As a result, the seeding order for the East will be 1st Boston, 2nd New York, 3rd Milwaukee, 4th Cleveland, 5th Orlando, 6th Indiana, 7th Philadelphia, and 8th Miami. , No. 9 Chicago and No. 10 Atlanta. The top six seeds secured a guaranteed playoff spot. The 76ers, Heat, Bulls, and Hawks will compete for the final two spots in the East in the play-in tournament.
In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks to secure the No. 1 seed, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies to take second place, and the Phoenix Suns dropped to third place. They held off the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Suns' win and the Los Angeles Lakers' road win over the New Orleans Pelicans moved Kevin Durant's Suns to the No. 6 seed, while the Pelicans fell to the No. 7 seed. LeBron James' Lakers secured the No. 8 seed with the victory.
The seeding order in the West after the season is 1st Oklahoma City, 2nd Denver, 3rd Minnesota, 4th Los Angeles Clippers, 5th Dallas, 6th Phoenix, and 7th New Orleans. , No. 8 Lakers, No. 9 Sacramento, and No. 10 Golden State.
In the East, the Bucks and Pacers will meet in the first round of the playoffs in a rematch of the in-season tournament semifinals, while the Cavaliers and Magic will also meet in the first round. The Knicks will face the winner of the play-in game between the 76ers and the Heat. The winner of the Bulls-Hawks play-in game will face the loser of the 76ers-Heat game for the right to face the Celtics in the first round.
The first round of the West Division will feature Timberwolves vs. Suns and Clippers vs. Mavericks. The Nuggets will face the winner of the Pelicans-Lakers play-in game. The winner of the Kings-Warriors play-in game will face the loser of the Pelicans-Lakers, and the winner will face the Thunder in the first round.
The most dramatic results in the East on Sunday were New York's tense win over Chicago, Orlando's 113-88 win over Milwaukee and Charlotte's 120-110 come-from-behind victory over Cleveland. The losing streak ended at three, and the Magic advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
The Bucks, without star Giannis Antetokounmpo with a calf injury, lost eight of their last 11 games to end the season and fall from the No. 2 seed. However, Milwaukee's late-season slump allowed them to avoid a first-round matchup against Philadelphia, which lost 2023 MVP Joel Embiid just back from a knee injury, and reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami. Embiid did not play in the 76ers' 107-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Cavaliers stars Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland did not play in Sunday's loss to the lowly Hornets. For Cleveland, which lost to New York in the first round of last year's playoffs, dropping to the No. 4 seed gives it a relatively advantageous first-round date with Orlando.
The Suns' 125-106 upset of the Timberwolves in Minnesota and the Lakers' 124-108 victory over the Pelicans were the most important finales in the West. By defeating Minnesota, Phoenix secured a playoff spot.
If the Lakers had lost to the Pelicans, they would have faced a do-or-die game against the Warriors in San Francisco on Tuesday. Instead, they have two chances to win a play-in game and qualify for the playoffs. The Lakers finished on a high, winning 11 of their final 14 games, but All-Star forward Anthony Davis was sidelined early Sunday with a back strain. Davis told reporters he plans to play on Tuesday.
The Kings' 121-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers ensures they will host the Warriors in Tuesday's play-in game for 9th and 10th place in the West Division. Golden State chose to rest Stephen Curry and Draymond Green for the final game of the season in preparation for the play-in round. The Warriors eliminated the Kings in the first round of last year's playoffs after Curry scored 50 points in Game 7 in Sacramento.
