NBA schedule: Jazz fall to Grizzlies, propelling Lakers to NBA Playoffs

It’s one of the more inspiring underdog stories of a memorable NBA season. The Lakers in the playoffs. What a world!

With all of Wednesday’s games now in the books, all 16 teams and seeds have been determined for the 2013 NBA playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers’ overtime win over the Houston Rockets elevates them to the No. 7 seed and sets the field.

The Miami Heat will defend their title as the No. 1 seed in the East against the No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks. The No. 4 seed Brooklyn Nets will face the No. 5 seed Chicago Bulls. The surprising, 54-win New Yorks Knicks claimed the No. 2 seed and will look to notch their first postseason series victory since 2000 against the No. 7 seeded Boston Celtics. Indiana locked up the No. 3 seed in the East, and will host the No. 6 seed Atlanta Hawks in Round 1.

Unfortunately, with their season on the line, the Jazz fell apart in the most colossal way possible, losing to the Grizzlies, 86-70, in Memphis.

Meanwhile for Memphis, they now must wait to see how their playoff fate will shake out.

“I think it’s individual; individual for each guy,” Rivers said of how it affected his team. “Probably the guys who’ve been around here the longest, it’s probably affected more. Paul [Pierce] has been here in Boston his whole career, so I think it’s had a big affect on him. But listen, I don’t think you have to be a basketball player or anything. You don’t even have to be from Boston. Or from the United States. When something like that happens, I think it has an affect on everyone because it threatens our safety and our freedom to gather as a group and that’s part of what makes us human is that we do that. And every time something like that happens, it threatens that. So that’s the sad part.”

Rivers was on his way to watch the marathon when the bombings occurred. “I live right around there,” he said. “I was coming out of the tunnel but, listen, I had no issues compared to what everybody else had. I just had, I witnessed a panic, which you don’t ever want to see. And then I also witnessed, I said this, I witnessed some great things. I witnessed a lot of people just taking charge of their city. And I thought that was awesome.”

Utah has been playing quality basketball of late. Since dropping to two games below .500 in late March, the team has reeled off an impressive 9-2 run to keep its postseason aspirations alive. The only two losses during the streak came against teams with better records than Memphis -- OKC and Denver.

Still, beating a team like Grizzlies on the road won’t be easy. As good as Utah has looked on the road recently, winning consecutive games at Portland, Golden State and Minnesota, respectively, Memphis is one of the most difficult places to win in.

Even though the Jazz can’t pass the Lakers in the standings, they hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series.

And while the Rockets have their playoff spot locked up, they have a chance to move up to the No. 6 seed Wednesday with a win, as The Dream Shake, SB Nation’s Rockets blog, notes. That wide range of possibilities -- Houston has no idea who it will face in the first round -- makes this a key game for the team.

The race for the 2012-13 NBA scoring title is over.

Durant, who seemed destined to be the league’s premier scorer indefinitely, finishes the season with a seasonal average of 28.1 points per game. It’s the first scoring title he’s failed to win since the 2008-09 season, his second in the NBA.

Here’s the full schedule for Wednesday via SI.com (all times Eastern):

Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m.

Every team in the NBA is in action on Wednesday as the regular season ends. And while only one playoff spot remains up for grabs, there are a whole lot of things at stake. Here is a comprehensive look at those things.

The Clippers currently have the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage over the No. 5 Grizzlies. If the Nuggets win to secure the No.3 seed, the Clippers would get the No. 4 seed no matter what. However, the Clippers would also clinch home-court advantage by beating the Kings. If the Clippers lose and Grizzlies beat the Jazz, Memphis would get home-court in the first round due to having a better record. If both the Clippers and Grizzlies win, Los Angeles would get home-court. If the Nuggets lose and Clippers win, Denver would get the No. 4 seed and have home-court even if the Grizzlies beat the Jazz because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Nash received an epidural to ease the pain, and the team believes he’ll be ready to return in “several days.” Theoretically, that means he will be able to return for the playoffs should the Lakers reach the postseason.

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