after Brooks Koepka took a four-shot lead over Jon Rahm; Tiger Woods withdrew this morning.
All of the games in the NBA’s Western Conference tip off at 12:30 p.m. today, with the Lakers at home against the Utah Jazz and the Clippers on the road against the Phoenix Suns. The results of four games will determine the postseason destinations of five teams. The Associated Press says the day will whittle down 16 different seeding scenarios for guaranteed playoff spots and the play-in tournament .
Say all of the favorites win today. The Clippers would remain in the No. 5 spot and open the playoffs against these same Suns. The Lakers would stay No. 7 and host a play-in game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the winner becoming the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and the loser having another play-in game.
But it might not be that easy, and why would it be after the regular season the L.A. teams have played? The Clippers could end today as high as No. 5 and as low as No. 7 in the conference. The Lakers could land as high as No. 6 and as low as No. 9. No. 5 or 6 is the goal for two reasons: That avoids the dice roll of the play-in round. And no team seeded lower than No. 6 has ever won the NBA championship, the Houston Rockets having taken the West’s sixth-best record into the 1995 playoffs, where Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Robert Horry beat Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway and the Orlando Magic.