Scoreboard watching: Where the Wolves sit in the West on Thursday, April 10

The Spurs did the Wolves a favor by beating the Warriors Wednesday night, but all that really matters is the result of Thursday night's game between Minnesota and Memphis.

Jan 11, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) dribbles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

One night after the Timberwolves blew a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost to the Bucks, the Golden State Warriors did Minnesota a favor by losing to the San Antonio Spurs. Let's check in on the crazy playoff race in the West.

Key results Wednesday in the West:

• Lakers 112, Mavericks 97
• Spurs 114, Warriors 111
• Nuggets 124, Kings 116
• Clippers 134, Rockets 117

Oklahoma City and Houston have clinched the top two seeds and the Lakers are 2.5 games up on Minnesota with three games to go, so it's highly unlikely that the Wolves can climb as high as the No. 3 seed.

At 49-31, the Lakers hold the three seed by one game over fourth place Denver (48-32) and the fifth place Clippers (48-32). The Grizzlies (47-32) are sixth and the Warriors (47-33) slipped to seventh, just a half-game ahead of eighth place Minnesota (46-33).

If the playoffs started today, the Wolves would play the Warriors in the play-in tournament. The winner would secure the No. 7 seed while the loser would have to play Sacramento or Dallas in a do-or-die game for the No. 8 seed.

Key games Thursday in the West:

• Timberwolves at Grizzlies, 8:30 p.m. CT

If the Wolves win, they'll be in a three-way tie with the Warriors and Grizzlies. The tiebreaker would go to the Warriors first, then the Grizzlies and Wolves, so Minnesota won't move up in the standings with the win Thursday night. But they would be within a game of the Nuggets and Clippers.

If the Wolves lose to Memphis, they'll need a miracle to avoid the play-in tournament since they'd be two games behind the Nuggets, Clippers and Grizzlies, and a full game behind Golden State, whom they would lose a tiebreaker against.

Here's how tiebreakers involving three or more teams are settled.

1. Division leader wins tie over teams not leading a division
2. Winning percentage in all games among tied teams
3. Conference winning percentage
4. Winning percentage against Western Conference playoff teams
5. Point differential

One of the Lakers, Clippers, or Warriors is going to win the Pacific division, so they have the leg up on Minnesota, Memphis and Denver in the event that there's a three-plus-team tie at season's end.

The regular season comes to an end on Sunday.