While a couple of teams can clinch playoff spots tonight — the Rockets and Cavaliers — Thursday is really about some big and important games for playoff seeding. Here’s what you need to know.
Playoff Scenarios
• Cleveland can clinch a playoff spot with a win on the road at Golden State. This game sets up for the Cavaliers, as the Warriors are shorthanded (still without Stephen Curry) and are on the second night of a back-to-back.
• Houston has the night off but can clinch a playoff spot with a Phoenix loss on the road in Charlotte.
Games to Watch
Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder (9:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video)
Two of the hottest and best teams in the NBA go head-to-head in a measuring-stick game that could also have real impacts on seeding in the West. It’s also a showdown of two MVP candidates, the frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the surging Luka Doncic.
Oklahoma City has gone 9-1 in its last 10, but equally-hot San Antonio remains just two games back (and the Spurs have the tiebreaker). The Thunder need the win to help keep the No. 1 overall spot. The Lakers need the win, too. Los Angeles sits as the No. 3 seed in the West but is just 1.5 games ahead of another hot team in Denver. The Lakers have a pretty soft schedule the rest of the way, aside from two games against the Thunder, getting a win in at least one of those is a huge boost to keeping the No. 3 seed.
Phoenix Suns at Charlotte Hornets (7 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass)
This game matters a lot to the Hornets, who enter the night tied with Orlando for the 8/9 seed in the East, with Miami just half a game back of both of them. It’s a huge difference in getting out of the play-in between the eight and nine seeds, and Charlotte needs wins to hold on to eighth. Phoenix is basically locked into the No. 7 seed in the West, but is finally healthy with Dillon Brooks back.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Detroit Pistons (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video)
This game is far more important to the Timberwolves than the Pistons, but Detroit has been the hotter team. Minnesota currently sits sixth in the West, just half a game back of idle Houston (the teams are tied with 29 losses each). If the Timberwolves are going to climb past the Rockets in the West, this is the kind of game they need to win. Detroit has gone an impressive 6-2 without Cade Cunningham and comfortably the No. 1 seed in the East, four games up on Boston with six to play.