NBA playoffs: Western Conference standings, tiebreakers after Mavs’ postseason push ends

With the NBA regular season winding down, teams are shifting their focus toward postseason scenarios.

But not the Dallas Mavericks. The sudden decision Friday morning to sit out Kyrie Irving and four other players, followed by coach Jason Kidd’s pregame announcement that Luka Doncic would play only the first quarter, sent a clear message: Management preferred that Dallas lose to the Chicago Bulls, thus greatly increasing the odds that Dallas keep its first-round pick in June’s draft.

The Mavericks would have needed to win Friday and Sunday against San Antonio after Oklahoma City beat the Jazz on Thursday night. With Dallas’ loss, the Thunder secured a spot in the play-in next week.

Here’s a refresher on how the tournament works:

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SUBMIT

How the play-in works

Game 1: No. 7 hosts No. 8 and the winner gets the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. Loser goes to Game 3.

Game 2: No. 9 hosts No. 10. Winner advances to Game 3, loser is eliminated and enters the NBA draft lottery with all other teams that finished worse than No. 10.

Game 3: Loser of Game 1 hosts winner of Game 2. The winner of Game 3 secures the No. 8 seed and the loser enters the lottery.

If a team finishes with the 7th- or 8th-best record, they only have to win once to earn a playoff spot. Finish 9th or 10th, however, and you’ll need to win two games.

Western Conference standings

Tiebreaking scenarios

It was a tight race before the Mavs dropped out of contention Friday. Here were some of the tiebreaking scenarios that would have applied:

— Mavs-Suns two-way tie: Season series ended 2-2. Dallas would have had the tiebreaker by virtue of its higher winning percentage in Western Conference games over Phoenix.

— Mavs-Warriors two-way tie: Golden State owned the tiebreaker by virtue of its 2-1 record in their season series.

— Mavs-Thunder two-way tie: Oklahoma City owned the tiebreaker by virtue of its 2-1 record in their season series.

— Mavs-Timberwolves two-way tie: Minnesota owned the tiebreaker by virtue of its 2-1 record in their season series.

— Mavs-Jazz two-way tie: Dallas owned the tiebreaker by virtue of its 3-1 record in their season series.

— Mavs-Lakers two-way tie: Dallas owned the tiebreaker by virtue of its 3-1 record in their season series.

— Mavs-Pelicans two-way tie: Season series ended 2-2. New Orleans would have had the tiebreaker by virtue of its higher winning percentage in Southwest Division games.

In the event of a multi-way tie, these are the factors the NBA takes into account:

• Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division
• Head-to-head won-lost percentage
• Division won-lost percentage for teams in same division
• Conference won-lost percentage
• W-L percentage vs. playoff teams, own conference
• W-L percentage vs. playoff teams, other conference
• Net points, all games

RELATED: Dallas Mavericks have underwhelmed this season. What happened to the overachievers?

Last time out

Suns: Fell to the Clippers 119-114 on Sunday.

Warriors: Defeated the Trail Blazers 157-101 on Sunday.

Mavericks: Lost to the Spurs 138-117 on Sunday.

Thunder: Defeated the Grizzlies 115-100 on Sunday.

Timberwolves: Defeated the Pelicans 113-108 on Sunday.

Jazz: Fell to the Lakers 128-117 on Sunday.

Clippers: Defeated the Suns 119-114 on Sunday.

Lakers: Defeated the Jazz 128-117 on Sunday.

Pelicans: Defeated the Timberwolves 113-108 on Sunday.

RELATED: Mavericks’ lottery odds if Dallas misses playoffs

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