{"id":1868364,"date":"2026-04-06T14:15:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1868364"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:15:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:15:58","slug":"nbas-final-week-of-the-season-tanking-standings-and-everything-else-at-stake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1868364","title":{"rendered":"NBA\u2019s final week of the season: tanking, standings and everything else at stake"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We\u2019re down to the last seven days of this season, and there is a ton to track. The Western and Eastern conference standings are all over the place. The tanking has been out of control, with almost one-third of the league trying to lose. And we have all kinds of squads going on big runs and horrible stretches at the worst times.<\/p>\n

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Today, we\u2019ll give you everything to keep an eye on the rest of the regular season. We also have the extended version of the NBA Stock Report, a Monday staple in The Bounce. That\u2019s our\u00a0free NBA newsletter that you can sign up for<\/a>\u00a0and receive every day in your inbox.<\/p>\n

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NBA Stock Report Extended<\/h2>\n

\ud83d\udcc8\u00a0Houston Rockets (49-29). <\/strong>Most of the Rockets\u2019 six-game winning streak has come against an easy schedule. However, Houston has needed the wins, and it now has a chance at home-court advantage in the first round. The Rockets had been such a mess in end-of-game situations and couldn\u2019t string together enough wins to keep pace with the Los Angeles Lakers (pre-injuries) and Denver Nuggets. So this is a welcome stretch for a team that might finally build some momentum heading into the postseason.<\/p>\n

Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn has been on a heater. He\u2019s averaging 21.8 points in 31.5 minutes during this stretch on 57.6\/50.0\/72.7 shooting splits. More importantly, his playmaking has been elite. He\u2019s averaging 6.6 assists, which may not seem super impressive. However, he\u2019s only turning it over 1.3 times per game. That\u2019s 40 assists and just eight turnovers in those six games. Pretty good for a playmaking big man whom the defense is swarming when he puts it on the ground. Amen Thompson has 33 assists and just six turnovers during this time as well. Ime Udoka has to love his playmakers taking care of the ball like this. They\u2019ll need to do it in the postseason.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Rockets\u2019<\/p>\n
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\n Rockets\u2019 late-season offensive evolution is yielding results, wins and optimism\n <\/div>\n
\n Houston registered its sixth straight game of 30 or more assists vs. the Warriors on Sunday, a sign of growing trust.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\ud83d\udcc9 The 65-game rule. <\/strong>Injuries to Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards and now Luka Don\u010di\u0107 are putting a lot of pressure on the NBA\u2019s 65-game threshold for awards<\/a>. Adam Silver dismissed criticism of the rule, saying it\u2019s having a great effect on stars playing in more games instead of sitting for load management. And it was really just affecting one case (Cunningham\u2019s) after last month\u2019s Board of Governors meeting. Now we have Edwards missing the cut because he came out after three minutes in the third game of the season with a hamstring injury. Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s regular season is over at 64 games because of a hamstring injury. Cunningham has played in 61 games. Edwards will finish one game short because of the three-minute game.<\/p>\n

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What is this solving? These guys have real injuries this season. Edwards dealt with a hamstring injury and<\/em> a knee injury that cost him time. Cunningham\u2019s lung collapsed. Don\u010di\u0107 has dealt with various leg and hamstring issues. And they won\u2019t be eligible for awards because the NBA is doubling down on this rule instead of fixing it. Really, they should abolish the rule, like when they quickly realized the new composite ball in 2006 was horrible. The NBA got its broadcast money and doesn\u2019t need this dumb rule. Players want to play. Punish the teams when they sit them out sans legitimate injuries.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcc8\u00a0Atlanta Hawks (45-33). <\/strong>These Hawks keep soaring! They\u2019ve won four in a row and 18 of their last 20 games, as they try to secure the fifth seed in the East. Atlanta enters this week with arguably the toughest closing schedule (more about that below). The Hawks were 18-21 when they officially traded Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, essentially abandoning their direction since 2018. It was a major risk with their fan base because they only got CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert back in the deal. But the Hawks have been thriving since this change in culture, as they\u2019ve become more versatile and a lot better defensively.<\/p>\n

Atlanta is 27-12 since the trade. It was 18th in offense and 16th in defense before the trade. Granted, Young only played in 10 games for the Hawks this season. But once he was gone, they went a style more conducive to what Quin Snyder preferred. Since the trade, the Hawks have improved to 12th in offense and seventh in defense. That\u2019s a dramatic turnaround, which also includes trading Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is to the Golden State Warriors in a deal that landed them Jonathan Kuminga. Now the Hawks might be the team outside of the top four in the East that teams want to play the least.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udcc9 Lakers (50-28)<\/strong>. <\/strong>The Lakers have understandably fallen apart. They got smoked by 43 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the game Don\u010di\u0107 injured his hamstring. Austin Reaves also injured his oblique and is expected to miss four to six weeks<\/a>. Without Reaves and Don\u010di\u0107 for the foreseeable future, the Lakers have gone from people wondering if they\u2019ll be sneaky dangerous in the postseason to wondering how much 41-year-old LeBron James can protect this team from just losing out.<\/p>\n

L.A. dropped Sunday\u2019s game to Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks. If it weren\u2019t for their game against the Utah Jazz on the last day of the regular season, it would be fair to wonder if the Lakers will win another game before October. Don\u010di\u0107 is headed to Europe<\/a> for another opinion\/treatment option on his hamstring. Is that something that can realistically be done to get him back in time? The Lakers have a little less than two weeks before the playoffs begin, and injury expert Jeff Stotts has the average Grade 2 hamstring strain at 35 days.<\/a><\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Lakers\u2019<\/p>\n
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\n Lakers\u2019 key injuries are ill-timed, but LeBron James, JJ Redick have been here before\n <\/div>\n
\n “I think it’s up to all of us, whoever’s in the lineup, to pick up our individual play and make plays together,” LeBron James said.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\ud83d\udcc8 Portland Trail Blazers<\/strong> (40-38). <\/strong>The Blazers have now won four straight and eight of their last 10. They have climbed up to battle the LA Clippers for the eighth spot in the West for a chance to make their Play-In experience a double-elimination affair. Portland has had such a ridiculous up-and-down season, with its coach being federally indicted on the second day of the season and even a sale of the franchise to a new owner<\/a>. The Blazers have had front-office suspensions and fines and so many injuries throughout this campaign. But as they\u2019ve become healthy, interim coach Tiago Splitter has helped them put together a nice run.<\/p>\n

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Defensive specialist Toumani Camara has turned into a good scorer in this run. He\u2019s averaging 17.6 points on 56.1\/50.0\/85.7 shooting splits. Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson have been a great tandem at point guard, combining to hit 40 percent of their 3-pointers. Donovan Clingan has been a double-double and shot-blocking machine. The Blazers could actually find themselves healthy at the right time and ready to make the important step forward.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcc9 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/strong> (46-32)<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong>The Wolves have lost four of their last five, and things could not look less encouraging. Edwards coming back from his knee injury didn\u2019t right the ship. Granted, all of the Wolves\u2019 losses are understandable. Their two losses to the Detroit Pistons came with both teams missing their star guards. Their loss to the Philadelphia 76ers came with Edwards playing pretty terribly against a mostly healthy Sixers squad. Then the Wolves\u2019 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday wasn\u2019t that close. Edwards missed that game with some lingering knee pain. That can\u2019t make anybody in Minneapolis feel good about the end of this season.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Vibes<\/p>\n
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\n Vibes are down in Minnesota as Timberwolves limp toward NBA playoffs\n <\/div>\n
\n The Wolves still believe they can flip a switch when the playoffs begin. They believe that when shots start falling, the vibes will return.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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It\u2019s unlikely they\u2019re going to fall into the Play-In, so maybe they just need to rest Edwards and make sure he\u2019s right for the first round? The Wolves will probably end up playing the Denver Nuggets, who are peaking at the right time.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcc9\u00a0Competitive basketball. <\/strong>On Friday, we may have seen the worst full slate of NBA games in any regular season. There were eight games that night, clearing the way as much as possible for the men\u2019s Final Four on Saturday and Monday. The only game that ended in a single-digit margin was the Sacramento Kings\u2019 117-113 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The next closest was the Orlando Magic\u2019s 128-117 victory over the Mavs with Flagg going for 51. But the average margin of victory that night was 24.4 points. It was the biggest margin of victory on any day with at least eight games in NBA history<\/a>. Better fix that tanking issue properly.<\/p>\n

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\n Can Derrick White and the Celtics hold off the Knicks for the East\u2019s No. 2 seed? (David Butler II \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Week Ahead: What\u2019s at stake<\/b><\/h2>\n

We have one week left in the 2025-26 regular season, and everything is counting down toward Sunday when all 30 teams are going to play in one final Gamemaggedon to settle the final standings. The No. 1 seed in the East is set (congrats to the Pistons!<\/a>). The Play-In teams are also set, with 10 lottery teams officially eliminated.<\/p>\n

This is everything else you\u2019ll need to know to follow this final week.<\/p>\n

East 2-4 seeding\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Situation:<\/strong> The Boston Celtics are three games ahead of the New York Knicks and four games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Celtics have all but locked up the No. 2 seed in the East. They just need to win two of their final four games, and one of them includes the Knicks. New York must win that game to close the gap while also taking the tiebreaker for the season series (it\u2019s currently 2-1 against Boston with a better division record).\u00a0 The Knicks are still fighting off the Cavs for the No. 3 seed, unless there\u2019s some galaxy-brain scheming going on in which they believe a second-round series against Detroit is more advantageous than a second-round series against Boston. Maybe then the Knicks mess with \u201cthe basketball gods\u201d to drop down to fourth.<\/p>\n