The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) regular season wraps up this Sunday, April 10 and, with most of the play-off-bound teams separated by no more than two games, this final weekend will go a long way in determining the final seedings.

Current JustBet favourites, the Phoenix Suns, having locked up the top seed throughout the play-offs as the only team to surpass 60 wins, started resting players in preparation for the postseason but, after two straight losses to the Memphis Grizzlies (122-114) and Oklahoma City Thunder (117-96) on April first and third, respectively, they soon abandoned that strategy to outdo the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, April 5, for a 121-110 win.

The Lakers, who entered the season with very high expectations, are not even going to make the play-in tournament this year. The play-in tournament concept was introduced in 2020 during the NBA play-off bubble, but really took off in 2021 as a full element of the NBA postseason. It features a pair of brackets with four teams, designed to determine the seventh and eighth play-off spot for each conference.

The tournament will begin on April 12 with a duel between the teams with the seventh and eighth best records in each conference. The winner of that game automatically qualifies for the playoffs as the No 7 seed. The teams with the ninth and tenth best records – who would have been previously excluded from playoff contention – will then face off. The loser of that match-up is eliminated, and the winner moves on to face the loser of the seven-eight match-up, to determine the eighth and final play-off spot.

LeBron James currently leads the league in scoring at 30.3 points per game but has only played 56 games this season (up to April 5) and will need to play at least two more to qualify for the scoring title. He is currently sporting an ankle injury and games this weekend against the Thunder (tonight) and the Denver Nuggets (on Sunday) will be his only opportunity to salvage something in his fourth year as a Laker. However, Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) who are also in the hunt for the scoring title, will make every effort to block LeBron out of this consolation win.

LeBron posted a pair of 50-point games in March when the Lakers occupied ninth place in the Western Conference, but they have lost seven-straight since March 23 and are now looking at the wrong end of the play-in tournament. On the heels of the recent revelation from Hall of Fame point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson that DeMar Derozan was almost a Laker, but that idea was nixed once LeBron and Russell Westbrook started talking about playing together, their current position must be considered a failed experiment.

The Miami Heat clinched a top-four seed with their win over the Toronto Raptors last Sunday, April 3, and should claim the top spot in the Eastern Conference by the time the dust settles this Sunday. Just two weeks ago, the Miami season appeared to be unraveling after four-straight losses to the 76ers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets but, they have since racked up five-straight wins to maintain the top spot in the east.

Three of those wins came on the road against Eastern Conference play-off-bound opponents: the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors. Miami will take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight for an expected battle royal, then face the Orlando Magic on Sunday to comfortably close out the regular season.

Many of the teams already confirmed for the postseason have begun resting players or have limited their playing time but, those with their season already tanked, have been emptying their benches and utilizing a lot of athletes not normally seen. The Portland Trail Blazers have been doing it for a couple weeks along with the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder who have seemingly introduced an entirely new roster every couple of nights.

This does not usually produce the most attractive basketball, but it allows the teams to evaluate any unexposed talent and to start preparing any diamonds in the rough. Several rookies have taken advantage of the increased playing time, and perhaps for some it may translate to a bigger role going into next season. One such player has been Jalen Green for the Houston Rockets who has been maximising the given minutes to close out his rookie season, highlighted by five straight 30-point games in the last couple of weeks. With the Rockets well out of play-off contention, they’ve been allowing Green more freedom on offence, and as a result, the most dominant version of Green has come to the fore.

His 30-point game in a losing effort against the Nets on Tuesday, April 5, put him past Michael Jordan who managed four-straight back in his rookie year (1985) and equal to Philadelphia legend Allen Iverson in the NBA record book for rookies. It may not mean a lot right now, considering Houston’s record, but it is great for a Rockets team that will look to build around their young, rising star in the years to come.

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2021/22 NBA Champion

Team Odds

Phoenix Suns 3.75

Milwaukee Bucks 6.00

Brooklyn Nets 7.50

Golden State Warriors 8.50

Boston Celtics 10.00

Philadelphia 76ers 11.00

Miami Heat 11.00

Dallas Mavericks 16.00

Denver Nuggets 26.00

Utah Jazz 26.00

*Only Top 10 odds shown (see website for full list)