2026 NBA Playoff Picture, Bracket Clinching Scenarios for Lakers, More on Tuesday

The Minnesota Timberwolves may not be heading in the right direction, but they can at least secure a spot in the NBA playoffs by the end of Tuesday night.

The Wolves are assured of a top-six finish if they beat the Indiana Pacers and the Phoenix Suns lose to the Houston Rockets.

Over in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat need a win over the Toronto Raptors to preserve their hopes of avoiding the play-in tournament.

The 20 spots reserved for the first-round qualifiers and play-in teams are already clinched. There are still a lot of permutations in terms of seeding, though, particularly in the East.

The Los Angeles Lakers are facing an important contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Head coach JJ Redick is forging ahead without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. The impact of their absence was evident in Sunday's 134-128 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Lakers are only a game up on the fifth-place Rockets, so a loss to OKC could put them in jeopardy of not having home-court advantage in the opening round. The Thunder, meanwhile, are 2.5 games up on the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 1 seed, so a victory will put them one step closer toward cementing that position.

In the case of the Timberwolves, guaranteeing themselves of a top-six position doesn't cure all of their woes. They've dropped three in a row and five of their last eight. Guard Anthony Edwards and forward Jaden McDaniels will both miss the Pacers game, and their health looms large with the playoffs ahead.

Given that, the last thing Minnesota needs is worrying about how to survive the play-in tournament.