LOS ANGELES — The NBA regular season concludes on Sunday (Monday in Manila) 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. AFP