There are a full 15 games on this last night of the NBA regular season, but only three are relevant to the Grizzlies’ still unsettled postseason assignment:
Jazz vs. Grizzlies (7 p.m.)
Suns at Nuggets (7 p.m.)
Clippers at Kings (9:30 p.m.)
Here — because, why not? — is every possible three-game outcome and what it would mean:
Grizzlies win
Nuggets win
Clippers win
Playoffs: Grizzlies at Clippers (this is the most likely outcome)
Grizzlies win
Nuggets win
Clippers lose
Playoffs: Clippers at Grizzlies
Grizzlies win
Nuggets lose
Clippers win
Playoffs: Grizzlies at Nuggets
Grizzlies win
Nuggets lose
Clippers lose
Playoffs: Clippers at Grizzlies
Grizzlies lose
Nuggets win
Clippers win
Playoffs: Grizzlies at Clippers
Grizzlies lose
Nuggets win
Clippers lose
Playoffs: Grizzlies at Clippers
Grizzlies lose
Nuggets lose
Clippers win
Playoffs: Grizzlies at Nuggets
Grizzlies lose
Nuggets lose
Clippers lose
Playoffs: Grizzlies at Clippers
By the time the Clippers game starts, these scenarios will be down to two. If the Nuggets win, as is heavily expected, it will lock the Grizzlies into a match-up with the Clippers. A Nuggets win paired with a Grizzlies loss, which is a very possible outcome, renders the late game irrelevant. If Grizzlies and Nuggets both win the early game — the most likely scenario — then fans will be waiting it out to see where a Grizzles-Clippers series would start.
The question of the night: How much fight will the Kings muster in what could be — yet again — the final Kings game in Sacramento.
As for the Grizzlies’ game, the Jazz come to FedExForum on a 9-2 closing run and need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive — though even that would need to be paired with a Lakers loss in their late game with the Houston Rockets.
I won’t be doing a full Postgame Notebook for tonight’s game, but will be tweeting from the game and will offer a shorter recap and updates on the playoff picture as things are settled.
