NBA Playoff Picture 2018: Tiebreaker Scenarios, Seeding, Standings For East, West

With just two days remaining in the 2017-2018 NBA regular season, a lot has yet to be determined regarding the playoff picture. Only five of the 16 postseason seeds are locked in, and two teams are still fighting for the final playoff berth.

The Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors have clinched the No.1 seeds, while the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics are locked into the No.2 seeds. The Indiana Pacers are the No.5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Games on Tuesday and Wednesday will determine the other 11 seeds.

The most important game left on the regular-season schedule is Wednesday's matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. The winner will secure a playoff spot, and the loser will miss the postseason. Depending on what happens with the rest of Wednesday games, Denver or Minnesota can even earn a top-six seed in the West.

Seeds No.3-No.8 in the West won’t be determined until Wednesday. The No.5 seed New Orleans Pelicans, No.6 seed San Antonio Spurs and No.7 seed Oklahoma City Thunder all have the same record (47-34). They are a half-game behind the No.4 seed Utah Jazz (47-33), who host Golden State Tuesday. The No.3 seed Portland Trail Blazers can fall a few slots if they lose Wednesday’s finale.

Portland’s one remaining contest is a game at home against Utah, which will determine the No.3 seed and the winner of the Northwest Division. New Orleans hosts San Antonio Wednesday, and the winner of that matchup will finish with no worse than the No.5 seed. Oklahoma City should win their final game as they host the 22-win Memphis Grizzlies, but they only own the tiebreaker over Utah.

The East isn’t nearly as complicated, though a lot can change over the next two days.

The No.3 and No.4 seeds will come down to the Philadelphia 76ers (50-30) and Cleveland Cavaliers (50-31). LeBron James and Co. own the tiebreaker, but Philadelphia sits a half-game ahead of the Cavs in the standings. Cleveland ends the season against the New York Knicks. The 76ers will play the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks on consecutive nights.

Nothing is set in stone when it comes to No.6 Milwaukee (44-37), the No.7 seed Miami Heat and the No.8 seed Washington Wizards (42-38). Miami owns the tiebreaker over Washington for the Southeast Division, and they also own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Milwaukee.

The Wizards split their season series with the Bucks, but a division title would give them the tiebreaker over Milwaukee. Washington hosts the Boston Celtics and visits the Orlando Magic to end the season.

Click here for all of the NBA’s tie-break rules for playoff seeding.