The Utah Jazz finally have a bit of clarity.

They qualify for the playoffs with a win Sunday at the Los Angeles Lakers. In that sense, there will be no more scoreboard watching. There will be no more need for the players to race into the locker room after games to check their phones to see how teams around them fared.

The Jazz have earned this by winning 27 of their last 32 games.

“I’m tired of having to figure out which teams we need to win or lose,” Utah rookie Donovan Mitchell said.

At the same time, the battle for positioning isn’t nearly over for the Jazz. They still can finish anywhere between the third and ninth spot in the Western Conference. There still are a bunch of potential first-round opponents, with the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans among the most likely candidates.

What has to happen for the Jazz to attain home-court advantage in the first round with three games remaining? Under what scenario would they drop into the seventh or eighth seed, which would mean an undesirable matchup against the Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors?

And just how difficult is this for Utah’s coaching staff, which has no idea who or what to prepare for?

“Right now we have to operate as if none of the group of teams right now are in the playoffs,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “Obviously a couple are. It’s something you have to be conscious of. We’ve got guys on our staff that are looking at that. But we’re trying not to think about it.”

For the Jazz to get the No. 3 seed

Utah would have to win the remainder of its games. That means defeating the Lakers on Sunday afternoon then Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. It also means Portland would have to lose once, either to San Antonio or the Denver Nuggets. If that happens, the Jazz vs. Blazers matchup in Portland on Wednesday night would be for the No. 3 seed. The Jazz need to take care of business Sunday and hope for a Blazers loss. Beating Golden State could depend on what team the Warriors put on the floor. The Jazz are the last game of the regular season for Golden State. So coach Steve Kerr may opt to rest some of his main guys. A win over the Blazers means the Jazz would hold the season head-to-head tie-breaker.

For the Jazz to get the No. 4 seed

If Utah wins out, the Jazz’s floor is the four seed and home-court advantage in the first round. They are currently a game ahead of the Spurs and Thunder in that regard. So if the Jazz win their remaining three games, nobody else can catch them. If the Jazz win out, they will have home court in the first round. Even if they drop a game, they still would have a good chance at the fourth seed. That is quite the accomplishment given where this team was in January.

For the Jazz to get the No. 5 seed

That means they lose at least one of their remaining three games and the Oklahoma City Thunder catch them. OKC is one of the few teams below the Jazz that holds a favorable tiebreaker over Utah. This means if the Jazz and Thunder finish with the same record, the Thunder would attain the higher seed. Utah has no such worry against the Spurs or New Orleans Pelicans. The Jazz also would lose a tiebreaker to the Minnesota Timberwolves because the Wolves currently have a better record within the division.

For the Jazz to get the No. 6 seed

That would mean the Spurs and Thunder pass them, which is not as likely. The reason is the Jazz hold the tiebreaker over the Spurs. So a one-game lead over San Antonio is more like a two-game lead. The same goes for the Pelicans. And the Jazz would be in good shape in a three-way tie involving the Spurs because they have three wins over San Antonio. The Spurs and Pelicans face each other on the last night of the regular season. So one of those teams is guaranteed to have 35 losses. If the Jazz win one more game, they not only lock up a playoff berth but they essentially almost lock up a top-five seed as well.

For the Jazz to get the No. 7 or 8 seed

There is almost no chance of either happening. It would involve the Jazz losing out and losing out on tiebreaker scenarios. So the Jazz have the best of both worlds. They are practically a lock to make the postseason and to avoid the dreaded Nos. 7 or 8 seed.

For the Jazz to miss the playoffs

The Jazz would need to lose their last three games and ALL of the following would have to happen: the Spurs and Nuggets would have to win at least two of their final three games, the Pelicans would need to win three of their final four games, the Thunder would need to win at least one of their final three games AND the Timberwolves would need to win two of their remaining three games. The Jazz hold tiebreakers over the Spurs and Pelicans, so those two teams need at least 47 wins, while the Thunder, Timberwolves and Nuggets hold tiebreakers over the Jazz, so they only need to get to 46 wins.