More than three NBA nights, but three times more sweating than usual. Atlanta, New York and Miami are currently facing off in a big battle to determine the 4-5-6 places in the Eastern Conference ahead of the 2021 Playoffs. But who will end up where? And who wants to have a huge headache while watching all possible and imaginable scenarios? Vamos.
The day before yesterday, we offered you a first glimpse of this crazy-crazy traffic jam that will punctuate the hearts of fans on the last days of this epic week. Indeed, the Hawks, the Heat and the Knicks do not yet know where they will end up, knowing that the 6th will face the Bucks or the Nets in the 1st round of the Playoffs… The kind of perspective not very kiffante, and which imposes necessarily to the three franchises mentioned at the moment to give everything in the battle. It is therefore important to make a new update, because this night of games in the NBA brought new results and did not help the affairs of the fans.
Victory for the Heat (vs Philly), victory for the Hawks (vs Orlando) and victory for the Knicks (vs San Antonio): check, check, check.
So how do you know who will end up where? Well, here are the scenarios to anticipate below.
First, let’s take a look at the remaining matches to be played for these three teams:
- Atlanta (40-31) : vs Houston
- Miami (39-31) : in Milwaukee + in Detroit
- New York (39-31) : vs Charlotte + vs Boston
It is the Hawks who have their fate in their hands on paper. Facing the Rockets is not crazy when you see Houston’s intentions at the end of the season. However, as you can imagine, tiebreaker games come into play here. Because for New York and Miami who have one more game to play, everything could be turned upside down in the Eastern Conference standings with a perfect until Sunday. Here are the possible scenarios until Monday morning, and the different classifications that can take place, with a little reminder on the rules of tie-breakers.
Here are the NBA rules for tie-breakers with 2 or 3 tied teams.
The points are ranked in order of priority. pic.twitter.com/97h1bTqytg
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 12, 2021
- Atlanta fait 1-0 / Miami 2-0 / New York 2-0 : Hawks and 4, Heat and 5, Knicks and 6
- Atlanta fait 1-0 / Miami 1-1 / New York 2-0 : Knicks and 4, Hawks and 5, Heat and 6
- Atlanta fait 1-0 / Miami 2-0 / New York 1-1 : Hawks and 4, Heat and 5, Knicks and 6
- Atlanta fait 1-0 / Miami 1-1 / New York 1-1 : Hawks and 4, Heat and 5, Knicks and 6
- Atlanta fait 0-1 / Miami 2-0 / New York 2-0 : Heat and 4, Knicks and 5, Hawks and 6
- Atlanta fait 0-1 / Miami 1-1 / New York 2-0 : Knicks and 4, Hawks and 5, Heat and 6
- Atlanta fait 0-1 / Miami 1-1 / New York 1-1 : Hawks and 4, Heat and 5, Knicks and 6
So most eyes will be on this game between Hawks and Rockets, first of all, which doesn’t look so balanced on paper but could determine a lot. Indeed, Atlanta has one hand on the wheel to avoid falling in 6 and thus face Bucks or Nets in the first round of the Playoffs. For the Heat, a scenario in 4th place passes above all by a setback of Atlanta against Houston. Then comes the questioning about the game between Miami and Milwaukee. What are the Bucks going to do? Given the form of the two teams, it’s difficult to know who will win. A Heat win would put enormous pressure on the Knicks, and a loss would open an XXL door for Julius Randle and his gang. The odds are now tilting towards the Hawks in 4 ahead of the Heat in 5 and the Knicks in 6, but if this end of the NBA season has proven one thing to us, it’s that anything could happen. New York will have, whatever happens, to beat its two adversaries, not the smallest of affairs when you see the importance that the next match will have for Charlotte.
Are you still following us? Alright, that means you’ve survived this combo of multiple scenarios. Atlanta, New York and Miami will make us dream until Monday morning, it’s up to you to tell us who you see now at seats 4-5-6 of the Eastern Conference.
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