Fifteen of the 20 playoff seeds were undetermined headed into the final day of the NBA regular season, and 11 of the final 15 regular-season games had a direct impact on the standings and playoff matchups.
As Sunday’s afternoon games concluded, the playoff picture started to become more clear in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference.
With the No. 2 seed on the line in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers all had a shot at second place. The Knicks took advantage and claimed the No. 2 seed – because the Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls in overtime, Milwaukee (playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo) lost to the Orlando Magic and Cleveland (playing without Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland) fell to Charlotte.
The Knicks (50-32) finished with a better record than the Bucks (49-33), who finished with a better record than Cleveland (48-34). Rounding out the East, the Magic earned the No. 5 seed with their victory, The Indiana Pacers claimed No. 6 with their victory, the Philadelphia 76ers ended up No. 7, and the Miami Heat No. 8. The Chicago Bulls as the No. 9 seed and the No. 10 Atlanta Hawks were settled before Sunday’s games. The Boston Celtics earned the No. 1 seed three weeks ago.
Even though three teams went into the final day tied for first place in the West, it turned out to be anticlimactic because of the blowouts. The Oklahoma City Thunder captured the No. 1 seed with a 135-86 victory against the Dallas Mavericks; The Denver Nuggets finished No. 2 with a 126-111victoryagainst the Memphis Grizzlies; and the Minnesota Timberwovles ended up No. 3 after losing to the Phoenix Suns 125-106.
Phoenix’s victory in combination with the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the New Orleans Pelicans gave the Suns the No. 6 seed over the Pelicans who are No. 7. The Lakers grabbed No. 8, while the Sacramento Kings collected No. 9 over the No. 10 seed Golden State Warriors because the Kings own the tiebreaker based on a better division record.
Who made the NBA playoffs?
Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchups
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 8 seed: from winner of No. 7 Philadelphia-No. 8 Miami play-in game loser vs. No. 9 Chicago-No. 10 Atlanta play-in game winner. Game 1 is Sunday.
No. 2 New York vs. No. 7 seed: Winner of the No. 8 Miami at No. 7 Philadelphia play-in game winner. Game 1 is Saturday.
No. 3 Milwaukee vs. No. 6 Indiana: Game 1 is Sunday.
No. 4 Cleveland vs. No. 5 Orlando: Game 1 is Saturday
Western Conference first-round matchups
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 8 seed: from winner of the No. 7 New Orleans-No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers play-in game loser vs. No. 9 Sacramento-No. 10 Golden State play-in game winner. Game 1 is Sunday.
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 7 seed: from winner of the No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers at No. 7 New Orleans play-in game winner. Game 1 is Saturday.
No. 3 Minnesota vs. No. 6 Phoenix: Game 1 is Saturday.
No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 5 Dallas Mavericks: Game 1 is Sunday.
Play-in tournament schedule, TV, times
TUESDAY
No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers at No. 7 New Orleans Pelicans, TNT, 7:30 p.m. ET
Winner is the No. 7 seed against No. 2 Denver in a West first-round series
No. 10 Golden State at No. 9 Sacramento, TNT, 10 p.m. ET
WEDNESDAY
No. 8 Miami at No. 7 Philadelphia, ESPN, 7 p.m. ET
Winner is the No. 7 seed against No. 2 New York in an East first-round series
No. 10 Atlanta at No. 9 Chicago, ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET
FRIDAY
Loser of Miami-Philadelphia vs. winner of Atlanta-Chicago, ESPN, Time TBD
Winner is the No. 8 seed against No. 1 Boston in an East first-round series
Loser of Los Angeles Lakers-New Orleans vs. winner of Golden-State Sacramento, TNT, Time TBD
Winner is the No. 8 seed against No. 1 Oklahoma City in a West first-round series