It’s rare for an NBA team to find itself in a one-game elimination, but that’s essentially what the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors face tomorrow.

The two teams entered last night’s games tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and the winner of tomorrow’s game will have a huge advantage heading into the season’s final week. Should Golden State prevail, the Warriors will be a game up and have an easier schedule down the stretch, including home games against the Clippers and Sonics. Denver would have to win at Utah on Saturday to have any hope of catching them.

But if the Nuggets win, the advantage is equally large. The Nuggets own the tie-breaker if the teams finish in a dead heat, so Denver would essentially have a two-game lead with three left to play. And with their finale, a home game against Memphis, the Warriors would need Denver to blow the other two while winning their final three contests — including a road game in Phoenix.

Thus, it essentially boils down to one game for the final playoff spot in the wild West. Denver is probably the better team, but Golden State’s home-court advantage tomorrow may carry the day. Whoever loses will end up as the best lottery team of all time, but that’s little consolation. On to the rankings:

1. BOSTON CELTICS (61–15) (LW:1): For a team that’s essentially idling until the playoffs start, they sure look pretty good — they’ve won six straight games by 14 points or more.

2. DETROIT PISTONS (55–21) (2): The subs are getting more minutes with their seeding nailed down, and rookie guard Rodney Stuckey is taking advantage. He scored 27 points to lead a comeback win over Minnesota last Tuesday.

3. UTAH JAZZ (51–26) (4): Don’t let the middling record fool you. This is the best team in the West, as they showed in Friday’s 26-point beatdown of San Antonio. But they may need to win three series on the road to take the conference crown.

4. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (54–22) (3): The Hornets are guaranteed the top seed in West if they win five of their final six; at worst they’ll be no. 2 since they own the tie-breaker against San Antonio.

5. L.A. LAKERS (53–24) (6): The Lakers might still bulldoze their way to the top seed in the West if they can win back-to-back home games against the Hornets and the Spurs this weekend, but they’d still need at least one more New Orleans loss to pull it off.

6. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (53–24) (5): A rout in Utah certainly didn’t reassure anyone concerned about the Spurs’ playoff readiness. Nonetheless, the Spurs will likely snag the West’s no. 2 seed with a win in L.A. on Sunday.

7. PHOENIX SUNS (51–26) (8): Just when you thought everything was hunky-dory, they melt down and have a nine-point fourth quarter at home against Dallas. The loss pretty much killed their hopes of winning the Pacific Division.

8. DALLAS MAVERICKS (48–29) (13): Dirk Nowitzki’s near-miraculous recovery from a high ankle sprain fueled wins over Phoenix and Golden State that have Dallas all but locked into the West’s no. 7 seed.

9. HOUSTON ROCKETS (52–25) (9): The Rocks host Phoenix on Friday in a contest likely to determine who gets the no. 5 seed out West. It’d be huge for the Rockets, since no. 5 will likely have homecourt edge against Utah in the first round.

10. ORLANDO MAGIC (48–29) (10): A loss to the lowly Knicks at MSG was the Magic’s fifth defeat in eight outings, and questions about backcourt play and overall toughness again are bubbling to surface.

11. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (46–31) (11): Despite demoralizing losses to San Antonio (by 24) and Dallas (by 25), the Nuggets’ recent slip-ups have the Warriors in position to sneak into the playoffs.

12. DENVER NUGGETS (46–31) (7): They’re fighting for a playoff spot, but you’d never know it. The Nuggets gave up an 81-point second half in Phoenix, fell at home to Sacramento, and followed it up with a puzzling double-OT loss to lowly Seattle.

13. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (39–38) (12): One wonders if they’ve lost a little bit of their steam, as they’ve dropped three of five and two of the defeats came athome. That little skid may cost them the no. 5 seed as well.

14. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (42–35) (14): It’s hard to get excited about the Cavs’ chances of repeating as conference champs when they’re 7–9 in their past 16 games and just lost at home to Chicago. LeBron’s sore back is a bad omen, too.

15. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (40–37) (16): Losing at home to Milwaukee was a downer, but the Wizards still have a great shot at the no. 5 seed and a winnable first-round date with Cleveland. Winning Saturday against Philly will be key.

16. TORONTO RAPTORS (38–39) (15): They lost a disputed game in Atlanta when a replay overturned the winning basket even though the clock appeared to start too fast. Explanations for the losses to Charlotte and New Jersey aren’t quite as tidy.

17. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (38–39) (17): Brandon Roy came back from his groin injury, but he couldn’t stop the Blazers from losing their fifth straight and falling below .500 for the first time since December 14.

18. ATLANTA HAWKS (36–41) (18): They went 9–3 over a 12-game stretch to stake a claim on the East’s last playoff spot, and with the Knicks and the Heat remaining on the schedule, it shouldn’t be too tough to finish the job.

19. SACRAMENTO KINGS (36–41) (21): A surprising road win in Denver kept alive the Kings’ slim hopes of achieving a .500 season. With Golden State, Portland, New Orleans, San Antonio, and the Lakers left, the odds remain long.

20. INDIANA PACERS (33–44) (19): Jermaine O’Neal’s return is likely too late to matter. The Pacers took care of business by beating Miami once and Milwaukee twice, but it won’t matter unless the Hawks stumble down the stretch.

21. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (29–48) (22): After a surprising road win in Toronto, the Bobcats are 9–9 since the start of March — a pretty impressive feat given that 11 of the games were on the road.

22. NEW JERSEY NETS (32–45) (20): A nice win over Toronto on Saturday was almost certainly too little, too late, as a four-game losing streak left the Nets eating Atlanta’s dust in the race for the East’s last playoff spot.

23. CHICAGO BULLS (30–46) (23): Larry Hughes’s 25-point, eight-rebound, nine-assist performance in a win over Cleveland shows the kinds of skills he has. You just wish they came out more often.

24. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (26–50) (28): The Bucks had an unlikely hero in rookie guard Ramon Sessions, who made a last-second shot as they pulled out a surprise road win at Washington.

25. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (21–56) (25): The Grizzlies are pushing Rudy Gay for Most Improved Player. Too bad they don’t give a Most Disappointing Player, because the Griz would have a nobrainer choice in Darko Milicic.

26. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (19–57) (24): After a respectable March, they began April with a thud, blowing a 21-point lead against Detroit’s backups and then losing three straight.

27. L.A. CLIPPERS (23–54) (26): Elton Brand looked pretty good in his first game back, with 19 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks against Houston. Alas, the Clippers still lost by 26.

28. NEW YORK KNICKS (21–56) (27): Apparently Isiah will be coaching the rest of the year. But now that Donnie Walsh has been hired, what will the Knicks’ fans chant during games?

29. SEATTLE SUPERSONICS (18–59) (30): Kevin Durant probably cemented the Rookie of the Year award with an amazing effort in a double-OT win over Denver, including game-tying threes in the final seconds of regulation and the first OT.

30. MIAMI HEAT (13–64) (29): Unfortunately for Pat Riley the NCAA Tournament is over, which means he has to go back to watching this sad team every day.

jhollinger@nysun.com