There are no NBA games on Monday night, with the league ceding the basketball platform to the NCAA for the men's national championship game. It's an understandable move, but with the title game so late this year, that means the last two days of the NBA regular season are packed with all sorts of important games.
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Both Tuesday and Wednesday night have 11 games on the schedule, and nearly all of them will have an implication in the playoff race, statistical chases or tanking position.
Ahead of the busy final two days, here's a look at what's still at stake.
Final playoff spot in East
Heading into the final two days of the regular season, all but one of the 16 available playoff berths have been locked up. The eight Western Conference teams advancing into the postseason have been decided for a while now, but the battle for the eighth spot in the East could go down to the final day.
For a while, it's been a race for three spots at the bottom of the East, but the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic each clinched playoff berths on Sunday, marking the end of long absences for each team. Right now, the Detroit Pistons are in the driver's seat for the final spot, but they've been doing their best over the past few weeks to give it up. Currently on a four-game losing streak, they're just one game ahead of both the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat.
All three of those teams will be in action on Tuesday night; the Pistons take on the feisty Memphis Grizzlies (7 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension), which could be a tough game, while the Hornets have the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers and the Heat host a Philadelphia 76ers team who could rest players since they have nothing left to play for. They then face the Knicks on Wednesday to close out the regular season. Detroit gets in the playoffs if it wins both those games.
For a look at seeding scenarios for teams in the East, check out our playoff picture, which updates daily.
Playoff seeding in West
The eight playoff teams in the West have been locked in since late March, but the ensuing weeks have been a fierce battle for seeding. Thanks in large part to their emphatic win in their recent showdown at Oracle Arena, the Golden State Warriors pulled away from the Denver Nuggets to clinch the No. 1 overall seed. Other than that, however, nothing has been decided. There are still all sorts of scenarios, with movement possible in both the top and bottom halves of the West's playoff picture.
First of all, there's the battle for the No. 2 seed. A combination of subpar play from the Nuggets and James Harden and Co. going on a hot streak has the Houston Rockets just half a game behind Denver. The Rockets own the season series between the two teams as well, meaning the Nuggets have to win the spot outright. If they end up tied, the Rockets will be the No. 2 seed.
In the bottom half of the bracket, things are a complete mess, with Nos. 6-8 separated by just half a game. The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently in sixth at 47-33, but have to play the Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks to close the season. But if they manage to win out, they could even possibly move up to fifth if the Utah Jazz lose out.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers have identical 47-34 records with just one game remaining. The Spurs own the tiebreaker with both the Clippers and Thunder, so they'll have the advantage in the event of any ties between the bottom three teams.
It truly is a complete mess at the bottom of the conference, though, and we likely won't know all four West playoff matchups until the final day is complete. Once again, for a full playoff picture, go here.
Harden can become first player to average 36 points since M.J.
James Harden long ago clinched his second straight scoring title, but he still has some work to do if he wants to make history. Entering Tuesday's schedule, Harden is averaging just over 36 points per game, which is the most since Kobe Bryant put up 35.4 a night in 2005-06. If Harden is able to keep up his torrid pace and average over 36 points per game, he'll be just the third player ever to accomplish that feat, the other two being Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
Jordan, who won 10 scoring titles in his day, only crossed the 36-points-per-game-threshold once, when he put up a remarkable 37.1 points in the 1986-87 season. As for Chamberlain, he did it five seasons in a row from 1959-64, including an absolutely ridiculous 50.63 points per game in 1961-62 -- a record which still stands, and will likely never be broken.
Sitting at 2,779 points, the reigning MVP needs just 29 points in the Rockets' final game of the season against the Thunder on Tuesday night to clinch averaging 36 points per game for the season. Considering he's put at least 41 points on OKC in each of their last two meetings this season, that shouldn't be a problem.
Tanking race
The New York Knicks have already clinched the worst record in the league this season, but unfortunately for them, that accomplishment doesn't mean as much as it did in the past. With the new lottery odds, the worst three teams all have an even 52.1 percent chance at a top-three pick, and a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick.
Down at the bottom with them are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns, who are currently tied at 19-62 on the season. No matter what, they'll each have the same odds for a top three pick and the No. 1 overall selection, but their final record would matter should each team miss out on a top three pick, as unlikely as that would be.
Further down -- or up? -- the standings, there's another important battle involving the Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks. At 32-48 they're currently tied for the seventh-worst record. But the Washington Wizards are just a half-game ahead at 32-49, and the New Orleans Pelicans are a half-game behind at 33-48. While the Grizzlies and Mavericks aren't competing with each other, how they finish will matter in terms of the draft -- not just for them, but for other teams.
The Grizzlies owe their pick to the Boston Celtics via the Jeff Green trade -- yikes -- but it's protected 1-8. Memphis understandably wants to give that pick up this season before it becomes protected just 1-6 next season, and unprotected in 2021. As for the Mavericks, they owe a first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks via the Luka Doncic deal. It's protected 1-5 until 2020, then 1-3 in 2021 and 2022, before becoming unprotected after that.
