched.
— East play-in teams: Nobody is locked into the play-in yet, but entering Tuesday, the four teams headed there are Philadelphia, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami.
— East eliminated teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn and Washington.
— Western Conference playoff teams: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver and Houston are in. Minnesota is likely to grab the sixth and final guaranteed spot.
— West play-in teams: Phoenix is probably going to the play-in tournament. The Los Angeles Clippers, Portland and Golden State definitely are.
— West eliminated teams: Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento.
Monday recap
— Knicks 108, Hawks 105: Jalen Brunson had 17 in the 4th, CJ McCollum’s miracle make was too late.
— Magic 123, Pistons 107: Orlando led almost the whole way, had 40-19 edge in free throw attempts.
— Cavaliers 142, Grizzlies 126: Memphis tied the NBA record with 29 made 3s — and still lost by 16.
— Spurs 115, 76ers 102: San Antonio hits 60 wins, waiting to hear about Victor Wembanyama’s ribs.
— Nuggets 137, Trail Blazers 132, OT: Portland led by 13 with 6:01 left in regulation, then fell apart.
Tuesday’s schedule
— Timberwolves at Pacers: Wolves still vying to clinch 6 seed, then focus on health before Round 1.
— Heat at Raptors: Miami plays at Toronto twice in a three-day span, huge stakes for both teams.
— Hornets at Celtics: Probably game of the night, which nobody would have predicted in October.
— Kings at Warriors: This week is basically preseason for Golden State and its play-in tune-up plan.
— Thunder at Lakers: Oklahoma City on verge of getting No. 1 overall seed for second straight year.
— Mavericks at Clippers: Dallas’ Cooper Flagg’s final-week rookie of the year push tour continues.
— Rockets at Suns: Kevin Durant goes back to Phoenix, one of his former stomping grounds.
— Bulls at Wizards: All about lottery odds.
— Bucks at Nets: All about lottery odds.
— Jazz at Pelicans: For Utah, all about lottery odds. (New Orleans’ pick should convey to Atlanta.)
Wednesday’s schedule
— Atlanta at Cleveland: A very possible East first-round preview.
— Minnesota at Orlando: Wolves sputtering, Anthony Edwards is aching.
— Milwaukee at Detroit: Giannis Antetokounmpo still wants to play.
— Memphis at Denver: Nuggets chasing No. 3 seed, need a win here.
— Portland at San Antonio: Blazers have work to do to avoid 9-10 game.
— Oklahoma City at L.A. Clippers: Clippers have work to do to avoid 9-10 game.
— Dallas at Phoenix: Suns almost certainly will be No. 7 seed for play-in.
National TV schedule
Tuesday on NBC and Peacock: Charlotte-Boston (8 p.m. Eastern) and Houston-Phoenix (11 p.m.).
Wednesday on ESPN: Atlanta-Cleveland (7 p.m. Eastern) and Portland-San Antonio (9:30 p.m.).
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+130) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by San Antonio (+450), Boston (+550), Denver (+1200), Cleveland (+1200) and New York (+1900). Detroit, the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500. The Los Angeles Lakers were +2500 before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt; they’re +45000 now.
Key dates
— Friday: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.
— Sunday: All 30 teams play their regular-season finales.
— April 14, 15 and 17: NBA play-in tournament dates.
— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.
— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
Numbers watch
If Denver averages 127 points in its final three games, the Nuggets would become the eighth team in NBA history to reach 10,000 points in a regular season. There have been three Western Conference teams to hit that milestone — they would be the Nuggets in 1981-82, the Nuggets in 1982-83 and … you guessed it … the Nuggets in 1983-84.
Stats of the day
— If Houston wins one more game this season, the NBA will have nine teams reach the 50-win mark. The last season with more than nine such teams was 2014-15, which saw 10 teams reach 50 wins. (Minnesota could get to 50 this season if it wins out.)
— Denver has allowed 134 and 132 points in its last two games, respectively, and gone 2-0. It’s the seventh time a team has done that in NBA history; three of the previous six instances were done by the super-high-octane Nuggets in 1981 and 1982. San Antonio did it in 1984, Minnesota in 2021 and the Los Angeles Lakers did it in 2024.
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