Mavs-Thunder preview: Much at stake for one of the teams in Game 82

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mavericks will finish the regular season on Sunday with a skeleton crew trying to break some hearts in Oklahoma.

Of course, they also can control the fate of a few other teams, too.

If the Oklahoma City Thunder win the 2:30 match with the Mavericks, they will be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Lose, and it becomes a jumbled mess with Minnesota and Denver in play for the Nos 1, 2 and 3 seeds.

Saturday marked the first time in NBA history that three teams were tied for the best record in a conference going into the last day of the regular season.

And all three have winnable games.

The Thunder know they have their fate in their hands. Beat the extremely shorthanded Mavericks and they will have the top seed and play the No. 8 team that will be decided in the play-in tournament.

The Nuggets play at Memphis and the Timberwolves have a home game against Phoenix, which also has a lot on the line as the Suns hope to catch the No. 6 New Orleans Pelicans, who will play at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.

And, of course, the Lakers have a lot to play for, too, hoping to improve their standing in the play-in.

All of those games start at 2:30, so scoreboard watching will be a real thing on Sunday afternoon.

And for those who believe that a short-staffed Mavericks’ team can’t push the Thunder, we refer you to Friday night, when San Antonio, which has nothing to play for, beat the Nuggets to open the door for the Thunder to have a chance to be the top seed in the West.

Clearly, there’s a lot going on in the Western Conference race in the final hours of the regular season.

Here’s what else to watch for in Game No. 82:

• The Mavericks will sit Luka Dončić (left ankle soreness), Kyrie Irving (left hamstring soreness), Daniel Gafford (right elbow soreness), P.J Washington (right ankle sprain), Derrick Jones Jr. (left shoulder sprain), Dante Exum (right foot sprain), Maxi Kleber (low back spasms) and Dereck Lively II (right knee sprain) all are out. That should leave the Mavericks with eight healthy players led by Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green and Jaden Hardy.
• Again, the Mavericks can neither improve nor hurt their position in the playoffs. They are the No. 5 seed and will start the playoffs at the Clippers.
• The Thunder have one of the best players in the game in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 30.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. He recently missed six games and the Thunder lost four of them. But they have won three in a row since his return, in which he’s scored 40, 26 and 23 points.
• The Thunder are one of the youngest teams in the NBA. Gilgeous-Alexander, 25, is the oldest member of their starting lineup. They also have Lu Dort (24), Jalen Williams (22), Chet Holmgren (21) and Josh Giddey (21) in their usual starting five.
• The Thunder are favored by 19½ points and the over/under is 223.5 points.

MAVERICKS (50-31) at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (56-25)

• When/where: 2:30 p.m., Paycom Center, Oklahoma City.
• TV: Bally Sports Southwest.
• Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

X: @ESefko