NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans can finish anywhere from the 5th to the 9th seed in the Western Conference depending on a number of scenarios that could occur during the last day of the NBA regular season on Sunday.
The main goal for the Pelicans should be to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves no matter what. But varying scenarios could see things play out differently.
The best-case scenario is that the Pelicans win (as a result, the Timberwolves would lose) and the Clippers, and Warriors lose, and the Los Angeles Lakers need to win. This would move the Pelicans up to the 5th seed. They would face a familiar enemy in the first round - the Phoenix Suns.
But if the Pelicans lose, and every other team mentioned previously wins, they would fall down to the 9th seed, meaning they would have to win two games in the play-in tournament to make it into the playoffs.
If the Pelicans finish as the 7th or 8th seed in the Western Conference, they only need to win one game in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
There is a multitude of other scenarios that would have different outcomes for the Pelicans. But above all else, the most important thing for the Pelicans to do on Sunday, regardless of the results of other games, is to beat the Timberwolves.
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