NBA Playoff Picture: Several playoff races will come down to the wire in the final weekend of the season

The Western Conference is absolute madness, folks.

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me here today. Appreciate you.

Check your calendar, folks. The final weekend of regular season basketball is here. The season will end on Sunday and then it’ll be Play-In Tournament time. After that, the playoffs are underway. And, whew boy, I cannot wait.

Before we get there, though, I thought it’d be smart for us to get situated with where things are. So, to do that, I thought it’d be good for us to go conference by conference to see where everyone is.

Let’s jump in.

The top six: Let’s kick it off with the top six teams in the East. The Celtics have an extremely healthy lead at the top of the conference, but Milwaukee has New York and Cleveland breathing down its neck for the 2 seed with a tough remaining schedule.

• No. 1: Boston Celtics (62-18), Remaining schedule: vs. CHA, vs. WAS
• No. 2: Milwaukee Bucks (49-31, 13.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @OKC, @ORL
• No. 3: New York Knicks (48-32, 14.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. BKN, vs. CHI
• No. 4: Cleveland Cavaliers (47-33, 15.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. IND, vs. CHA
• No. 5: Orlando Magic (46-34, 16.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @PHI, vs. MIL
• No. 6: Indiana Pacers (46-34, 16.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @CLE, vs. ATL

The Play-In: This is where things get interesting for the East. The 76ers hold the pole position in the conference’s Play-In with a healthy Joel Embiid. But Philly still has a chance to move up and get out of play-in position.

• No. 7: Philadelphia 76ers (45-35, 17.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. ORL, vs. BKN
• No. 8 : Miami Heat (44-36, 18.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. TOR, vs. TOR
• No. 9: Chicago Bulls (38-42, 24.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @WAS, @NYK
• No. 10: Atlanta Hawks (36-44, 26.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @MIN, @IND

Who’s out: Brooklyn, Toronto, Charlotte, Washington and Detroit are all out of the East’s playoff race.

The Western Conference

The top six: This is the most interesting conference between the two of them by far. Nothing in the West has been decided yet, and only two games are left to play. This is coming down to the wire.

• No. 1: Denver Nuggets (56-24), Remaining schedule: @SAS, @MEM
• No. 2: Minnesota Timberwolves (55-25, 1.0 game back), Remaining schedule: vs. ATL, vs. PHX
• No. 3: Oklahoma City Thunder (55-25, 1.0 game back), Remaining schedule: vs. MIL, vs. DAL
• No. 4: L.A. Clippers (51-29, 5.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. UTAH, vs. HOU
• No. 5: Dallas Mavericks (50-30, 6.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. DET, @OKC
• No. 6: New Orleans Pelicans (48-32, 8.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @GSW, vs. LAL

The Play-In: What a tough conference, man. A 47-win season in the West gets you a spot in the play-in tournament. The Suns are trying to catch the Pelicans to get out of the play-in tournament, but Phoenix has a bit of a rough schedule to finish the year off.

• No. 7: Phoenix Suns (47-33, 9.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @SAC, @MIN
• No. 8: Sacramento Kings (45-35, 11.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. PHX, vs. POR
• No. 9: Golden State Warriors (45-35, 11.0 games back), Remaining schedule: vs. NO, vs. UTAH
• No. 10: Los Angeles Lakers (45-35, 11.0 games back), Remaining schedule: @MEM, @NO

Who’s out: Houston, Utah, Memphis, Portland and San Antonio are all out of the playoffs.

What I’m watching

There will be so many matchups to pay attention to this weekend. It’ll be a lot to sift through. If you can’t watch it all, don’t worry. I’ve got three must-see games for you this weekend here:

• Phoenix @ Sacramento (Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET): This game’s implications couldn’t be bigger. Sacramento wants to get into that pole position in the play-in tournament. Phoenix wants out completely. They both need to win to get that. Stakes are high.
• Milwaukee @ Oklahoma City (Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET): Both of these teams are in solid playoff position, but Oklahoma City is still has a shot at catching Denver for the No. 1 seed. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is trying to hold onto No. 2.
• Indiana @ Cleveland (Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET): The Pacers can still climb the standings in the East. With a win over they’d take the tiebreaker against the Cavs and move up in the standings. They’d be that much closer to homecourt in the playoffs.

We’ve got an exciting weekend of ball ahead of us, folks. Buckle in. The playoffs are almost here.

Shootaround

— Adam Silver won’t go easy on Jontay Porter if he’s implicated in this betting scandal. Cory Woodroof has more.

— Could Zach Edey be headed to the Suns? Charles Curtis has more here.

— Billy Donovan turned down Kentucky so Mark Pope could flourish. Not really, but that sounds good, doesn’t it?

— Hannah Hidalgo isn’t entering the transfer portal. The rumors can go away now. Meg Hall has more.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with Layup Lines today. Appreciate you. Enjoy the basketball this weekend! We’ll talk soon.

-Sykes