The day has come for the NBA’s 82-game regular season to come to an end, as all 30 teams play in their last contest of the season on Sunday with the final chance to lock in their postseason seeding.
With the majority of the seeding locked up at the top of both conferences, the Eastern Conference’s lower rung will provide most of the excitement on the final slate, as seeds 5-10 are all yet to be decided.
But the most consequential unresolved race impacting who will hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June is who will be the third and fourth seed in the West between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers.
A Nuggets win over the Spurs would clinch the third seed for Denver, ensuring they avoid the Oklahoma City Thunder until the Western Conference Finals, but the team announced Saturday they are sitting their entire starting lineup outside of Nikola Jokic, who is listed as questionable.
The three-time MVP needs to play Sunday to qualify for All-NBA and the MVP award, but whether he suits up will be a game-time decision.
Their opponent, the San Antonio Spurs, have stars Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle listed as questionable as well.
San Antonio can help themselves by pushing Denver outside of their side of the bracket with a win, but how they prioritize that compared to getting another day of rest before the playoffs is up in the air.
If the Spurs top the Nuggets, then all the Lakers need to do is take care of a tanking Jazz team, who they are significant favorites over.
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First Pick: Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs – Over 233
Rundown: One of the most profitable ways to bet on the NBA this season has been hammering the over on the Denver Nuggets no matter who they are playing.
In their first season following the firing of longtime head coach Michael Malone, the Nuggets have been a brutally poor defensive team, ranking last among all playoff teams in defensive rating.
However, Denver is also first in the league in offensive rating this season.
Their high-powered offense and porous defense has made the team hit its over in 51 of its games this season, the highest rate in the NBA.
While there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding who is playing in this game, if Jokic suits up to qualify for the 65-game rule, he alone should be more than enough for Denver’s explosive offense to make this a high-scoring game.
The Spurs are a deep enough team to feasibly sit Wembanyama and Castle while also still gunning to send the Nuggets into the fourth seed, so scoring should not be an issue for either team on Sunday.
Second Pick: Los Angeles Lakers -13.5 over Utah Jazz
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) blocks the shot of Denver Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) during an NBA game on March 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA.
Rundown: The difference between the third and fourth seed could not be bigger for the Lakers’ chances of going on a deep playoff run.
After being struck with two devastating injuries for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, LA is in the mode of needing to buy as much time as possible for their stars to potentially heal up to make a run deep in the Western Conference playoffs.
Not only does getting the third seed give you a date with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have several health questions heading into the playoffs, over facing a red-hot Houston Rockets team, but you also get to the other side of the bracket from the Thunder.
Considering the impact of this game and who the Nuggets are resting in theirs, expect Lebron James to suit up in the final game of his 23rd season, despite being listed as a game-time decision.
That’s all the Lakers really need to trounce a tanking Jazz squad that has nine players already listed out for Sunday’s game.
James has been on a tear since Doncic has gone out, averaging 28-12-7 in the last three games, and should have a big night against Utah to close the season while Lakers fans eagerly wait for the results of Nuggets-Spurs.