CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With an undetermined starting time throughout the 2021-22 season, the Cavaliers’ regular-season finale against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday will be played at 3:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the league announced.
The NBA wanted to maintain scheduling flexibility for late-season playoff races, and all four teams currently in the Eastern Conference play-in spots -- Brooklyn, Charlotte, Atlanta and Cleveland -- will play at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday as the play-in slate shakes out.
Currently, Cleveland (43-36) is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, which would give the Cavs homecourt advantage for the play-in tournament if they can hold on to that seed. They are one-and-a-half games ahead of the Hawks (41-37), and two-and-a-half games ahead of both the Hornets (40-38) and the Nets (40-38).
If the Cavs hold on to the seventh seed, their first matchup would be against the eighth seed -- the Hawks, if everything stands pat. If the seventh-seeded team wins its first play-in game, they are automatically elevated to a normal seven-game playoff series against the No. 2 seed. If the playoffs began today that would be the Boston Celtics.
If Cleveland holds on to the seventh seed and loses its first play-in game, the Cavs would have one more chance to advance, if they beat the winner of the 9-10 game (in this case, the Hornets and Nets). The winner of that second matchup would become the eighth seed, taking on top-seeded Miami in a seven-game series.
Cleveland has three games remaining this season. Before taking on the Bucks, the Cavs head to Orlando on Tuesday night and Brooklyn on Friday night.
The Cavs have gone 2-1 against the Bucks -- currently the No. 3 seed -- this season. Most recently, Cleveland got a 115-99 win on Jan. 26.
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