Well, the Phoenix Suns gave us an interesting season. And for that, we thank them as we bid them adieu and wish them good luck in the draft lottery. Their chances of winning are slim: They get five ping-pong balls out of 1,000. Good luck with that.
Not much of a consolation prize, eh?
The Western Conference playoff race came to a close of sorts Monday night when the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Suns 97-91 in a thrilling game that featured 15 lead changes in the fourth quarter. It was the fourth straight victory for the Grizzlies, who were my preseason pick to make it to the NBA Finals, along with the Indiana Pacers. Good luck with that, too, eh?
The Grizzlies, however, are NOT locked into the eighth spot. They can avoid the San Antonio Spurs, who swept them in the regular season, if they defeat the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night in one of several games that will have playoff seeding implications.
As of now, the only first-round matchups that are set in stone are Indiana-Atlanta in the East, and Houston-Portland in the West.
Here is a rundown of what is still up in the air with two days remaining in the 2013-14 season:
_ The Miami Heat will be the second seed and will play the Charlotte Bobcats as long as the Washington Wizards take care of business and defeat the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. If Washington loses and Charlotte defeats Chicago, the No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup would be Miami-Washington.
_ The Toronto Raptors will clinch the No. 3 seed if they can come into New York and defeat the Knicks on Wednesday night, or if the Bulls lose to the Bobcats.
_ A Brooklyn-Chicago rematch will happen in the first round, giving East Coast viewers a grand total of one watchable series, if Toronto takes care of business and gets the No. 3 seed. If the Nets somehow lose their final two games — at home vs. the Knicks tonight and at Cleveland on Wednesday — and Washington wins Wednesday night, the Wizards would get the No. 5 seed and the Nets would drop to No. 6. If Toronto loses in New York and Chicago defeats Charlotte, the Bulls would get the No. 3 seed. Chicago has the tiebreaker over Brooklyn from going 2-1 in the season series.
_ Oklahoma City, the No. 2 seed, will play the winner of Wednesday night’s Dallas-Memphis game. The Thunder went 3-1 against the Grizzlies and 1-2 against the Mavericks.
_ San Antonio will be heavily favored no matter who the opponent is. The Spurs were 4-0 against both Memphis and Dallas.
_ Houston has clinched homecourt advantage for the opening round series against Portland by virtue of winning the season series 3-1.
_ A Golden State-L.A. Clippers series seems likely but is not 100 percent guanranteed. The Warriors own tiebreakers over Dallas (3-1) in season series and Memphis (conference record), so they will remain the No. 6 seed. The Clippers will remain the No. 3 seed if Oklahoma City wins its final game, against Detroit, or if the Clippers lose tonight against Denver or Wednesday at Portland. If the Clippers win their final two and OKC somehow manages to lose to the Pistons, the Thunder would drop to the No. 3 seed.