At first glance, it’s quite confusing, to be certain.

This is the first time in NBA history that three teams are tied atop the conference standings with one game to play. Denver, Minnesota and Oklahoma City are all 56-25.

The Thunder are currently the No. 1 seed, while Minnesota is No. 2 and Denver is No. 3.

That’s the case, even though Minnesota has the head-to-head tiebreakers with both Oklahoma City and Denver. The Wolves split the season series with each of the two Northwest division rivals 2-2, but Minnesota owns a better division record than Denver and has the same division record as Oklahoma City, but a better Western Conference record than the Thunder.

So how, might you ask, do the Thunder win a three-way tie?

Because the first tiebreaker in that instance is record versus the other two teams. Oklahoma City won the season series versus Denver, 3-1. So the Thunder are 5-3 versus the other two teams, while Minnesota is 4-4 and Denver is 3-5.

So if the three teams remain tied after Sunday’s regular season finales, the Thunder are the No. 1 seed, and Minnesota is No. 2.

But, if Minnesota is in a two-way tie with either team atop the standings, the Wolves will be the No. 1 seed.

Clear as mud, correct? Frankly, that’s the case for the entire Western Conference playoff picture heading into Sunday’s bouts.

Dallas is already locked into the fifth seed and will meet the fourth-seeded Clippers in the first round of the West playoffs. Everything else is entirely fluid and dependent on the results of the following matchups:

Phoenix at Minnesota, 2:30 p.m.

Denver at Memphis, 2:30 p.m.

Dallas at Oklahoma City, 2:30 p.m.

Lakers at New Orleans, 2:30 p.m.

Utah at Golden State, 2:30 p.m.

Portland at Sacramento: 2:30 p.m.

For Minnesota to grab the No. 1 seed, it needs to beat Phoenix and have Oklahoma City and/or Denver lose. It’s unlikely, as Oklahoma City and Denver will be heavy favorites on Sunday, but as Denver’s loss to San Antonio showed on Friday, anything can happen.

If the Wolves beat Phoenix, the lowest they can be seeded is No. 2.

If Minnesota loses to Phoenix, the Timberwolves will likely fall to the No. 3 seed.

Here are the most likely playoff scenarios for the Timberwolves depending on Sunday’s events (which — for the sake of brevity and sanity — will all assume victories by Sacramento and Golden State, who will also be heavy favorites on Sunday. Their results can only impact seeds No. 8-10)

SCENARIO 1: Minnesota wins, New Orleans wins and Denver and Oklahoma City also win

-Minnesota would be the No. 2 seed and would play the winner of the Phoenix-Sacramento play-in game.

SCENARIO 2: Minnesota wins, the Lakers win and Denver and Oklahoma City also win

-Minnesota would be the No. 2 seed and would play the winner of the Phoenix-Lakers play-in game.

SCENARIO 3: Minnesota wins, New Orleans wins and Denver AND/OR Oklahoma City loses

-Minnesota would be the No. 1 seed and would play the winner of the final West play-in game (loser of Phoenix/Sacramento vs. winner of Lakers/Golden State)

SCENARIO 4: Minnesota wins, the Lakers win and Denver AND/OR Oklahoma City loses

-Minnesota would be the No. 1 seed and would play the winner of the final West play-in game (loser of Phoenix/Lakers vs. winner of Sacramento/Golden State)

SCENARIO 5: Minnesota loses, New Orleans wins and Denver and Oklahoma City also win

-Minnesota would be the No. 3 seed and play New Orleans in the first round

SCENARIO 6: Minnesota loses, the Lakers win and Denver and Oklahoma City also win

-Minnesota would be the No. 3 seed and play Phoenix in the first round

SCENARIO 7: Minnesota loses, New Orleans wins and Denver AND/OR Oklahoma City loses

-Minnesota would be the No. 2 seed and would play the winner of the Phoenix/Sacramento play-in game

SCENARIO 8: Minnesota loses, the Lakers win and Denver AND/OR Oklahoma City loses

-Minnesota would be the No. 2 seed and would play the winner of the New Orleans-Lakers play-in game

The Wild are running on bald tires, and it’s getting a little bit ugly as their season winds down.

Marat Khusnutdinov and Ryan Hartman scored goals on Friday at T-Mobile Center, but the Wild chased all night in a 7-2 loss that dropped Minnesota to 3-5-2 in its past 10 games with three remaining in a disappointing 2023-24 season.

Logan Thompson stopped 25 of 27 shots, and Vegas got goals from seven different players as the Golden Knights snapped a three-game losing streak and eliminated St. Louis — losers to Carolina on Friday — to clinch the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Knights scored on three of their first four shots on goal while taking a 3-0 first-period lead that was never seriously threatened by a Wild team playing without three of its best forwards.

Marcus Foligno was lost to season-ending surgery to repair core muscles on April 2, and Mats Zuccarello and Freddy Gaudreau were not in Las Vegas this week while attending to personal issues. It was unclear whether they would be available for Saturday’s game at San Jose.

“Still up for debate,” Wild coach John Hynes told reporters after Friday’s morning skate.

Nicolas Roy, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar scored for the Knights. After the last, Marc-Andre Fleury angrily threw the puck back into the net.

Khusnutdinov deflected a shot from Brock Faber past Thompson on a second-period power play for his first NHL goal, which pulled the Wild within 3-1 at 7:42. But Marchessault answered with a power-play one-timer from the slot at 13:12, and Tomas Hertl scored an even-strength goal 2:27 into the third period to make it 5-1.

Fleury made 23 saves for the Wild, Hartman scored from the left circle on a delayed penalty at 12:47 of the third period to pull Minnesota within 5-2, but Karlsson added another goal with 9:13 left in the game.

Eliminated from postseason contention by a 5-2 loss at Colorado on Tuesday, the Wild have lost 8 of 12 since March 16, and outscored 36-14 in those losses. After playing the Sharks on Saturday, they’ll be in Los Angeles on Monday before returning to St. Paul for the season finale against Seattle on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

Rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt is scheduled to make his third NHL start in San Jose, and forward Liam Ohgren made his NHL debut in Friday’s loss after getting his first call-up on Wednesday.

Playing left wing on a line with Khusnutdinov at center and Vinni Letiieri at right wing, Ohgren had two shots on goal and clocked 3:10 of power-play time.

Atlanta did Minnesota a solid Friday at Target Center.

After Atlanta rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to hold a lead early in the fourth frame, the Hawks — who are locked into the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference play-in — sat their starters.

Meaning Minnesota just had to out-edge Atlanta’s reserves to pull of a victory.

The Wolves made it far closer than they would’ve preferred, but did manage to squeak out a 109-106 victory over the Hawks.

The Hawks won Trae Young’s 27 minutes by 16 points.

The win came on a night where Denver fell 121-120 to the Spurs, meaning the Thunder, Wolves and Nuggets are all in a three-way tie atop the Western Conference. That means Oklahoma City is currently, the No. 1 seed, but that could change via a variety of outcomes Sunday. Minnesota plays Phoenix in its regular season finale.

It wasn’t always pretty down the stretch for Minnesota, who was a little clunky all game offensively in Karl-Anthony Towns’ return from a month-long absence from a torn meniscus. Towns finished with 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 28 minutes.

Still, for a team that’s struggled so mightily down the stretch of close games this season — the Wolves entered the night second-to-last in clutch-time net rating since Christmas — it was nice for the Wolves to experience success with the game on the line. Anthony Edwards carried the load offensively, consistently finding his own offense over the final two minutes.

On the other end, after Vít Krejčí put a scare into Minnesota with a couple key plays midway through the frame to put Atlanta up a couple on multiple possessions, the Wolves tightened the screws defensively to take the lead.

Still, it was just a one-point game with 20 seconds to play before Edwards hit a pair of free-throws to extend the lead to three. Eight of Edwards’ 14 points came in the final frame.

Then, on the other end, Minnesota mustered a stop and Rudy Gobert hit a pair of free-throws on the other end to essentially put the game away. Gobert had 25 points on a perfect 10 for 10 shooting from the field to go with 19 rebounds.

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DETROIT — The Twins knew they were up against a tall task with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on the mound on Friday.

That challenge got even more daunting in the third inning when star shortstop Carlos Correa checked his swing on strike three and immediately started clutching his side and grimacing as he slowly walked back to the first-base dugout.

Correa was immediately removed from the game with what the Twins called a right oblique strain. In addition to losing their shortstop for a yet-to-be-determined amount of time, the Twins also lost the game, falling 8-2 to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park after rain delayed the start of the game by more than an hour.

It’s a tough loss for the Twins, who are mired in a slow offensive start to the season that has affected most of their position players — but not Correa, who had been the team’s most productive bat this season.

Now, the Twins will have to navigate for a period of time without the starting left side of their infield. In addition to Correa, Royce Lewis has been on the injured list since suffering a quad strain on Opening Day. Complicating things is the fact that Brooks Lee, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect and one of the top prospects in baseball, would be a natural replacement for either but remains on the minor league injured list.

Willi Castro entered the game to replace Correa at shortstop, and the Twins will likely rely on Castro and Kyle Farmer to help fill the position in his absence.

The Correa-less Twins collected six hits in Friday’s loss, managing two off Skubal in his five innings, neither of which left the infield. The Twins finally scored a run in the ninth inning on doubles from catcher Ryan Jeffers and Farmer, his first hit of the season. Edouard Julien added an RBI single later in the inning.

They played from behind almost the entire night after Mark Canha took a Pablo López pitch at the top of the strike zone and deposited it into the left field stands in the first inning. The Tigers tacked on a second run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth inning, chasing López out of the game.

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