so excited you can't even use a ? huh? OKC vs LAL is set in stone now. If we win our next game we are guaranteed 6th over SAS. Phoenix still plays Denver and Utah. If phoenix wins both and we win against GSW, we would play them.
Lakers are #1 OKC is #8 Portland has the tie breaker over San Antonio Dallas has the tie breaker over Phoenix and Denver Utah has the tie breaker over Dallas Denver has the tie breaker over Utah Utah has a 2-1 lead over Phoenix with 1 game to go Phoenix has a 2-1 lead over Denver with 1 game to go This is the best teams can hope for: Dallas wins, or Utah loses, Dallas is #2 Utah wins out, and Dallas and Denver lose out, Utah is #2 Phoenix wins out, they're #3 Denver wins out, they're #3 Portland wins, or San Antonio loses, Portland is #6 San Antonio wins, and Portland loses, San Antonio is #6 Remaining Games: Tuesday Utah @ Golden State Denver @ Phoenix Wednesday Phoenix @ Utah San Antonio @ Dallas Golden State @ Portland
Well you probably want Phoenix and San Antonio to win, because I believe that guarantees PHX and Dallas are 2-3 so if we finished 6th or 7th we'd be getting our best matchup.
L.A. Lakers vs OKC Thunder is set. Dallas is (almost definitely) the #2 seed. If we win on Wednesday, we are the #6 seed and the Spurs are the #7 seed. That leaves #3-5 still up for grabs. If Phoenix wins their next two games, they will get the #3 seed. That would create this bracket (my preferred scenario): Lakers or Thunder vs Jazz or Nuggets Mavericks or Spurs vs the Suns or Blazers The winners play in the WCF
Basically, if Utah beats Golden State, and all the home teams win, then it looks like this: #1 Lakers #8 Thunder #4 Suns #5 Nuggets #3 Jazz #6 Trail Blazers #2 Mavericks #7 Spurs
There are 5 games remaining that could impact the playoffs: UTH@GSW DEN@PHX SAS@DAL GSW@POR PHX@UTH: That means there are 32 possible permutations of game outcomes: GSW DEN DAL GSW PHX GSW DEN DAL GSW UTH GSW DEN DAL POR PHX GSW DEN DAL POR UTH GSW DEN SAS GSW PHX GSW DEN SAS GSW UTH GSW DEN SAS POR PHX GSW DEN SAS POR UTH GSW PHX DAL GSW PHX GSW PHX DAL GSW UTH GSW PHX DAL POR PHX GSW PHX DAL POR UTH GSW PHX SAS GSW PHX GSW PHX SAS GSW UTH GSW PHX SAS POR PHX GSW PHX SAS POR UTH UTH DEN DAL GSW PHX UTH DEN DAL GSW UTH UTH DEN DAL POR PHX UTH DEN DAL POR UTH UTH DEN SAS GSW PHX UTH DEN SAS GSW UTH UTH DEN SAS POR PHX UTH DEN SAS POR UTH UTH PHX DAL GSW PHX UTH PHX DAL GSW UTH UTH PHX DAL POR PHX UTH PHX DAL POR UTH UTH PHX SAS GSW PHX UTH PHX SAS GSW UTH UTH PHX SAS POR PHX UTH PHX SAS POR UTH These would be the losses for seeds 2-5 DAL DEN UTH PHX 27 28 30 29 27 28 29 30 27 28 30 29 27 28 29 30 28 28 30 29 28 28 29 30 28 28 30 29 28 28 29 30 27 29 30 28 27 29 29 29 27 29 30 28 27 29 29 29 28 29 30 28 28 29 29 29 28 29 30 28 28 29 29 29 27 28 29 29 27 28 28 30 27 28 29 29 27 28 28 30 28 28 29 29 28 28 28 30 28 28 29 29 28 28 28 30 27 29 29 28 27 29 28 29 27 29 29 28 27 29 28 29 28 29 29 28 28 29 28 29 28 29 29 28 28 29 28 29 These would be the playoff seeds 2-7: DAL DEN PHX UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL DEN PHX UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL DEN PHX UTH SAS POR DAL DEN UTH PHX SAS POR DAL DEN PHX UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL PHX DEN UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL PHX DEN UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL PHX DEN UTH SAS POR DAL DEN UTH PHX SAS POR DAL PHX DEN UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL DEN PHX UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL DEN PHX UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL DEN PHX UTH SAS POR DAL DEN UTH PHX SAS POR DAL DEN PHX UTH POR SAS DAL DEN UTH PHX POR SAS DAL PHX DEN UTH POR SAS DAL UTH PHX DEN POR SAS DAL PHX DEN UTH POR SAS DAL UTH PHX DEN POR SAS DAL PHX DEN UTH SAS POR UTH DAL PHX DEN SAS POR DAL PHX DEN UTH POR SAS UTH DAL PHX DEN POR SAS Assuming a team has a 50/50 chance at a win, then: Dallas has a 93.8% chance of #2 and 6.3% at #3 Denver has a 62.5% chance at #3, 25% at #4 and 12.5% at #5 Utah has a 6.3% chance at #2, 6.3% chance at #3, 37.5% chance at #4 and 50% chance at #5 Phoenix has a 25% chance at #3, 37.5% chance at #4 and 37.5% chance at #5 Portland has a 75% chance at #6 Another way of looking at it is the #2 seed is 93.8% Dallas and 6.3% Utah. Chance of being the #3 seed is 6.3% Dallas, 62.5% Denver, 6.3% Utah and 25% Phoenix.
permutation |ˌpərmyoŏˈtā sh ən| noun a way, esp. one of several possible variations, in which a set or number of things can be ordered or arranged : his thoughts raced ahead to fifty different permutations of what he must do. • Mathematics the action of changing the arrangement, esp. the linear order, of a set of items. DERIVATIVES permutational |-ˈtā sh ənəl| adjective ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [exchange, barter] ): via Old French from Latin permutatio(n-), from the verb permutare ‘change completely’ (see permute )
So now it's this: Lakers are #1 OKC is #8 Portland has the tie breaker over San Antonio Dallas has the tie breaker over Phoenix and Denver Utah has the tie breaker over Dallas Denver has the tie breaker over Utah Phoenix has the tie breaker over Denver Utah has a 2-1 lead over Phoenix with 1 game to go The best they can hope for: If Dallas wins or Utah loses, Dallas is #2 If Utah wins and Dallas loses, Utah is #2 If Phoenix wins they're #3 Denver needs Utah to lose to be #4 If Portland wins or San Antonio loses, Portland is #6 If San Antonio wins and Portland loses, San Antonio is #6 Remaining Games: Phoenix @ Utah San Antonio @ Dallas Golden State @ Portland UTH DAL POR = #2 Dallas, #3 Utah, #4 Phoenix, #5 Denver, #6 Portland, #7 San Antonio UTH DAL GS = #2 Dallas, #3 Utah, #4 Phoenix, #5 Denver, #6 Portland, #7 San Antonio UTH SA POR = #2 Utah, #3 Dallas, #4 Phoenix, #5 Denver, #6 Portland, #7 San Antonio UTH SA GS = #2 Utah, #3 Dallas, #4 Phoenix, #5 Denver, #6 San Antonio, #7 Portland PHX DAL POR = #2 Dallas, #3 Phoenix, #4 Denver, #5 Utah, #6 Portland, #7 San Antonio PHX DAL GS = #2 Dallas, #3 Phoenix, #4 Denver, #5 Utah, #6 Portland, #7 San Antonio PHX SA POR = #2 Dallas, #3 Phoenix, #4 Denver, #5 Utah, #6 Portland, #7 San Antonio PHX SA GS = #2 Dallas, #3 Phoenix, #4 Denver, #5 Utah, #6 San Antonio, #7 Portland Dallas 75% #2, 25% #3 Utah 25% #2, 25% #3, 50% #5 Phoenix 50% #3, 50% #4 Denver 50% #4, 50% #5 Portland 75% #6, 25% #7 San Antonio 25% #6, 75% #7