Scoreboard watching: Where the Wolves sit in the West on Wednesday, April 9

How costly was the Timberwolves' meltdown in Milwaukee Tuesday night? Well, the Wolves enter play Wednesday all alone in eighth place when they could've been locked in a five-way tie and holding the No. 4 seed had they not blown a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter.

With the exception of the Lakers, all of the teams Minnesota is fighting with for positioning in the West won Tuesday night.

Key results Tuesday in the West:

• Timberwolves 103, Bucks 110
• Grizzlies 124, Hornets 100
• Thunder 136, Lakers 120
• Warriors 133, Suns 95
• Clippers 122, Spurs 117

Oklahoma City and Houston have clinched the top two seeds.

The Lakers (48-31) still control the 3 seed but they are only one game ahead of the Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors and Grizzlies, who are all 47-32. Minnesota (46-33) is two behind the Lakers and one game behind the teams jumbled together in a four-way tie.

If the playoffs started today, the Wolves would play the Grizzlies in the play-in tournament. The winner would secure the No. 7 seed while the loser would have to play Sacramento or Dallas in a do-or-die game for the No. 8 seed.

Key games Wednesday in the West:

• Lakers at Mavericks, 6:30 p.m. CT
• Warriors vs. Spurs, 9 p.m. CT
• Nuggets at Kings, 9 p.m. CT
• Clippers vs. Rockets, 9:30 p.m. CT

Minnesota will be scoreboard watching Wednesday night and hoping the Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets and Clippers all lose.

More important for Minnesota is Thursday's showdown between the Wolves and Grizzlies in Memphis. That game will be critical for both teams to avoid the play-in, but it could also determine who gets home court if they happen to meet each other in the play-in.

Here's how tiebreakers involving three or more teams are settled.

1. Division leader wins tie over teams not leading a division
2. Winning percentage in all games among tied teams
3. Conference winning percentage
4. Winning percentage against Western Conference playoff teams
5. Point differential

One of the Lakers, Clippers, or Warriors is going to win the Pacific division, so they have the leg up on Minnesota, Memphis and Denver in the event that there's a three-plus-team tie at season's end.

The regular season comes to an end on Sunday.

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