NBA playoff race: Ranking the five best games in the regular season’s final week

The final week of the NBA regular season has arrived, and there’s still a lot at stake in both conferences. While the 10 Eastern Conference teams have been confirmed, no seeds have been clinched. Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, there is one play-in spot up for grabs and plenty of seeding issues to be sorted out as well. 

This should be an exciting few days, and to help set the stage here’s a look at the five best games of the week:

1. Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks 

• Thursday, April 7, 7:30 p.m. ET — ESPN (streaming on fuboTV)

Thursday night’s matchup between the Bucks and Celtics, a national TV showcase featuring two of the best teams and best players in the East — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum — is by far the game of the week. They’ve already played two extremely close games this season, including one that went to overtime, and both still have plenty to play for. The standings will be different by tip-off, but heading into the week the Celtics are in second in the East, and the Bucks are a half-game back in third place. 

2. San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets

• Tuesday, April 5, 8 p.m. ET — League Pass

This one might come as a bit of a surprise, but in the final week of the season we really have to consider motivation. Both of these teams check that box. The Spurs, who have quietly won seven of their last 10 games, are playing some great basketball and are trying to hold off the Lakers for the final play-in spot. As for the Nuggets, they are trying to make sure they don’t slide into the play-in, while also still holding out hope they can catch the Mavericks for the No. 4 spot. And, of course, any time you can watch Nikola Jokic work his magic, you should. 

3. Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers

• Wednesday, April 6, 10 p.m. ET — ESPN (streaming on fuboTV)

This one, admittedly is a bit dependent on how seriously both teams take the matchup. The Suns have clinched the No. 1 seed in the West, while the Clippers are going to be in the play-in tournament. As a result, there’s a chance that one or both of these teams punt this game. The ceiling for this game if they don’t, however, is so high that it had to be included. Not only is this a Western Conference finals rematch from last season, but a potential first-round series preview for this season. And with Paul George back in the lineup, the Clippers are suddenly much more dangerous than they were a few weeks ago. Everyone cross your fingers that both teams take this game seriously. If they do, it could easily be the game of the week.

4. Milwaukee Bucks at Chicago Bulls

• Tuesday, April 5, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN (streaming on fuboTV)

The calculus here is pretty simple: rivalry game with some recent bad blood, both teams are still fighting for playoff seeding and there’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. This has always been a somewhat contentious games for the fans of each team, but after Grayson Allen’s flagrant foul that broke Alex Caruso’s wrist back in January, the feelings spilled onto the court. This will be the first time the two have met in Chicago since Caruso returned. Both teams still fighting for seeding, so that will only add to the intensity. And you never need an excuse to watch Giannis, especially with the form he’s been in recently. 

5. Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers

• Friday, April 8, 10:30 p.m. ET, League Pass

Just to be clear, this game is not on the list for any sort of competitive reasons. There’s a good chance the Lakers will be eliminated from playoff contention by the time this game rolls around, while the Thunder have been actively trying to lose for weeks. But here’s the thing: LeBron James really wants to win the scoring title and needs to play in two more games to qualify for the honor. (You have to play 58 games to qualify as a league leader.) Given the Lakers’ remaining opponents, he’s definitely going to choose the Thunder as one of those two games. Between his desire for the scoring title and the Thunder’s abysmal defense in recent weeks, we could be in for a real show. 50 points? 60? 70?