Kings Playoff Standings Watch!!!

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Are Jazz eliminated with a loss to Lakers?
I think the Jazz would be eliminated with a loss to the Lakers and a win by OKC tonight, but they play each other on Thursday which might determine their tie-breaker.

If OKC wins tonight, we eliminate the Mavs with a win tomorrow.
 

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
Kings Playoff Tracker

And then there were two...spots left that the Kings could finish in. A dominating win in New Orleans eliminated the Suns, giving the Kings the Pacific Division title and securing at least the three seed. Memphis held serve, so the Kings are still pretty big underdogs to land the #2 spot, but it's still in play for now.

With a win against the Jazz, the Lakers have moved into a tie with the Clippers coming into the final Crypto-On-Crypto matchup of the (regular) season - each of the first three going to the Clippers. The Jazz, meanwhile, are now on life support and can at best finish in the #10 slot. The Thunder have that tiebreaker and could have eliminated the Jazz tonight but lost, so that leaves four games that all have to go right, or the Jazz will be sending Walker Kessler to the lottery.

The Nuggets now need only one win or a Memphis loss to lock up the #1 seed, and the Suns need only one win to lock up the #4 seed. (Technically, they might possibly have it locked up now, but I'm not calculating all possible three-way tiebreakers. Sorry.)

(Also, removed "magic numbers" because it's pretty easy to calculate at this point. The Kings can have no more than one of the final six SAC/MEM outcomes go the wrong way to move up to the #2 seed.)

Today's games:
MIN def. Nets
Rockets def. DEN
MEM def. Blazers
SAC def. NOP
LAL def. UTA
PHX def. Spurs
GSW def. OKC

Playoff Seeding (Bold games are next day):
1) DEN (52-27) @PHX, @UTA, SAC

-----Kings' Range-----
2) MEM (50-29) @NOP, @MIL, @OKC -- TB=Kings
3) SAC (48-31) @DAL, GSW, @DEN
-----Kings' Range-----

-----Other Teams-----
4) PHX (44-35) DEN, @LAL, LAC
5) GSW (42-38), @SAC, @POR
6) LAC (41-38), LAL, POR, @PHX --> Current Kings' opponent if standings hold

7) LAL (41-38), @LAC, PHX, UTA
8) NOP (40-39), MEM, NYK, @MIN
9) MIN (40-40), @SAS, NOP
10) OKC (38-42), @UTA, MEM

11) DAL (37-42), SAC, CHI, SAS
12) UTA (36-43), OKC, DEN, @LAL
 
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pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
LAL move into a temporary tie with GSW for 6.

rechecking it looks like it's a 3 way tie with the Clippers at 5 right now. And they play the Clips next. Best scenario might be that LAL moves to 5 if they can't get knocked out entirely. at least that would also damage NOP's pick substantially.
 
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pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Would rather play them than the Clippers or Warriors if we're just talking about the strength of their team. The bullt-in ref advantage muddies that a little bit, but still...
They're above .500 now and also have a pretty insane record since the break. I don't want any part of them.
 
They're above .500 now and also have a pretty insane record since the break. I don't want any part of them.
Look at the Clippers compared to them. Two stars, and then a whole squad of playoff veterans, compared to the Lakers who after the main two are a bunch of untested players and D'Angelo Russell, who they still have to rely on.

Warriors are a little different, but I'm still not totally convinced they don't have a gear to kick in come playoff time.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Look at the Clippers compared to them. Two stars, and then a whole squad of playoff veterans, compared to the Lakers who after the main two are a bunch of untested players and D'Angelo Russell, who they still have to rely on.

Warriors are a little different, but I'm still not totally convinced they don't have a gear to kick in come playoff time.
Will both of the Clippers stars be available for the playoffs? Hasn't George been out?

Big thing is the refs though, turning Reaves into a star. Also the Windhorst nonsense. I just feel it would completely defeat how magical this season was if we somehow matched up with the Lakers and didn't defeat them.
 
Teams are 100% going to get methodical in where they place in the standings. Every team in the league would rather face the Kings than the Grizzlies or Suns in the 1st round.

I'm taking a look at the schedule, it seems like all the notable teams that play on the final day of the season, play at the same exact time... 12:30. We'll have:
  • Pelicans vs. T-Wolves
  • Clippers. vs Suns
  • Lakers vs. Jazz
  • Warriors vs. Blazers
Having all the games occur at the same time is probably the NBA's attempt at preventing teams from trying to pick their playoff standings. I don't think they knew it'd be this close down the wire though.
 
Will both of the Clippers stars be available for the playoffs? Hasn't George been out?

Big thing is the refs though, turning Reaves into a star. Also the Windhorst nonsense. I just feel it would completely defeat how magical this season was if we somehow matched up with the Lakers and didn't defeat them.
Who knows. I just put both teams' two stars on the same level of injury volatility.

Trust me I don't want the Lakers either for all the reasons you mentioned. Refs, national media, bandwagoners.

But in terms of an actual basketball team, the Clippers scare me more. And if I were going to bet on tomorrow's game, I would bet on the Clippers dismantling them relatively easily in a game with such high stakes.

The Lakers record I feel is somewhat of a mirage, several chokes or near chokes against weak opponents, soft schedule. They also have probably the worst coach in the Western Conference, and that's only a disadvantage come playoff time.
 
Teams are 100% going to get methodical in where they place in the standings. Every team in the league would rather face the Kings than the Grizzlies or Suns in the 1st round.

I'm taking a look at the schedule, it seems like all the notable teams that play on the final day of the season, play at the same exact time... 12:30. We'll have:
  • Pelicans vs. T-Wolves
  • Clippers. vs Suns
  • Lakers vs. Jazz
  • Warriors vs. Blazers
Having all the games occur at the same time is probably the NBA's attempt at preventing teams from trying to pick their playoff standings. I don't think they knew it'd be this close down the wire though.
Warriors win tonight and Clippers/Lakers will have no choice tomorrow since they're fighting for 6th rather than 5th.

Warriors/Clippers have one more game against the Blazers. Warriors at least won't be able to tank that since they risk falling into 7th since they don't have T-breaker with the Lakers.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Who knows. I just put both teams' two stars on the same level of injury volatility.

Trust me I don't want the Lakers either for all the reasons you mentioned. Refs, national media, bandwagoners.

But in terms of an actual basketball team, the Clippers scare me more. And if I were going to bet on tomorrow's game, I would bet on the Clippers dismantling them relatively easily in a game with such high stakes.

The Lakers record I feel is somewhat of a mirage, several chokes or near chokes against weak opponents, soft schedule. They also have probably the worst coach in the Western Conference, and that's only a disadvantage come playoff time.
If the Clippers did dismantle the Lakers I'd feel a lot easier about that matchup.
 
Hey, if we want to avoid the Warriors, we can purposely lose to them at home and make them stay at the #5 spot to play the Phoenix Suns lol. But I think the Kings will have none of it. Destiny tells me it's the Warriors vs Kings 1st round. It was in my dream and it looks to come true. We'll see...
 
We played the warriors 3 times with Curry, Thompson, and Wiggins all healthy when we were still trying to figure out our identity at the beginning of the season and all 3 games came down to the last minute or two and 2 of the 3 games were against warriors at home where they have one of the best home records. We have only gotten better since the beginning.

The Lakers are a bit of an unknown since we have never played them fully healthy. We played them with either James or Davis out and we have never played them with their new guys from the trade, so it's hard to gauge how well we'll do against them.
 
Lakers remaining games

Clippers
Suns
Jazz

Warriors remaining games

Kings
Blazers

Clippers remaining games

Lakers
Blazers
Suns

Key games: Lakers vs Clippers tomorrow could determine a lot. The Kings could decide their own fate on who they will play whether they lose or win vs the Warriors.
 
Hey, if e want to avoid the Warriors, we can purposely lose to them at home and make them stay at the #5 spot to play the Phoenix Suns lol. But I think the Kings will have none of it. Destiny tells me it's the Warriors vs Kings 1st round. It was in my dream and it looks to come true. We'll see...
The 6th seed is up for grabs.
If the Kings beat the Warriors, the Lakers will have a good chance of taking the 5th spot with the tiebreaker assuming Lakers beat Clippers. The Suns will not have much to play for against the Lakers, and the Jazz will be eliminated by the last game. I'd rather the Kings play the Warriors than the Lakers. Its all gonna hinge on tomorrow's Laker/CLipper outcome. Clippers already have the tiebreaker v Lakers, but if they win, help keep the Lakers in the Play-in. The Suns and Blazers will have nothing to play for for the last 2 Clipper games either. If the Lakers beat the Clippers, repeat, there is a good chance Lakers sweep and win the tiebreaker with the Warriors taking 5th unless a 3-way tie in which the Kings get the Lakers. The Clippers have 2 way tie advantage with Warriors, then likely the Kings get Warriors (if the Lakers lose to the Clippers).
But I think the Lakers beat the Clippers, and initially move into a tie with Warriors and 5th seed. Then it'll be interesting if the Kings beat the Warriors, they may actually draw the Clippers because the Clippers have the tiebreaker with the Warriors. If the Kings lose to the Warriors, they may actually play the Warriors the first round as it would then be a tiebreaker between Lakers and Warriors.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
The 6th seed is up for grabs.
If the Kings beat the Warriors, the Lakers will have a good chance of taking the 5th spot with the tiebreaker assuming Lakers beat Clippers. The Suns will not have much to play for against the Lakers, and the Jazz will be eliminated by the last game. I'd rather the Kings play the Warriors than the Lakers. Its all gonna hinge on tomorrow's Laker/CLipper outcome. Clippers already have the tiebreaker v Lakers, but if they win, help keep the Lakers in the Play-in. The Suns and Blazers will have nothing to play for for the last 2 Clipper games either. If the Lakers beat the Clippers, repeat, there is a good chance Lakers sweep and win the tiebreaker with the Warriors taking 5th unless a 3-way tie in which the Kings get the Lakers. The Clippers have 2 way tie advantage with Warriors, then likely the Kings get Warriors (if the Lakers lose to the Clippers).
But I think the Lakers beat the Clippers, and initially move into a tie with Warriors and 5th seed. Then it'll be interesting if the Kings beat the Warriors, they may actually draw the Clippers because the Clippers have the tiebreaker with the Warriors. If the Kings lose to the Warriors, they may actually play the Warriors the first round as it would then be a tiebreaker between Lakers and Warriors.
That's a bit of a bold statement given losing to them could set them up for a playoff rematch?

I guess you could also say Phoenix could strategize their matchup by load managing either LA team.