The Spurs’ updated playoff seeding scenarios: as of Monday morning, April 8th

The Spurs are now the 7th seed, but the Rockets are knocking on the door of the 2nd seed.

The Spurs only have one more regular season game, but as has become the norm in recent seasons, the Spurs will likely have a lot riding on this game. All eight Western Conference playoff teams played on Sunday, and below are the updated playoff scenarios for how things currently stand.

Results from Sunday’s games

San Antonio Spurs 112 – Cleveland Cavaliers 90
Oklahoma City Thunder 132 – Minnesota Timberwolves 126
Phoenix Suns 113 – Houston Rockets 149
Los Angeles Clippers 104 – Golden State Warriors 131
Denver Nuggets 108 – Portland Trail Blazers 115
Utah Jazz 109 – Los Angeles Lakers 113

Spurs’ seeding scenarios

With the Spurs winning and the Clippers losing, the Spurs now control their destiny in terms of avoiding the 8th seed. Avoiding the 8th seed would be ideal as the Warriors clinched the 1st seed in the West on Sunday. The Thunder were down in the third quarter of their game against the Timberwolves, but a strong fourth quarter helped them avoid the season sweep against the Timberwolves and kept them ¹⁄₂ game ahead of both the Spurs and Clippers for 6th in the West.

Spurs tiebreaker scenarios

The Spurs have clinched the tiebreaker against the Oklahoma City Thunder by way of head-to-head record.
The Spurs have clinched the tiebreaker against the Los Angeles Clippers by way of conference record.
The Spurs have clinched the three-way tiebreaker with the Thunder and Clippers by way of head-to-head record.

Below is a list of the potential seeding scenarios for the Spurs.

Sixth place in the West

Spurs win their final game and the Thunder lose at least one of their two remaining games
Spurs lose their final game, the Clippers lose their final game, and the Thunder lose both of their remaining games

Seventh place in the West

Spurs win their final game and the Thunder win both of their remaining games
Spurs lose their final game, the Clippers lose their final game, and the Thunder win at least one of their two remaining games
Spurs lose their final game, the Clippers win their final game, and the Thunder lose both of their remaining games

Eight place in the West

Spurs lose their final game, the Clippers win their final game, and the Thunder win at least one of their two remaining games

Spurs’ potential opponent scenarios

First place in the West

The Warriors clinched 1st place in the West on Sunday by defeating the Clippers.

Second place in the West

Nuggets can clinch if:

Nuggets win both of their remaining games
Nuggets win one of their two remaining games and the Rockets lose their final game

Rockets can clinch if:

Rockets win their final game and the Nuggets lose at least one of their two remaining games
Rockets lose their final game and the Nuggets lose both of their remaining games

Note: If the Blazers win both of their remaining games, the Rockets lose their final game, and the Nuggets lose both of their remaining games, the three teams will end in a three-way tie. The tiebreaker will result in the Rockets finishing second (via division winner and head-to-head over Nuggets), the Nuggets finishing third (via division winner), and the Blazers finishing fourth.

Third place in the West

Nuggets can clinch if:

Nuggets lose at least one of their two remaining games and the Rockets win their final game
Nuggets lose both of their remaining games

Rockets can clinch if:

Rockets win their final game and the Nuggets win both of their remaining games
Rockets lose their final game, the Nuggets win at least one of their two remaining games, and the Blazers lose one of their two remaining games

Blazers can clinch if:

Blazers win both of their remaining games, the Rockets lose their final game, and the Nuggets win at least one of their two remaining games

Final thoughts

There are no games scheduled for Monday but there are plenty of noteworthy games on Tuesday. The Spurs get to sit back and watch Tuesday’s carnage before suiting up for their season finale against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Tuesday game between the Rockets and Thunder is going to be the one to mark on your calendar. If the Rockets win, that’ll force the Nuggets to defeat both the Jazz and Timberwolves to retain the 2nd seed. It’ll simultaneously push the Thunder behind the Spurs in the standings, allowing the Spurs to control their destiny for 6th in the West.

If the Thunder win, it’ll give the Nuggets a good shot at holding onto the 2nd seed. It’ll also keep the Thunder in the 6th seed and the Spurs in 7th. The Blazers will have a shot at overtaking the Rockets for 3rd in the West by winning their two remaining games against the suddenly hot Lakers and the Kings.

Just food for thought. Enjoy the rest of the regular season!

Source: Pounding The Rock