ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst relayed the thoughts of a Western Conference executive on Friday who essentially said the bracket will be a toss-up outside of the Oklahoma City Thunder. "It's matchup dependent and then it's rock, paper, scissors from there," the executive said.

Heading into their clash Thursday night, the Memphis Grizzlies held onto the No. 6 seed—the final guaranteed playoff spot—with a 47-32 record while the Minnesota Timberwolves

The NBA playoffs begin April 19. The top six teams in each conference qualify for those playoffs. With five days left in the regular season, the Timberwolves (46-33) are in eighth place in the Western Conference after a bad loss in Milwaukee on Tuesday.