Everything at stake on the NBA season’s final night

Eighty-one games of the NBA regular season are in the books, which means there is just one game left on the schedule for teams that haven’t completed their season. For some teams, the season finale is the difference between making the playoffs and watching from home, while stuffing their faces with popcorn. For other teams, winning could be the difference between better or worse odds at the No. 1 pick.

Amazingly, none of the eight playoff matchups are set. That’s how much is at stake.

Here are seven reasons why you should be watching the last day of the regular season.

Well, not actual real-life death, but it’s a sudden death! The Nuggets and Timberwolves have the exact same record. That means the loser of this game is going home, while the winner of this game earns a trip to the playoffs, though not necessarily as the No. 8 seed.

The Timberwolves are 2-1 against the Nuggets this season, and the only game Denver won came while Jimmy Butler was out with a torn meniscus. Butler has since returned, and the Wolves have won two in a row, albeit against the lowly Lakers and Grizzlies.

The Nuggets, on the other hand, have won six in a row and are 13-8 since Paul Millsap returned from a broken wrist in late February. They’ve beaten six playoff opponents in a row. A win against Minnesota makes it seven.

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass

Both New Orleans and San Antonio have already clinched their playoff spots, so a loss here isn’t the end of the world. But a loss for the Pelicans, coupled with a Thunder victory over the Grizzlies, immediately drops them to the No. 8 seed, no matter which team between Denver and Minnesota wins their sudden death matchup. That pits New Orleans against Houston in the first round, which is almost as good as missing the playoffs altogether.

A loss for the Spurs (with a Thunder win) moves them down to No. 7 and a first-round date with the Warriors. Golden State is dealing with a slew of injuries, but there’s no telling who’ll be healthy for the playoffs.

Pelicans vs. Spurs
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass

The Wizards beat the Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, and Daniel Theis-less Celitcs on Tuesday, tying them with the Heat for the seventh and eighth seeds in the East.

Washington, though, plays the tanking Orlando Magic, while the Miami has a date with the East’s No. 1 seed Toronto Raptors. A Wizards win and Heat loss gives Washington much better odds at moving into the second round of the playoffs, since they’ll be matched up with the same Celtics team they beat, 113-101, on Tuesday.

However, if Philadelphia also defeats Milwaukee, then the Wizards move all the way up to No. 6. That might not be so great, because that’d mean a date with the red-hot 76ers.

Should the Wizards lose, Miami can move all the way up to No. 6 with a win and a Bucks loss. Again, that might not be the best thing. If the Heat and Bucks both win, Milwaukee finishes sixth and Miami finishes seventh.

Wizards vs. Magic
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass

Heat vs. Raptors
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass

The 76ers lead the Cavaliers by just one game for the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed, but a loss can slide them back to No. 4. The Sixers play the confusing Milwaukee Bucks in their season finale, and leave it to the Bucks and Giannis Antetkounmpo to rain on Philly’s parade. The Cavaliers have a win virtually wrapped up with a season finale against the Knicks. If Philadelphia loses and Cleveland wins, they’ll be tied with 51-31 records.

But the Cavaliers and 76ers have split their season series at two apiece, and in that event, the NBA gives the tie to a division winner. That’s be Cleveland, not Philly.

Thus, a Philly loss and Cleveland win moves the 76ers into the No. 4 seed, which means a second-round matchup against the winner of Toronto vs. whoever finishes 8th instead of the winner of Boston vs. whoever finishes 7th.

In layman’s terms, if Philly wins, they avoid both Toronto and Cleveland until the Eastern Conference Finals. That opens the bracket up, especially if Joel Embiid returns in the first round.

76ers vs. Bucks
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN

Cavaliers vs. Knicks
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass

Last season, Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double for an entire season. With the right stat line in the Thunder’s season finale against the Grizzlies, he has an opportunity to repeat history.

Westbrook needs just 16 rebounds to record 800 for the season, which will give him an average of a triple-double for the year. The Grizzlies are the second-worst rebounding team in the league. He should have this one in the bag, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Thunder vs. Grizzlies
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass

This game in and of itself is fairly simple. The winner gets the No. 3 seed. We’ll get to the loser in a second.

Portland has lost four in a row and six of its last 10. The Trail Blazers have a chance at redemption if they can beat the Jazz in the season finale. If not, life gets much more complicated out West.

Should Portland lose, the Jazz leapfrog the Trail Blazers at No. 3 because they have identical records while Utah owns the tiebreaker. Whichever team wins locks up the No. 3 seed in the postseason.

Whichever team loses could take a major hit if the right teams win.

A defeat would give either Portland or Utah 34 losses on the season. As it stands, three other teams have 34 losses: San Antonio, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. All three of those teams play on Wednesday night -- as noted above, the Spurs and Pelicans play each other.

If Portland loses and both San Antonio and OKC win, the Trail Blazers will fall to sixth place, which ironically means a matchup against the Jazz in the first round. The Jazz can only fall as low as No. 5 if they lose to the Trail Blazers and the Thunder beat the Grizzlies, because they already own tiebreakers over New Orleans and San Antonio. The problem: that gives Utah a tough first-round matchup against Oklahoma City.

If the Pelicans beat San Antonio, Portland slides up to No. 4, New Orleans is No. 5, Oklahoma City is No. 6, and San Antonio slides to No. 7 against the Warriors.

Clearly, the scenarios are complex. Bottom line: neither the Jazz or Blazers wants to lose the season finale, which makes for a game with fireworks on the way.

Jazz vs. Trail Blazers
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN

The famed tank-off we expected at the end of the year is a little more resolved than expected. Phoenix and Memphis have already clinched the two worst records.

There is still intrigue beyond that with the Magic. A loss to Washington enters Orlando into a three-way tie with Atlanta and Dallas for the third-worst record in the league.

If the Magic lose to Washington, the NBA will have to randomly select teams No. 3, 4 and 5 with ping pong balls in the draft lottery. The third- and fourth-worst teams get approximately 13.8 percent odds at the No. 1 pick and a 42.6 percent chance at landing in the top three. The team with the fifth-worst record gets an 8.8 percent shot at pick No. 1 and a 29.1 percent shot at a top-three pick.

So there’s a lot of incentive for Orlando to lose.

Magic vs. Wizards
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA League Pass