Struggling Bulls try to hang on to East's No. 1 seed

A look at three of tonight's NBA games that will impact the playoff picture:

Dallas Mavericks at Chicago Bulls

The Bulls lost for the fifth time in their past 10 games Thursday in Miami, and though the loss came without Derrick Rose, it’s probably time to get concerned about how Chicago is closing out the year. The loss to the Heat put the top seed in the East into play, with Miami only one game back in the loss column.

A loss here gives the Heat an opportunity to tie the Bulls and would create an interesting tiebreaker scenario: The Bulls and Heat split their games this year, and could wind up tied in the second tiebreaker, conference record.

That would send them to the third tiebreaker, record against East playoff teams. For that tiebreaker, the Bulls had been hoping that the Bucks (a team Chicago swept) would earn the eighth playoff spot, but now that it looks like the Sixers will finish No. 8, that tiebreaker would go to Miami.

Of course, it won’t matter if the Bulls can just get back to winning games.

Dallas, meanwhile, has clinched a playoff spot by virtue of owning tiebreaker edges over the Suns, Jazz, Nuggets and Rockets. The Mavs have the No. 6 seed, which means a potential playoff rematch against the Lakers.

Dallas probably would not mind slipping to seventh or eighth and getting a matchup against the Spurs—the Mavericks split with San Antonio this year but were soundly swept by the Lakers.

Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns
It’ll be a big day for the bottom of the Western Conference bracket, as two of the teams scrambling to punch their postseason tickets in the final week square off in Phoenix.

The outcome of this one represents a wide swing—a victory would wrap up a spot in the postseason for the Nuggets and could move them into the No. 6 spot ahead of Dallas, while a loss would move Phoenix within a half-game of Denver and throw the Nuggets’ playoff spot into jeopardy.

The Suns have been inconsistent lately, but they have played well at home, winning four of their last five including a huge win Thursday over the Clippers.

Even with a loss, Denver does have a couple of advantages in this final week: The Nuggets have the tiebreaker over the Suns and the two teams chasing Denver, the Suns and Jazz, play each other, meaning at least one team is guaranteed to lose another game.

Orlando Magic at Utah Jazz
The Jazz technically are out of the playoff picture at this point, but they control their destiny and, with three games at home (and a 22-8 mark at EnergySolutions Arena), their destiny seems to involve the postseason.

They play an Orlando team reeling from the loss of center Dwight Howard, sporting a 4-8 record in its past 12 games. The Magic are sitting at No. 6 in the East and, with four games remaining, still have the potential to fall behind the Knicks and wind up seventh. That would require four straight losses by the Magic and four straight wins by the Knicks, but the way things are going, it’s a possibility.

Getting the No. 6 seed means Indiana in the first round, and though the Pacers are the hottest team in the league, they’re a better matchup than the Bulls or Heat would be for whichever team finishes seventh.