Weekly OT Thread: Playoffs Cometh

After the no-drama cruise past the Spurs on Wednesday, the Warriors hold +99% odds of capturing the 1st seed in the West, according the FiveThirtyEight.

The Portland Nurk Blazers hold 96% odds of making the postseason after topping the Denver Nuggets in Portland this past week (the Nuggets hold the other 4% odds, as the Mavs, Timberpups, and Pelicans all hold <1% odds).

Remaining Games to Look Out For:

3/31 IND @ TOR:

Indiana and Miami are still organizing themselves at the bottom of the East playoff seeding. By record, they’re identical. By SRS, Miami is the 5th best team in the East while Indiana is the 9th. Chicago lurks one game behind both of them (SRS ranks them as the true 8th team in the conference). If Indiana edges into the postseason, Boston or Cleveland is going to get to play a non-playoff team in the First Round.

3/31 ORL @ BOS:

Boston is jockeying with Cleveland for seeding supremacy, but it might actually be easier to run through the 2nd seed’s bracket in the East. Toronto is running away with the top SRS in the East. They currently sit in the 4th seed — on a collision course with the 1st seed in the Second Round. The added wildcard of how the Indiana(favorable)/Chicago(neutral)/Miami(very unfavorable) love triangle will shake out adds a lot of ambiguity over which top seed is actually preferable.

3/31 SA @ OKC:

Obvious implications in Golden State’s race towards the 1st seed. Oklahoma City could put a strangehold on their seeding with a victory and a Memphis loss.

4/1 ATL @ CHI:

As noted before, there’s a three-team sprint for the 7th and 8th seeds in the East. This is a double-edged implication game, with Atlanta in a dog fight with Milwaukee for the 5th and 6th seeds.

4/2 UTA @ SA:

Utah and Los Angeles still need to decide who will have home-court advantage in the First Round. The Warriors as of 3/30 need only five combined wins/Spurs losses to clinch the 1st seed.

4/4 TOR @ IND

4/4 MEM @ SA

4/5 OKC @ MEM

Memphis is currently seeded to face San Antonio, and Oklahoma City is seeded against Houston. This head-to-head may determine if that changes, although OKC has separated somewhat from Memphis.

4/6 BOS @ ATL

If this game was held tonight, and tonight was the last night of the season, its outcome would decide four of the eight East seeds.