So here's the deal. The Lakers clobbered San Antonio today by 21 points. They have one game left, at home against Sacramento on Tuesday. The are 56-25, in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. If they win on Tuesday, they will finish no worse than tied for the conference lead. Here's how the tiebreakers work:
- If the Lakers finished tied with New Orleans (55-25, playing the Clippers Tuesday and @ the Mavericks Wednesday), the Lakers win the tiebreaker because they split their season series, and the Lakers have a better western conference record.
- If the Lakers finished tied with Houston (54-25, playing Denver today, @ the Jazz on Monday and at home against the Clippers on Wednesday), Houston wins the tiebreaker due to their 2-1 record against the Lakers.
- If the Lakers, Hornets and Rockets finished in a three-way tie, the Rockets are the top seed, with New Orleans second and the Lakers third, based upon a tiebreaker that I can't seem to find anywhere.
Meanwhile, the Rockets (coached by my dad's grade-school classmate, Rick Adelman), could fall from the top seed to a road-bound 5th seed with just one loss.
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