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Analyzing the race for the East’s eighth seed



The focus for a trio of teams — Atlanta, Toronto and Chicago — is on the race for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings. the Hawks have a one-game lead over the Raptors, who are up two games up on the Bulls. The Pacers are not out of the mix but need help [the rest of the way].

Eighth place is crucial. The team that finishes there not only would have two chances to win one game to make the playoffs, but the first crack could be against a flawed team, either Miami or Brooklyn. If they lose that game, they’d still get to host the winner of the game between the ninth and 10th seeds to make the playoffs. Both of those teams would need to win two straight to make the playoffs.

Here is what you need to know about the race:

Tiebreakers
It’s good to have this accounted for just to check on April 9 when the season ends. In anticipation, all three teams play 1 p.m. ET games on the last day of the season, with the Hawks in Boston and the Raptors and Bulls hosting the Bucks and Pistons, respectively.

Atlanta beat the Raptors two out of three times this year (that Scottie Barnes missed layup looms large), and the Raptors beat the Bulls two out of three times this season. Both of those teams are done playing each other. In the case of almost any two-team tie — more on that “almost” in two paragraphs — the winner of the season series is the first tiebreaker.

The Bulls have defeated the Hawks two out of three times, but they play once more, April 4 in Chicago. In head-to-head games, all three teams are currently 3-3, with the winner of that last game getting the tiebreaker and the loser finishing in last in the case of a three-way tie.

Difficulty of schedule
Strictly looking at the winning percentage of their opponents, the Raptors have the toughest remaining schedule (52.1 winning percentage, including their game against Milwaukee on Sunday), and Atlanta has the easiest (50.1, which jumps up after their loss to the Spurs on Sunday). Chicago is at 51.2.

At this point of the year, the details of the broad strokes of schedules have generally evened out. After Sunday, the Raptors — who are markedly better at home than on the road — will have five games left in Toronto and five elsewhere. Atlanta will have six home games and three road games remaining. Chicago is at home for four and away for six.

The Hawks have three back-to-backs left. Chicago has two (although no travel for one), and the Raptors have one.