Chaos in the West: Playoff implications for the final day of the regular season

There's still a lot to play for Sunday, when the 2024-25 NBA regular season wraps up with all 30 teams in action.

While playoff seeding and the play-in tournament is set in stone in the Eastern Conference, things are more complicated in the Western Conference.

The six teams that qualified for the postseason in the West are finalized, along with the four teams that will compete in the play-in tournament, which gets underway April 15. However, the seedings are still unclear.

All 15 teams in the West will tip off Game 82 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Here's what we know ahead of Sunday's slate

Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC is locked into the No. 1 seed and will have home-court advantage through the entire Western Conference playoffs. It will play the No. 8 seed in the first round.

Houston Rockets: Ime Udoka's squad secured the second seed and will begin the playoffs by taking on the No. 7 seed.

Los Angeles Lakers: L.A. will finish third in the conference and have home-court advantage in a first-round series against the team that lands the No. 6 seed.

Here's what we don't know

Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets can finish anywhere from four through seven. Denver will be locked into the fourth seed with a win against the Rockets. If it loses, it will still be assured of a top-six finish if the Golden State Warriors or Minnesota Timberwolves lose. A Nuggets loss, combined with a Utah Jazz win over the Timberwolves, will give the Nuggets the fifth seed. A Nuggets loss, combined with a Timberwolves victory and an L.A. Clippers win over the Warriors, will secure the No. 6 spot for Denver.

Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers can finish fourth, fifth, or seventh; there is no scenario where they secure the No. 6 seed. Avoiding the play-in requires a win by L.A. or a loss by either Denver or Minnesota. A Nuggets loss would almost guarantee the fourth seed for Los Angeles. The only way the Clippers still fall to No. 5 is if they lose to the Warriors and the T-Wolves beat the Jazz.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The T-Wolves' playoff seeding is the most volatile of the bunch. They can finish anywhere from fourth to eighth. But there's one way of keeping things simple - Minnesota will clinch a top-six seed with a win, while a loss will guarantee a spot in the seven-versus-eight play-in game.

Golden State Warriors: The Warriors have two possible outcomes - the sixth seed or the seventh seed. A Warriors win or a Timberwolves loss will place Golden State in Round 1, while a Warriors loss and a Timberwolves victory will result in the seventh seed and the play-in tournament.

Memphis Grizzlies: Thankfully, Memphis' road is relatively simple. It'll either finish seventh or eighth and is therefore set to be slotted into the higher end of the play-in bracket.

Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks: Things get more straightforward at the bottom of the bracket, as the Kings will face the Mavericks in the No. 9 versus No. 10 matchup regardless of what transpires on the final day of the regular season. A Sacramento win or a Dallas loss will give the Kings home-court advantage.

Here's a look at all of the possible permutations.

The play-in game between No. 7 and No. 8 will take place Tuesday, while the contest between No. 9 and No. 10 is scheduled for Wednesday. The loser of Tuesday's contest will take on the winner of Wednesday's game for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Round 1 of the postseason begins April 19.