OKC Thunder vs. Clippers: Last game of season will determine final seeding

It’s the final game of the NBA season with the OKC Thunder hosting the LA Clippers. In a rarity, all 30 teams are active on this final day of the schedule. Although the 20 teams who’ll participate in the postseason are locked the seeding is far from certain.

In the East, the 76ers have cemented the top seed while the Celtics are guaranteed as the seventh seed and subsequently will participate in the play-in tournament.

Brooklyn and Milwaukee will be second and third but games today will finalize their position. One of the Knicks or Hawks will be fourth while the Heat will finish either fifth or sixth. The Pacers will be ninth or 10th while the Wizards and Hornets play each other with the winner nabbing the eighth seed and the loser is likely to be 10th (assuming the Raptors continue the tank and lose to Indy).

In the West, the Spurs remain the only team who knows where they’ll begin the postseason. Either the Jazz or Suns can claim the top seed with Phoenix owning the tiebreaker. The Mavericks can finish fifth or sixth and will play either the Nuggets or the Clippers (see below).

The Warriors and Grizzlies play each other to determine the eighth and ninth seeds. The defending champion Lakers start the day in seventh wanting to move up to sixth but will need help to get there (LA must beat New Orleans and Denver must beat Portland).

OKC Thunder host Clippers in final match of season with final seeding on the line

As for the OKC Thunder and Clippers, the outcome of today will impact their seeding too. On Friday, Ty Lue took a page out of the best-tanking team’s books resting virtually all his core. The resulting effect was a loss to the Rockets.

The Clippers seem intent to lose their way to fourth but that won’t be easy. The difference with that game is Houston has the leeway to win a few games and still remain in the bottom three — OKC doesn’t.

Thunder bench boss, Mark Daigneault also has an entire season learning the nuances of tanking and is adept at navigating other clubs seeking the same result. Besides, with 26 losses in their last 28 matches, the Thunder aren’t about to win on the final game of the season and lose out on their shot at finishing in the bottom three.

As it is, they are likely to tie the Orlando Magic and require coin tosses to determine if they’ll be among the coveted trio or move up one spot to get the fourth-best lottery odds.

The Clippers’ efforts also seem like a purposeful plan to finish fourth in order to avoid having to face the Lakers if they end up sixth. Moreover, even if the Lakers were to finish in seventh being seeded fourth means avoiding LeBron and co. until the Conference Finals (if they’re successful).

Plus, there’s no way the Nuggets aren’t approaching their match versus the Blazers with the same mindset. Unless they consider other teams (Mavericks, Jazz, or Suns) as a bigger threat then they too could rest their core and hand the Blazers the victory. The difference with the Nuggets is they have greater control of their situation, especially if they prefer the higher seed (by virtue of owning the tiebreaker).

Game specifics:

Records:

• Thunder: 21-50
• Clippers: 47-24

The Venue:  Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tipoff:  9:00 PM ET  | 8:00 PM CT

TV: Fox Sports  Oklahoma | NBA League Pass

Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM OKC

Injuries:

The Clippers lost to the Rockets on Friday without the majority of their core including Kawhi Leonard,  Paul George, and Patrick Beverley were all sat for rest.  Although they haven’t listed those played on the NBA injury report it’s not guaranteed Ty Lue won’t rest them again.

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• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Thunder:

• Luguentz Dort is out with right knee patellar tendinitis.
• Ty Jerome missed the last four games with a left calf strain and is listed as out.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – is out with plantar fasciitis missing his 28th consecutive game.
• Mike Muscala remains out with a sprained ankle.
• Al Horford is a healthy scratch.
• Kenrich Williams didn’t play Friday but isn’t listed on the injury report.

Clippers:

• DeMarcus Cousins is questionable with left foot soreness
• Terance Mann is questionable for personal reasons
• Amir Coffey is out with health and safety protocols.

History:

All-time the squads have played 220 times with the Thunder possessing the advantage with 138 wins versus 82 for the Clippers. This is the third game of the season between the clubs with the two prior contests both won by LA including January 22nd by a score of 120-106 and January 24th by a score of 108-100.

In 2019-20 the teams played four times with the Thunder winning once and the Clippers three times.