NBA playoff watch: Bucks might be erased from playoff picture

A look at three Thursday night NBA games that will impact the playoff picture:

Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat

The Bulls have been struggling lately, with a pedestrian 5-4 record in their last nine games. That’s allowed the Heat back into the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, with Miami trailing Chicago by two games in the loss column. A win here tonight the season series and puts No. 1 in play for the Heat.

There’s still a pretty thin margin of error for Miami, which likely needs to win out in order to have a shot at catching Chicago and forcing a tiebreaker. If the Heat are able to run the table, they’ll be rooting for Bulls losses to come against East teams, which would give Miami the edge in conference record. If the Heat and Bulls finish tied in conference record, we'll go deeper into the playoff tiebreaker—to record against conference playoff teams. There Miami would have the edge if Philadelphia earns the East’s final seed (the Heat swept the Sixers), while Chicago would win if the Bucks get No. 8 (the Bulls swept Milwaukee).

Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers
Losing to the Wizards on Wednesday could well be a devastating blow to the Bucks’ already slim playoff chances. Looking at the schedule, it was reasonable to pencil in a win in Washington and a loss on Thursday at Indiana, the hottest team in the league.

Now the Bucks have made it all but necessary to beat the Pacers in order to have a chance at staying in the race. Milwaukee is 2.5 games behind Philly, and the only saving grace for the Bucks is that the Sixers still have to play in Milwaukee next week. The winner of that game gets the tiebreaker edge. This won’t be an easy one for the Bucks, who have struggled against Indiana this year—Milwaukee lost twice to the Pacers, and gave up 125 and 105 points in those losses.

Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns
The Pacific Division crown is still up for grabs between the Clippers and Lakers, as well as city bragging rights and the No. 3 seed that will come with it. It also grants the winner the benefit of avoiding Memphis in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers close with three of their final four games on the road, where they have played better lately, but it’s still a tough finishing schedule when it comes to nosing out the other L.A. team.

The Suns have been one of the best teams in the conference since the All-Star break and that has taken them from six games under .500 to a slugfest at the bottom of the West bracket. Phoenix has the potential to move up as high as No. 6, but, at the same time, are in a dead heat with Utah and Houston for the No. 8 spot, trailing the Jazz by .5 games. The Suns finish with three of their final four games at home.