Both the Nets and the Suns lost their games last night which maintains the 1-game lead in the standings for the Suns. With one game left to play the Nets can only match the Suns record or finish below them in the standings.
IF THE NETS WIN VS RAPTORS AND THE SUNS LOSE VS CLIPPERS
This would put the Nets and Suns into a tie at 22-60. The tie-breaking procedure is as follows:
In the event that teams finish with the same record, each tied team receives the average of the total number of combinations for the positions that they occupy. In 2007, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers tied for the sixth worst record. The average of the 6th and 7th positions in the lottery was taken, resulting in each team getting 53 combinations (the average of 63 and 43). Should the average number not be an integer, a coin flip is then used to determine which team or teams receive the extra combination. The result of the coin flip is also used to determine who receives the earlier pick in the event that neither of the tied teams wins one of the first three picks via the lottery.
This scenario would leave the Celtics with ~13.7% chance at the first overall pick in the lottery.
IF THE SUNS WIN OR THE NETS LOSE
The Nets finish alone with the 3rd worst record and no coin flip is necessary.
Probability of 1st overall pick: 15.6%
Probability of 2nd overall pick: 15.7%
Probability of 3rd overall pick: 15.6%
Probability of 4th overall pick: 22.6%
Probability of 5th overall pick: 26.5%
Probability of 6th overall pick: 4%
Submitted April 12, 2016 at 08:57AM by MeddlingMike