As New Orleans forward Larry Nance Jr. pointed out after Sunday’s 119-100 loss at the LA Clippers, the beauty of the NBA regular season is that there’s always another opportunity to make amends coming in the near future. The Pelicans did not achieve their goal of clinching a Western Conference play-in berth by winning for a fourth straight time in Crypto.com Arena this season, but they’ll get a second crack at wrapping up a spot Tuesday in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. With seven days left in the regular season, ninth-place New Orleans (34-44) still controls its own destiny not only in terms of qualifying for the play-in tournament, but also in earning homecourt advantage in the loser-gets-eliminated matchup between 9 and 10 seeds. The Pelicans are a game ahead of San Antonio (33-45); each team has four contests remaining.
Asked Sunday how much he’s tracking West play-in hopefuls San Antonio and the 11th-place Lakers (31-47), Nance indicated that he’s keeping an eye on them, but is not overly preoccupied beyond knowing basic details. Based on its lead over those clubs, New Orleans is in position to determine its own destiny simply by winning its four remaining games.
“I watch them, but in terms of paying them real attention, or them being on my mind, not at all,” Nance said of the Spurs and Lakers. “We still have four more games of our regular season. We play Sac in two days. So I’m worried about Sacramento. That’s a team perfectly capable of beating us on their homecourt.
“I watch the scores, check the box scores, just like I do with every team in the league. As of now, I’m not paying too much attention, but maybe once we officially clinch a play-in spot, then I’ll really start to hone in on it. But as of now, it’s a game-to-game basis.”
Players and coaches don’t have the luxury of looking forward too much as the regular season heads to a conclusion, but media members and fans do. With no games on the NBA’s schedule Monday night due to the NCAA championship game in New Orleans, it’s an ideal time to examine the outlook for the trio of teams still in contention for the two final West play-in spots:
9, NEW ORLEANS 34-44
Remaining schedule: Tuesday at Sacramento; Thursday vs. Portland; Saturday at Memphis; Sunday vs. Golden State
Schedule overview: An even mixture of two opponents eliminated from contention and two foes who are top-three in the West standings. However, Memphis will not have any incentive on paper Saturday, having long ago clinched a No. 2 seed. Third-place Golden State (50-29) could have something at stake Sunday in terms of seeding, as it relates to fourth-place Dallas (49-30, owns tiebreaker on Warriors). Finishing third instead of fourth means staying out of the same side of the bracket as top-seeded Phoenix, the only NBA team that will win 60-plus games this season.
Tiebreakers: Yes on Lakers; no on Spurs
Magic numbers: 1 to clinch a play-in berth; 4 to clinch ninth seed
10, SAN ANTONIO 33-45
Remaining schedule: Tuesday at Denver; Thursday at Minnesota; Saturday vs. Golden State; Sunday at Dallas
Schedule overview: Pretty daunting. Every opponent will finish in the top seven of the West – and is part of a seeding race that provides urgency and motivation to pick up wins. Denver (47-32) and Minnesota (45-34) are separated by only two games and still have a shot to avoid the play-in tournament or be a participant. Golden State and Dallas are just a game apart (see above) and very unlikely to have their standings battle settled before Saturday’s Warriors trip to AT&T Center.
Tiebreakers: Yes on Pelicans; yes on Lakers
Magic numbers: 2 to clinch a play-in berth; 5 to clinch ninth seed
11, LA LAKERS 31-47
Remaining schedule: Tuesday at Phoenix; Thursday at Golden State; Friday vs. Oklahoma City; Sunday at Denver
Schedule overview: Challenging. The first two games are on the road against teams that are a combined 61-18 at home. The Suns are locked into the No. 1 seed, but they’re trying to get Chris Paul back into the mix after the point guard was sidelined by an injury. Golden State is attempting to hold on to the No. 3 seed in the West, while Denver wants to avoid the play-in tournament. Against this backdrop of a schedule, the Lakers must go at least 3-1 in the four games to avoid being eliminated from play-in contention.
Tiebreakers: No on Pelicans; no on Spurs
Magic numbers: 7 to clinch a play-in berth; 11 to clinch ninth seed (need to go 4-0, plus Pelicans go 0-4, plus Spurs go 1-3 or worse)