Lakers' seed still fluid

The Los Angeles Lakers reached the National Basketball Association regular-season finale on Sunday, April 12, with the Western Conference No. 3 and No. 4 seeds still in play. (nba.com) Los Angeles entered the day at 52-29, one game behind the Denver Nuggets at 53-28, with a home game against the Utah Jazz scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time at Crypto.com Arena. (espn.com) The National Basketball Association’s official playoff page showed the Lakers in fourth place before Sunday’s games, with the Houston Rockets in fifth at 51-30 and the Minnesota Timberwolves in sixth at 48-33. (nba.com) That left Los Angeles with a narrow range but a meaningful one: the Lakers had already clinched a playoff berth, avoided the play-in tournament, and secured home-court advantage in the first round. (sportingnews.com) The remaining question was whether the Lakers would open as the No. 3 seed against Minnesota or stay at No. 4 and draw Houston. Sporting News reported those were the club’s two possible first-round opponents entering Sunday. (sportingnews.com) The standings were tight because Denver and Los Angeles were separated by one game, not by a tiebreaker. National Basketball Association standings listed Denver at 53-28 and the Lakers at 52-29 before the final slate. (nba.com) If teams do finish tied, the league uses head-to-head record first in a two-team tie, then division-winner status, then conference record and results against playoff teams. (nba.com) The calendar after Sunday was already set. The SoFi National Basketball Association Play-In Tournament runs from April 14 through April 17, and the first round of the playoffs begins April 18. (nba.com) So the Lakers’ final regular-season game was not just a tune-up against a 22-59 Utah team; it was the last step in deciding whether Los Angeles would open the postseason in the No. 3 line or the No. 4 line. (espn.com)