Final day still chaotic

The National Basketball Association regular season ends Sunday, April 12, and 10 postseason seeds were still unsettled when the day began. (nba.com) Eleven of the 12 automatic top-six playoff spots had been claimed entering the finale, with one Eastern Conference berth and multiple seed lines still undecided. (cbssports.com) Not a single first-round series was set at the start of the day because the East still had movement from No. 5 through No. 10 and the West still had races at No. 3-4 and No. 8-9. (sports.yahoo.com) In the East, Detroit, Boston, New York and Cleveland had locked in the top four seeds, while Atlanta had secured at least a top-six finish and could still land either No. 5 or No. 6. (sports.yahoo.com) Toronto, Orlando and Philadelphia entered Sunday chasing the East’s last guaranteed playoff spot at No. 6; NBA.com said Toronto could clinch with a win or with losses by both Orlando and Philadelphia. (nba.com) Charlotte and Miami were already locked into the East’s 9-10 play-in game, but home court for that elimination game was still in play entering Sunday. (cbssports.com) In the West, Oklahoma City and San Antonio had already secured the top two seeds, Houston was locked into No. 5, Minnesota into No. 6, Phoenix into No. 7 and Golden State into No. 10. (nba.com) Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers were still fighting over No. 3 and No. 4, with CBS Sports reporting the Lakers could move to No. 3 if they beat Utah and Denver lost to San Antonio. (cbssports.com) Portland had climbed to No. 8 after beating the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, and could keep that spot with a win over Sacramento or a Clippers loss to Golden State. (cbssports.com) The play-in tournament starts Tuesday, April 14, with the No. 7 team hosting No. 8 for one playoff berth and the No. 9 team hosting No. 10 in an elimination game. (nba.com) The losers of the 7-8 games get one more chance on Friday, April 17, when they host the winners of the 9-10 games for the final No. 8 seed in each conference. (nba.com) The first round of the playoffs begins April 18, so Sunday’s results will decide not only who gets in, but who avoids the extra risk of the play-in entirely. (nba.com)