They are aiming for 8th place, to give themselves two chances to go to the playoffs, and since last night, the Warriors are no longer 10th. Winners of the Blazers, Stephen Curry's teammates gained one place, to find themselves 9th. Thanks to ” tie breaker“, they leave this 10th place to the Lakers, and they can still hold on to 8th place, now held by the Kings with the same record.
Yes, the suspense is at its height for the final order since the Kings, the Warriors and the Lakers have the same record: 45 victories for 35 defeats. 6th place is no longer accessible since the Pelicans have three more victories. In 7th place, the Suns with a record of 47 victories for 33 defeats. The Suns need to win one more game than the Pelicans to finish 6th.
Final schedule
- Sacramento : reception of the Suns and Blazers
- Golden State : reception of the Pelicans and the Blazers
- LA Lakers : trips to Memphis and New Orleans
As we can see, the Suns and the Pelicans, in the fight for 6th place, will play referees in the race for 8th place for the “play-in”. Starting this evening, the Kings – Suns and Warriors – Pelicans meetings are matches with high stakes, and they will allow us to see things more clearly before the last evening, scheduled for Sunday.
Tie breaker
If the Kings, Lakers and Warriors finish with the same record, it is Sacramento who will finish 8th. Golden State will be 9th, and will host the Lakers, 10th, for the first play-in game.
Clearly, for the Kings to fall to 10th place, they must lose one more game than the Lakers and the Warriors.
For the Lakers to finish ahead of the Warriors, they need to win one more game.
What if the Suns lose their last two games?
If the Kings, Warriors and Lakers win their last two matches, and the Suns lose their last two matches (in Sacramento and Minnesota), we could end up with four teams with the same record: 47 wins – 35 losses.
The final ranking would then be based on the four-way record and it would then be as follows: Sacramento (7th), Golden State (8th), Phoenix (9th) and LA Lakers (10th).
