Playoff seedings on line as grueling NBA regular-season comes to close

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic must play on the final day of the NBA regular-season to be eligible for end-of-season awards (Dustin Bradford)

(Dustin Bradford/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP)

The NBA regular season concludes on Sunday with 10 post-season seedings still to be determined and the Denver Nuggets facing a big decision regarding three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.

The Eastern Conference fifth through 10th seeds are still to be determined with three teams -- Toronto, Orlando and Philadelphia -- still in with a chance to claim the sixth seed and avoid the play-in.

The Western Conference third and fourth seeds are still in play with the Nuggets one game up on the Los Angeles Lakers.

With home court advantage in the first round assured for both the Nuggets and Lakers, Denver coach David Adelman must decide whether to rest banged-up star Jokic for a second straight game -- even though the Serbian needs to play at least 15 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday to meet the minimum 65-game requirement to be eligible for end-of-season awards.

"We're going to have that conversation (Saturday)," Adelman said. "Obviously, his opinion matters."

Adelman sat all of his starters on Friday and the Nuggets still got a win over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who with the West top seed and best record in the league locked up rested most of their starters, too.

Adelman said having key players healthy after a physically and mentally draining 82-game regular-season was his top priority.

But the 65-game threshold for season honors is a factor when it comes to Jokic, who missed 16 games in January with a knee injury but is averaging a triple-double and is set to become the first player in history to lead the league in assists and rebounds per game.

"We've got to make a proper decision, and we need to go in there with a real plan," Adelman said.

The dozens of players who sat out Friday's games across the league didn't include San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, who scored 40 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as he played his 65th game to ensure his eligibility for Defensive Player of the Year and MVP honors.

"If I had 65 (games) before, I for sure wouldn't have played," said Wembanyama, who missed the previous game with a bruised rib and could well sit out Sunday's clash with Denver.

The 65-game rule has left a number of stand-out players out in the cold because of injury absences, including Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Minnesota's Anthony Edwards and the Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic.

Cunningham is back for East top seeds Detroit after missing 11 games with a collapsed lung. Edwards missed significant time with a knee injury.

• Impact on season -

Doncic, the league's leading scorer, is currently nursing a hamstring strain that cost him the last five games of the regular season and could sideline him to start the playoffs.

His agent has indicated Doncic will seek an "Extraordinary Circumstances" waiver to the 65-game rule.

"It's an interesting question," Wembanyama said. "If those three, especially Cade and Luka, aren't in the end-of-season awards (race) it's not going to reflect their impact on the season."

The 65-game rule was implemented in 2023 to discourage teams from resting uninjured players.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says the league needs something even more radical to keep players healthy: a shorter season.

"We need fewer games," Kerr said in March, with a month left in the grueling campaign that started on October 21 and will now segue to a post-season capped by the best-of-seven NBA Finals that could finish as late as June 19.

bb/rcw