Suns lock up play-in tournament positioning with loss and Timberwolves win on Sunday

The Phoenix Suns have five games left in the regular season and only a 0.3% chance of being the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. A loss paired with a Minnesota Timberwolves win on Sunday will lock them into the play-in tournament.

Phoenix (42-35) plays at the Chicago Bulls (29-48) with tipoff at 12:30 p.m. and Minnesota (46-31), currently sitting in the sixth spot, hosts the Charlotte Hornets at 4 p.m.

As things stand entering Sunday, the Suns have a 53.4% chance of earning the No. 7 seed in the final postseason picture and a 24.5% chance of landing at No. 8, according to odds by Basketball-Reference.com.

All other Western Conference teams still in playoff contention have locked up their status as either play-in or top-six seeds.

Phoenix trails Minnesota by four games, and it needs to finish the final five contests tied or ahead of the T-Wolves with it holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Suns won the season series 2-1, capturing the first two games in November and December before falling in mid-March.

The Suns hold a 2.5-game edge over the Portland Trail Blazers (40-38), who currently reside in the No. 8 position. Phoenix also wins that tiebreaker, having won the series 2-1 over Portland.

The Los Angeles Clippers (39-38) sit three games back of the Suns and matched them in the regular season 2-2. If the two teams ended the season with an identical record, the next tiebreaker is divisional record, which Phoenix has the advantage at 10-6 to L.A.’s 8-6.

Suns remaining schedule before postseason

Sunday at 12:30 p.m.: at Chicago Bulls (29-48)

Tuesday at 8 p.m.: vs. Houston Rockets (48-29)

Wednesday at 7 p.m.: vs. Dallas Mavericks (24-53)

Friday at 7:30 p.m.: at Los Angeles Lakers (50-27)

Sunday at 5:30 p.m.: at Oklahoma City Thunder (61-16)

Full Western Conference playoff picture

1. Thunder (61-16), GB: —
2. Spurs (59-19), GB: 2.5
3. Lakers (50-27), GB: 11
4. Nuggets (50-28), GB: 11.5
5. Rockets (48-29), GB: 13
6. T-Wolves (46-31), GB: 15
7. Suns (42-35), GB: 19
8. Trail Blazers (40-38), GB: 21.5
9. Clippers (39-38), GB: 22
10. Warriors (36-41), GB: 25

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