The final night of the 2018-19 regular season schedule will tip off in a handful of hours as the matchups in both conferences will be decided. In the Eastern Conference, the top five seeds are set in stone, but only one matchup (Boston/Indiana) has been locked in prior to Wednesday night's 11-game slate.
On Tuesday, despite blowing out the Philadelphia 76ers in Dwyane Wade's final game at American Airlines Arena, the Miami Heat were officially eliminated when the Detroit Pistons erased a 19-point halftime deficit against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Pistons snapped their four-game losing streak, and almost the entirety of their comeback took place without Blake Griffin, who was nursing his injured left knee. As long as Detroit takes care of business against the Knicks on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, it will get in the playoffs. Elsewhere in the East, the Orlando Magic will visit the Charlotte Hornets, who need New York to beat the Pistons to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
There are several significant games for West teams on Wednesday, too, with the Denver Nuggets hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Portland Trail Blazers hosting the Sacramento Kings, the Utah Jazz (who will finish fifth) visiting the Los Angeles Clippers, the San Antonio Spurs hosting the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Milwaukee Bucks. Paul George's winning 3-pointer against Houston on Tuesday could turn out to be extremely consequential, as could Denver's complete inability to slow down Donovan Mitchell.
It would be impossible to analyze all of the many, many scenarios in play, but here they are in a series of handy charts:
Nets vs. Heat
Hornets vs. Magic
Knicks vs. Pistons
East No. 6
East No. 7
East No. 8
Nets
Magic
Pistons
Nets
Magic
Pistons
Nets
Magic
Knicks
Nets
Magic
Pistons
Nets
Hornets
Pistons
Nets
Pistons
Magic
Nets
Hornets
Knicks
Nets
Magic
Hornets
Heat
Magic
Pistons
Magic
Nets
Pistons
Heat
Magic
Knicks
Magic
Nets
Pistons
Heat
Hornets
Pistons
Magic
Nets
Pistons
Heat
Hornets
Knicks
Nets
Magic
Hornets
Nuggets vs. Wolves
Blazers vs. Kings
West No. 2
West No. 3
West No. 4
Nuggets
Blazers
Nuggets
Blazers
Rockets
Nuggets
Kings
Nuggets
Rockets
Blazers
Wolves
Blazers
Rockets
Nuggets
Blazers
Wolves
Kings
Rockets
Nuggets
Blazers
Spurs vs. Mavericks
Bucks vs. Thunder
Clippers vs. Jazz
West No. 6
West No. 7
West No. 8
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Thunder
Spurs
Clippers
Spurs
Thunder
Jazz
Thunder
Spurs
Clippers
Spurs
Bucks
Clippers
Spurs
Clippers
Thunder
Spurs
Bucks
Jazz
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Mavericks
Thunder
Clippers
Thunder
Clippers
Spurs
Mavericks
Thunder
Jazz
Thunder
Spurs
Clippers
Mavericks
Bucks
Clippers
Thunder
Clippers
Spurs
Mavericks
Bucks
Jazz
Thunder
Spurs
Clippers
NOTE: The full NBA rules for tiebreakers can be found here, but this is what you need to know: When two teams are tied, the first tiebreaker is the head-to-head season series. If they split the series, then it matters whether you won your division and, potentially, how you fared against other teams in your division, which is silly because divisions are silly.
Eastern Conference tiebreakers
1. Milwaukee Bucks (60-21)
2. Toronto Raptors (58-24)
3. Philadelphia 76ers (50-31)
4. Boston Celtics (49-33)
5. Indiana Pacers (47-34)
6. Brooklyn Nets (41-40)
Clinched playoff spotWin tiebreaker over: Magic (2-1), Pistons (2-1)Note: Their finale is at home against the Heat, who were eliminated from contention on Tuesday; will face either Raptors or 76ers.7. Orlando Magic (41-40)
Clinched playoff spotLose tiebreaker with Nets (2-1), Pistons (3-1)Note: Their finale is on the road against the Hornets, who must win to have a chance to make the playoffs; if they win, will finish no worse than seventh8. Detroit Pistons (40-41)
Win tiebreaker over: Magic (3-1)Lose tiebreaker to: Nets (2-1), Hornets (4-0)Note: Their finale is on the road against the Knicks, who will finish with the league's worst record; if they win, will make playoffs; will face either Raptors or Bucks9. Charlotte Hornets (39-42)
Win tiebreaker over: Pistons (4-0)Note: Their finale is at home against the Magic, but they can't make the playoffs unless the Knicks beat the Pistons (and they win, too)Western Conference
1. Golden State Warriors (57-24)
2. Denver Nuggets (53-28)
Win tiebreaker over Portland (3-1)Lose tiebreaker to: Houston (3-1)Win Northwest DivisionNote: Their finale is at home against the Timberwolves; can finish no worse than third3. Houston Rockets (53-29)
Win tiebreaker over Denver (3-1)Lose tiebreaker with Portland (2-1)Win Southwest DivisionNote: They will finish second if the Wolves beat the Nuggets, but can still fall to fourth4. Portland Trail Blazers (52-29)
Lose tiebreaker with Denver (3-1) Win tiebreaker over Houston (2-1) Note: Their finale is at home against the Kings; can bump Houston to fourth if they win and Denver beats Minnesota5. Utah Jazz (50-31)
Locked, fifth seedNote: Their finale is on the road against the Clippers6. Oklahoma City Thunder (48-33)
Lose tiebreaker to: Spurs (2-1)Split series with: Clippers 9-7 division recordNote: Their finale is on the road against the Bucks; if they win, will finish sixth7. San Antonio Spurs (47-34)
Win tiebreaker over: Thunder (2-1)Split series with: Clippers 9-6 division recordNote: Their finale is at home against the Mavericks; can take sixth spot form Oklahoma City if they win and the Bucks beat the Thunder8. Los Angeles Clippers (47-34)
Split series with: Thunder, Spurs11-5 division recordNote: Their finale is at home against the Jazz; will finish either seventh or eighth
