What I'm watching in the NBA playoffs bracket as teams jockey for seeds

You can take your eyes off March Madness for just a moment and focus on the hot NBA playoff race.

Golden State misses the postseason? Could happen. Denver gets the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference again? The Nuggets are trying.

Boston has first place secured in the Eastern Conference, and Milwaukee is headed for the No. 2 seed but plenty of seeds remain undecided in the East.

In the West, three teams have a shot at the top seed, fourth place is up for grabs, it’s a tight race for the sixth seed and one team is making an impressive late-season push to get the 10th seed – and final play-in game spot.

Here are the playoff races I’m watching in the NBA standings this week as teams jockey for seeds:

NBA Eastern Conference playoffs bracket watch

Third place through fifth place

Cleveland, which has an outside shot at claiming the No. 2 seed, is in third place in the East at 43-28, ½ game ahead of New York (42-28) and one game ahead of Orlando (42-29).

Third and fourth place are coveted spots because it equals home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and finishing third place means avoiding Boston in a potential conference semifinals matchup. The Cavaliers and Knicks are managing injuries to key players, and the Magic are a young and rising team in the East.

Games this week for Cleveland: vs. Charlotte Monday; at Charlotte Wednesday; vs. Philadelphia Friday; at Denver Sunday

Games this week for New York: vs. Detroit Monday; at Toronto Wednesday; at San Antonio Friday; vs. Oklahoma City Sunday

Games this week for Orlando: vs. Golden State Wednesday; vs. Los Angeles Clippers Friday; vs. Memphis Saturday

Sixth place (seventh and eighth, too)

Earning the No. 6 seed means a guaranteed spot in the playoffs and avoiding the play-in game. Sixth-place Indiana (40-32) has a ½-game lead over Miami (39-32) and Philadelphia (39-32), and the Pacers are also 2½ behind Orlando. Sixers star Joel Embiid, who is recovering from a knee procedure, could return for Philadelphia in the last two weeks of the regular season.

Games this week for Indiana: at the Los Angeles Clippers Monday; at Chicago Wednesday; vs. Los Angeles Lakers Friday

Games this week for Miami: vs. Golden State Tuesday; vs. Portland Friday; at Washington Sunday

Games this week for Philadelphia: at Sacramento Kings Monday; vs. Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday; at Cleveland Friday; at Toronto Sunday

NBA Western Conference playoffs bracket watch

Top seed in the West

The race for the No. 1 in the seed in the West and home-court advantage until the Finals is compelling. You have defending champion Denver (50-21) with a ½-game lead over impressive and youthful Oklahoma City (49-21) and a one-game lead over solid Minnesota (49-22).

This race features a two-time MVP in Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who may win his third this season, and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is a strong MVP candidate. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards also is part of the MVP discussion.

This should be a fun final three weeks of games and standings watching at the top of the West.

Games this week for Oklahoma City: at New Orleans Tuesday; vs. Houston Wednesday; vs. Phoenix Friday; at New York Sunday

Games this week for Denver: vs. Memphis Monday; vs. Phoenix Wednesday; vs. Minnesota Friday; vs. Cleveland Sunday

Games this week for Minnesota: vs. Detroit Wednesday; at Denver Friday; vs. Chicago Sunday

Fourth and fifth seed

For a long stretch of the season, it looked like the Los Angeles Clippers (44-26) had at least the fourth seed locked up – maybe even higher. They not long ago were tied for third, just two games out of first place. But after Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia and New Orleans’ victory against Detroit, the Clippers are just a ½ game ahead of the fifth-place (and surging) Pelicans (44-27) who play three of the best teams in the league this week.

Games this week for the Los Angeles Clippers: vs. Indiana Monday; at Philadelphia Wednesday; at Orlando Friday; at Charlotte Sunday

Games this week for New Orleans: vs. Oklahoma City Tuesday; vs. Milwaukee Thursday; vs. Boston Saturday

Sixth, seventh and eighth seed

Phoenix (42-29), Sacramento (41-29) and Dallas (41-29) are separated by a ½ game for the sixth seed – with the Suns in sixth place and Kings and Mavericks tied for seventh. The ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers (39-32), who begin a six-game road trip Tuesday, are 2½ games behind Sacramento and Dallas.

That illustrates just how tough and deep the West is. It looks like just one of those teams will get a guaranteed first-round playoff series. The others will be involved in the play-in game.

This schedule this week for the Suns is difficult, and the Kings and Mavs play each other twice this week.

Games this week for Phoenix: at San Antonio Monday; at Denver Wednesday; at Oklahoma City Friday.

Games this week for Sacramento: vs. Philadelphia Monday; vs. Dallas Tuesday; vs. Dallas Friday; vs. Utah Sunday

Games this week for Dallas: at Utah Monday; at Sacramento Tuesday; at Sacramento Friday; at Houston Sunday

Games this week for the Los Angeles Lakers: at Milwaukee Tuesday; at Memphis Wednesday; at Indiana Friday; at Brooklyn Sunday

10th seed

This has turned into a dicey situation for Golden State (36-34) and an opportunity for Houston (35-35). On March 1, the Rockets were 25-34 and in 12th place in the West – six games out of the final play-in spot.

Since then, the Rockets have won 10 of 11 games, including eight in a row and are one game behind the Warriors for 10th place and the final play-in game spot.

There is considerable heat on Golden State as the Rockets, who are building and headed in the right direction, make a strong push.

Games this week for Golden State: at Miami Tuesday; at Orlando Wednesday; at Charlotte Friday; at San Antonio Sunday

Games this week for Houston: vs. Portland Monday; at Oklahoma City Wednesday; at Utah Friday; vs. Dallas Sunday

When does the regular season end?

The final day of the regular season is April 14 with all 30 teams playing on that Sunday. With three weeks remaining, each team has about 10-12 games remaining before the postseason begins.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA playoffs brackets to watch: Nuggets, Clippers, Lakers and more