NBA Playoff 2012 Implications: What to Watch for in the Final Week of the Season

The NBA's lockout-shortened season is coming to a close. With only five days left, let's take a look at what to watch for in the final few days. 

The Eastern Conference is a little easier to dissect right now, as the playoffs spots are all but decided. (Scroll down if you'd like to jump to the Western Conference)

The Chicago Bulls couldn't be any closer to the No.1 seed. As long as they win one more game OR as long as the Miami Heat lose one more game, they will clinch the No.1 seed. In doing so, the Miami Heat will clinch the No.2 seed. The Bulls visit Indiana in a grudge match on Wednesday and then host the depleted Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. Bulls fans, your team controls its own fate. Win either of these games, and you're guaranteed home court advantage throughout the Eastern playoffs. Win them both, and you're guaranteed home court advantage throughout the entire post-season. 

As we just went over, the Miami Heat can do no worse than the No.2 seed. However, they're not completely out of the running for the top seed in the East. They host a desperate Houston Rockets team on Sunday, before visiting Boston on Tuesday and Washington on Thursday. If they win out and Chicago loses out, Miami takes over as the No.1 seed in the East. 

Unless the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics are worried about getting home court advantage against certain Western Conference teams in the NBA Finals, they're playing to stay in shape. They are locked into the No.3 and No.4 seeds, respectively.

The Atlanta Hawks are most probably going to play the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. If they win any one of their three remaining games OR if the Orlando Magic lose any one of their three remaining games, the Hawks will clinch the No.5 seed in the playoffs. The Hawks host the New York Knicks on Sunday, the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, and then the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday. The Knicks and Clippers will definitely have something to play for, and the Mavericks might too. Winning all three at home is not necessarily an easy task. Some would even say that it might be in their best interest to lose these games, as a series against the Pacers might be a better matchup than with the Celtics. 

Whether the Atlanta Hawks lose their remaining games or not might make little difference, as the Orlando Magic would have to win out anyway for the Hawks to drop down to the No.6 seed. The Magic visit Denver on Sunday, where a loss would put the suspense to rest for the Hawks. Orlando then plays host to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday before traveling to Memphis to play the Grizzlies on Thursday. While winning out appears to be a tall task for the Magic, there is one team that is hoping Orlando will lose their remaining three games. 

The New York Knicks still have a chance to avoid playing the Miami Heat (or Bulls) in the first round. Knicks fans have to be kicking themselves for losing to Cleveland on Friday, as they really did have a legit chance at that No.6 seed. However, if Orlando does lose the rest of their games, then New York can win out and clinch that sixth seed. They visit Atlanta on Sunday before playing host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. They wrap up the season in Charlotte on Thursday. Anything can happen here. Knicks fans should be paying close attention to Orlando and hope they can take care of business with their own games. 

Finally, the No.8 seed is the Philadelphia 76ers' to lose. All they need to do to clinch a playoff spot is win one more game OR have the Milwaukee Bucks lose one more game. Obviously, that means Milwaukee has to win out and hope Philadelphia loses out for the Bucks to clinch the playoffs. It all begins Monday for these two teams, as Philadelphia visits New Jersey and Milwaukee hosts Toronto. Milwaukee can still have some hope. New Jersey hosts what could be the final NBA game ever in the Garden State on Monday. There's a reason for these Nets to give it their all. If Milwaukee was to defeat Toronto and the Nets were able to steal one on Monday, then Milwaukee can take matters into their own hands on Wednesday, as they host Philadelphia. From there, it all comes down to the final night of the NBA season, where Philadelphia visits Detroit to play the Pistons and Milwaukee visits Boston to play the Celtics. 

While anything can happen, it's looking very likely that the East will end up looking like this: 

1. Chicago Bulls 

2. Miami Heat

3. Indiana Pacers

4. Boston Celtics

5. Atlanta Hawks

6. Orlando Magic

7. New York Knicks

8. Philadelphia 76ers

The Western Conference is a little more difficult to figure out. Seeding is truly up in the air. 

The San Antonio Spurs will play four games in the next five days. They host Cleveland and Portland on Sunday and Monday in what should be winnable games, especially since Cleveland and Portland have zero incentive to win, and all the incentive to lose (for lottery balls). On Wednesday, they visit Phoenix, who might be in a must-win position. Finally, on Thursday, they visit Golden State, who will probably do everything in their power to lose. If you want to see tanking at its worst, tune in to TNT on Thursday night for the Spurs/Warriors game. The Spurs are currently 0.5 games ahead of Oklahoma City for the No.1 seed in the West. Since they own the tie-breaker, they're basically 1.5 games ahead of the Thunder. They can lose one more game than OKC from here on out and would still clinch the No.1 seed. 

Oklahoma City is only playing for the No.1 seed in the West right now. As we just said, they're 0.5 games behind San Antonio, and the Spurs own the tie-breaker. Therefore, their best bet at getting that No.1 seed is winning their final three games (at Lakers, vs. Kings, vs. Nuggets) and hope that San Antonio loses two of those four games they play. If the Thunder lose any one of their three games, then they have to hope that San Antonio goes 1-3, which is very highly unlikely. 

In Los Angeles, the Lakers and Clippers are battling for the Pacific Division crown. While the Clippers have three games remaining, the Lakers are down to their last two. The Lakers are 0.5 games up, and they own the tie-breaker. The Lakers host Oklahoma City on Sunday and then visit Sacramento to play the Kings on Thursday. If they win both games, they win the division and clinch the No.3 seed in the playoffs, most likely avoiding the Grizzlies. 

The Clippers play host to the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday, before traveling to Atlanta on Tuesday and New York on Wednesday. Simply put, they have to win two more games than the Lakers. If the Lakers only win one of their last two games, the Clippers will have to win all three of their games to win the division. If the Lakers were to lose to both the Thunder and the Kings, then the Clippers will only have to win two of their final three. Clippers fans will be keeping an eye on the Thunder/Lakers game on Sunday. 

Whether you're a Clippers fan or a Lakers fan, all Los Angeles fans should be worried about a certain Grizzly. The Memphis Grizzlies are hot right now, having won 12 of their last 15 games. They are one game back of the Lakers and a half game back of the Clippers. The Grizzlies could very well take that No.3 seed by the time this is all said and done. Their last two games are at home, with Cleveland visiting on Monday and Orlando visiting on Thursday, both very winnable games for Memphis. The only thing going against them is that they don't own either tie-breaker with either LA team. However, if they win their last two games, then they need the Lakers to lose out to jump ahead of them in the standings. If the Lakers are to win either of their two games or if the Grizzlies lose either of their two games, then that possibility is out the window. As for the Clippers, as long as they finish up 1-2 in their final three games, then Memphis has the chance at home court advantage in the first round by winning their last two games. 

Denver and Dallas are both battling for the No.6 and No.7 seed. I would assume the No.6 seed is more favorable for either of these two. Then again, Denver might like their chances better against the Thunder than against the Lakers (or Clippers or Grizzlies). However. Dallas owns the tie-breaker against the Nuggets. Dallas only has one more game on their schedule, as they visit Atlanta on Thursday to play the Hawks. If we were to assume that they will win that game, then Denver would have to win all three of their final games (vs. Orlando, at OKC, at Minnesota) in order to clinch the No.6 seed. Either way, they have to win two of the three to even have a chance. As we said, though, they might want the No.7 seed. As long as they don't win more than one of their remaining three games, they are guaranteed the No.7 seed going into the playoffs. 

Here's where things gets silly for the Dallas Mavericks. Since they've clinched a playoff spot, they have incentive to lose against the Hawks, and to root for the Celtics to win. As long as they are not a top-10 team in the NBA this year, they get to hold on to their first round pick. They are currently 13th (with Boston, Orlando, and Denver ahead of them). Now, as long as they lose against the Hawks, they're guaranteed to keep their playoff pick. 

Finally, we have three teams fighting for the final playoff spot in the West. The Utah Jazz currently have a one-game lead against both the Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets. The Suns own the tie-breaker against the other two, while the Jazz own the tie-breaker against the Rockets, which means the Rockets need all sorts of things to happen to get in. First of all, they need to win their last two games. They're playing at Miami on Sunday and host the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday. Then they need Utah to lose both of their games (both home games against Phoenix on Tuesday and Portland on Thursday). However, that Phoenix/Utah game is the only game they want Phoenix to win, as they will then need Phoenix to lose on Wednesday against the Spurs. If any of those five games don't go Houston's way, they're out. 

Phoenix and Utah control their own destiny. They both play on Tuesday in what should be an absolute war in Utah. If Utah wins that game, they clinch the playoffs, and Phoenix is out. However, if Phoenix wins, then the Suns simply have to beat the Spurs on Wednesday to clinch the playoffs or hope the Jazz lose to Portland on Thursday. If Phoenix loses to San Antonio, then the Jazz play the Blazers on Thursday with a playoff spot on the line. 

That's a lot to digest. But know this. It's not looking good for Houston right now (although they get to keep their own first round draft pick if they don't make the playoffs). And if you're a fan of NBA basketball, you probably want to tune in to TNT on Tuesday night for that Suns vs. Jazz game.