Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors and LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers appear headed for a third consecutive battle for the NBA title, although rival teams featuring Australian talent are poised to cause upsets.
The NBA regular season ends on Thursday (AEST).
Patty Mills' San Antonio Spurs appear best placed to knock out the Warriors in the Western Conference.
Elsewhere, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum and their Utah Jazz team-mates have secured a playoff berth and are locked in a battle with the Los Angeles Clippers for the important fourth seed.
In the Eastern Conference, the dark horse is the Milwaukee Bucks, with Australian duo Matthew Dellavedova and rookie Thon Maker key pieces of a young, talented squad focused on taking on the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers and Celtics are in a tight tussle for the the East's top seed.
The Warriors have guaranteed the top overall seed with the best regular season record (66 wins, 14 losses) heading into next weekend's first round of the playoffs.
The past two NBA championship series featured Andrew Bogut rim protecting for the Warriors and Dellavedova's aggressive point guard play for the Cavaliers.
But Bogut was shipped to the Dallas Mavericks, then to the Philadelphia 76ers before landing in Cleveland for just 58 seconds of game time before breaking his leg.
Dellavedova cashed in after his NBA title win last year with the Cavs by signing a $US38.5 million, four-year deal and has provided the steel the traditionally subpar Bucks needed.
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