They could be headed to Portland or Houston to open the first round. They could open at home against the Rockets or Dallas Mavericks.

Locked in a three-way tie with the Trail Blazers and Rockets, the Spurs could finish anywhere from third to fifth. With four quarters left in the regular season, the playoff permutations are still plenty.

"The seedings right now are like the stock market," Spurs forward Drew Gooden said. "They change every day."

The Spurs enter the final night of the season with either everything or nothing to play for. In order to achieve the best-case scenario, they will need some help from an unlikely ally to achieve the best-case scenario.

With a victory over the Hornets, and a Dallas victory over Houston, the Spurs will claim their first Southwest Division title since 2005-06 and the accompanying No. 3 seed.

In that case, the Spurs would open the postseason at home against Dallas and would avoid the top-seeded Lakers until the conference finals.

The worst-case alternative is stark. If all three teams involved in the tie win out, the Spurs drop to fifth, their lowest seeding since Tim Duncan's rookie year.

Though it would be nice to know how to pack for that first postseason trip - for the drizzle of Portland or the humidity of Houston? - Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says worrying about seeding now is a wasted endeavor.

"You're going to be where you're going to be," he said. "It's not like you're going to go out and try to lose games. You try to win, and wherever you are, you are."

Of gaining home-court advantage in the first round, Popovich says, "you wouldn't turn it down." At this point, however, he knows that is partially out of his team's control.

"All that matters is how well we play," Popovich said. "If we're a good enough team, the home court won't mean much."

For both the Spurs and Hornets, tonight will be about more than just seeding. It will also be about momentum. One team is looking to continue it, the other looking to discover it.

The Spurs have won three in a row heading into tonight's finale, although just one came against a playoff-bound team (Utah). New Orleans, meanwhile, finds itself reeling toward the postseason having lost five of its past seven.

The nadir was an 86-66 disaster at Houston on Monday that New Orleans star Chris Paul called "embarrassing."

A year after coming within a Game 7 victory against the Spurs of advancing to the Western Conference finals, the Hornets are fighting just to stay in sixth. Lose tonight, and there is a chance they could sink as low as eighth - and get that matchup with the Lakers one year too late and two rounds too early.

"I think most of our guys in that locker room think it's like a light switch, that you can just turn it on when the playoffs start," New Orleans coach Byron Scott said. "It's not going to happen."

On the topic of this flip-switching business, the Spurs agree.

"It's not like you just flip a switch when the playoffs start," guard Roger Mason Jr. said. "It's a continual process that starts in training camp. Everything is geared toward the playoffs."

And so, that process goes on for one more day. By the end of it, the postseason picture should be clear.

Portland or Houston or Dallas? On the road or at home? The Spurs will know soon enough.

Sorting it out

Today's games

Affecting West playoff seedings 2 through 5:

* Hornets (49-32) at Spurs (53-28) , 7 p.m., TV: FSNSW

* Rockets (53-28) at Mavericks (49-32), 7 p.m.

* Nuggets (54-27) at Trail Blazers (53-28), 9:30 p.m.

Playoff scenarios

* If Spurs, Blazers and Rockets lose: 2. Nuggets, 3. Rockets, 4. Blazers, 5. Spurs

* If Spurs, Blazers and Rockets win: 2. Rockets, 3. Nuggets, 4. Blazers, 5. Spurs

* If Spurs lose and Blazers and Rockets win: 2. Rockets, 3. Nuggets, 4. Blazers, 5. Spurs

* If Spurs and Rockets win and Blazers lose: 2. Nuggets, 3. Rockets, 4. Spurs , 5. Blazers

* If Spurs and Blazers win and Rockets lose: 2. Nuggets, 3. Spurs , 4. Blazers, 5. Rockets

Sources: Express-News, NBA.com