Entering the final night of the NBA’s regular season, there were somehow zero playoff matchups set in stone. Wednesday night in the NBA was the ultimate moving day in basketball, with teams jockeying for playoff seeding, others watching and waiting to find out who their opponent would be, and even an actual play-in game in the West.
That game between the Nuggets and Timberwolves was fittingly the game of the night, with Minnesota squeaking out a 112-106 overtime win at home to earn the eighth seed in the West and a date with the Rockets. Elsewhere in the West, other big games included the Blazers and Jazz playing for the third seed and the Pelicans and Spurs playing for the right to not face the Warriors or Rockets in the first round.
In the East, the top four seeds were all but set, with Philadelphia’s dominating win over Milwaukee and Cleveland’s loss to New York locking in the third and fourth spots. The Bucks losing meant their fate was in the hands of the Wizards, facing Orlando, and Miami, facing Toronto, for seeding purposes. The opposite of what you’d expect happened in those games, as Washington somehow lost to the Magic and the Heat took down the Raptors in overtime.
The results of those games finally gave us some clarity for the playoffs, setting up what figures to be a fairly entertaining first round in both conferences.
Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers
Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz
In the East, Celtics-Bucks feels like the matchup that will lead to the most “upset” picks because of Boston’s health issues and Milwaukee having Giannis Antetokounmpo. Sixers-Heat is going to be fantastic, if for nothing else than the Whiteside-Embiid rivalry getting a full series to play out on and off the court.
The Wizards are limping into the postseason, and the Raptors should dominate that series, but if they somehow lose another Game 1, it will be fascinating to see how they respond against a talented, yet at times wholly dysfunctional, Washington team. Cavs-Pacers could be sneakily competitive, even if most expect a Cavs romp, because the Pacers have not gotten the respect they’ve really deserved all season.
Out West, the Warriors-Spurs series jumps off the page immediately, even if both teams aren’t 100 percent, and Kawhi Leonard’s absence would seem to almost doom San Antonio even with a great effort. Rockets-Wolves is interesting because Minnesota, when healthy, is better than an eighth seed would be expected to be, and they have some dangerous players with Towns and Butler.
Blazers-Pelicans will probably end up with a lot of NBA TV nights but should be a good deal of fun as both teams have impressed down the stretch. Jazz-Thunder is going to be a very interesting case study in team, defensive basketball against star power and a team capable of an offensive onslaught. Historically, star power tends to win out in the playoffs, but the way the Jazz have been playing up until Wednesday in Portland has been undeniably great, and the Thunder have looked awfully shaky at times.
