The wild, wild west got even crazier in the standings following the outcomes of the games on April 7th. The Los Angeles Lakers created a gap for the three-seed with a blowout win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, while the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors entered into a tie with the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Memphis Grizzlies after losses in their home games.
The Nuggets hold a 0.5-game lead over the rest of the bunch, but all five teams have 32 losses as the final week of the regular season begins. The Grizzlies have four games remaining in the regular season, including two of those teams on back-to-back nights when they face the Timberwolves and Nuggets on April 10th and 11th.
With the clutter facing the Western Conference playoff contenders to end the season, the Grizzlies land outside of the playoffs before the real games begin.
The Grizzlies face a road play-in game if the season ended today
When three or more teams are tied in the NBA standings the first tiebreaker is the winner of a division. None of the Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves, or Grizzlies are winning their division, so the next tiebreaker goes to the team with the best winning percentage in all games among the tied teams.
That tiebreaker goes in the order of the Clippers (6-3), Warriors (6-5), Timberwolves (4-5), then Memphis (3-6). This means the Grizzlies would be facing a road play-play-in game against the Minnesota Timberwolves for the seventh seed, with the loser playing a home game against either the Dallas Mavericks or Sacramento Kings for the eighth seed.
Oddly enough, the Grizzlies have had the most success against the Minnesota Timberwolves as they are the only team in the West's top eight that they have a winning record against. They are 2-0 in their season series with both games coming down to the final possession.
Due to the nature of how close games can swing in any direction, the teams are closer to even than the 2-0 series lead the Grizzlies have suggests. Their advantage would be the experience and continuity of their top-level players as Minnesota would be entering their first postseason run without former star center Karl-Anthony Towns
However, the Grizzlies and Timberwolves have developed a rivalry beginning with their first-round playoff series in 2022. The star matchup between Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards would make for great TV if this winds up being the play-in game that the current standings suggest.