On April 14, Beijing time, less than 24 hours before the final game of the NBA regular season, the current situation in the NBA is already very clear. The battle for No. 1 in the West is fierce, the Thunder are temporarily at the top of the standings after four consecutive wins, the Timberwolves are No. 2, the Nuggets are No. 3, and because the Mavericks' Irving and Doncic are resting in rotation, the Thunder won't be a problem, so it will basically be in No. 1. The Suns challenge the Timberwolves away and are competing for 6th place in the West, the Suns will definitely go all out to win, and the Timberwolves are more likely to lose, because in the last game, there is no need to fight with the opponent. The Nuggets challenged the Grizzlies away and won't have much of a problem. So, the final ranking of the top 5 in the West is basically the Thunder, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Clippers and Mavericks.
There is still suspense in the battle for 6th place in the West. The Suns are 1 win behind the Pelicans, and the final game is away to the Timberwolves, and there is only one way to win, otherwise they will participate in the play-offs, and I believe the solar will win. The Pelicans host the Lakers, and since the Lakers are one win ahead of the ninth-placed Kings, the Lakers have two options in front of them. First, deliberately losing to the Pelicans, which would have avoided the Suns in the playoffs, but could well be in 10th place and play the Warriors in the playoffs. Second, if you don't release water to beat the Pelicans, you can finish 8th in the West, but at the same time, even if the Suns win, they will still be ranked 7th in the West, and the Lakers will be tough on the Suns.
Just today, the Lakers' selection was announced. According to the Lakers injury report, the Lakers basically play all the core except for the injured players, and the chance of James and thick eyebrows playing reaches 75%. When the injury report shows that there is a high probability of playing, it is basically going to play, and coach Ham will not rotate either James and thick eyebrows, and the goal is to beat the Pelicans so that they can finish 8th.
The Lakers' decision is very wise, first of all, if the Lakers lose to the Pelicans in order to avoid the Suns, they are likely to be ranked 10th in the West, and the Warriors may not be able to win the playoffs, and even if they win the Warriors, they will have to win one more game to enter the playoffs, the process is too cumbersome, it is better to be simple and direct, and if they are ranked 8th, they can advance as long as they beat the Suns. Even if the Lakers lose to the Suns, they will have to play against the winners of the 9th and 10th place, and whoever wins will determine the 8th place in the playoffs.
Assuming the Lakers end up beating the Pelicans, the Lakers' opponent in the playoffs will be the Suns. The Kings face the Trail Blazers at home, there is almost no suspense in winning, the Kings have a strong desire to win, and the Trail Blazers are a bad team, not to mention the final game, the core players will probably not play. The Warriors host the Jazz and have no problem winning. Therefore, the final Western Conference play-off matchup is likely to be Suns vs. Lakers and Kings vs. Warriors.
If this is really the case, it will be cruel for the Suns and Lakers, two teams with extremely luxurious books to play a direct PK, James and Durant are the two best players in the league in the past 10 years, and which of them will get a playoff spot is also a big suspense. However, the losing side of the Suns and Lakers still has a chance to make the playoffs, as long as they beat the winner of the Kings and Warriors. The 36-year-old Curry is too difficult, and if he wants to finish 8th in the playoffs, he has to beat two strong teams (Kings, Suns or Lakers) in a row, which is not ordinary.