There was nothing perfunctory about the final night of the NBA’s 2017-2018 season. There were 12 games on the schedule, including a de facto play-in game between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves that the Timberwolves won in overtime.
Even the 15 teams with playoff berths clinched had plenty at stake as zero playoff matchups were set. There were only teams locked into specific seeds after 81 games.
Here is a rundown of the matchups in each conference and how we got there. This was updated throughout the night.
EAST PLAYOFFS
1. Raptors vs. 8. Wizards
2. Celtics vs. 7. Bucks
3. 76ers vs. 6. Heat
4. Cavaliers vs. 5. Pacers
East No. 1 seed: Toronto Raptors (59-23)
This was locked in before the night.
East No. 2 seed: Boston Celtics (55-27)
This was locked in before the night.
East No. 3 seed: Philadelphia 76ers (52-30)
The 76ers wrapped this up by walloping the Bucks in the season finale. Sixteen straight wins!
East No. 4 seed: Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32)
The Cavaliers lost to the Knicks at home by 12, but it wouldn’t have mattered.
East No. 5 seed: Indiana Pacers (48-34)
This is locked in.
East No. 6 seed: Miami Heat (44-38)
Miami got this spot by outlasting the Raptors in overtime and watching the Bucks decide not to show up against the 76ers. But given how great the 76ers are playing, maybe this was a pyrrhic victory?
East No. 7 seed: Milwaukee Bucks (44-38)
Lucky Bucks. They were obliterated by the 76ers, but fall safely into the No. 7 seed and a date with the banged-up Celtics thanks to ...
East No. 8 seed: Washington Wizards (43-39)
The Wizards followed up a huge win over the Celtics ... by losing to a Magic team with massive incentive to lose for lottery positioning. John Wall and Otto Porter didn’t play, but still. Typical of their season.
WEST PLAYOFFS
1. Rockets vs. 8. Timberwolves
2. Warriors vs. 7. Spurs
3. Blazers vs. 6. Pelicans
4. Thunder vs. 5. Jazz
West No. 1 seed: Houston Rockets (65-17)
This was locked in before the night.
West No. 2 seed: Golden State Warriors (58-24)
This was locked in before the night.
West No. 3 seed: Portland Trail Blazers (49-33)
Portland snapped a five-game losing streak with a comfortable win over a tired Utah team at home to earn a division title and this seed.
West No. 4 seed: Oklahoma City Thunder (48-34)
After all that, the Thunder have home-court advantage. A lot had to go right to get here. Oklahoma City beat Memphis as expected, then got two results go their way when the Pelicans beat the Spurs and the Blazers beat the Jazz. The Thunder were swept by Portland this year, but won three of four against Utah. Therefore, Portland’s win put OKC in a tie with Utah and New Orleans, and OKC had the best record in games involving the three teams.
West No. 5 seed: Utah Jazz (48-34)
This was worst-case scenario for the Jazz. A loss combined with a Thunder win dropped them here. Had the Thunder lost to Memphis, Utah would have been the No. 4 seed and faced the Pelicans.
West No. 6 seed: New Orleans Pelicans (48-34)
New Orleans saved themselves from a matchup against Houston or Golden State by demolishing San Antonio at home. They could have risen as high as No. 5 had the Jazz won, but will settle for the No. 6 seed.
West No. 7 seed: San Antonio Spurs (47-35)
San Antonio lost badly to the Pelicans in New Orleans and saw their seed drop when Oklahoma City beat Memphis as expected. They would’ve fallen all the way to No. 8 had the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves.
West No. 8 seed: Minnesota Timberwolves (47-35)
They won an OT thriller vs. the Nuggets to make the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. They could have moved up had New Orleans or Oklahoma City lost, but they did not. San Antonio owned the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-1 head-to-head record.
West No. 9 seed: Denver Nuggets (46-36). This is not a playoff seed
Poor Denver.
The Utah Jazz went absolutely bonkers at the end of the year, winning 17 of their last 21 games to clinch the No. 5 seed, and it still ended up being disappointing. A loss to the Blazers in the final game of the season dropped Utah to fifth after coming into the last game third, but sometimes you need to count your blessings. The Jazz are still coming into this postseason scorching hot, and they could be a problem for the Thunder.
With that being said, the Thunder took what everyone thought was a piecemeal roster and made it into the No. 4 seed. Sure the Westbrook-Anthony-George system took some lumps, but the Thunder persevered this year to make themselves look like a threatening -- if flawed -- presence. Russell Westbrook is still clearly the leader, but the Thunder still got over 20 points per game for Paul George and 15 for Carmelo Anthony.
Before Game 1, here is everything you need to know about what may be the most intense first-round series:
No. 4 Oklahoma City Thunder (48-34) vs. No. 5 Utah Jazz (48-34)
Playoff series schedule
Game 1 in Oklahoma City: Sunday, April 15, 6:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Game 2 in Oklahoma City: Wednesday, April 18, 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV
Game 3 in Utah: Saturday, April 21, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 4 in Utah: Monday, April 23, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Game 5 in Oklahoma City: TBA (if necessary)
Game 6 in Utah: TBA (if necessary)
Game 7 in Oklahoma City: TBA (if necessar)
Season series: Thunder 3-1
Last season's playoff results: Thunder eliminated by Houston Rockets 4-1 in first round; Jazz eliminated by Golden State Warriors 4-0 in second round
Injury report: Alex Abrines is day-to-day with a concussion for the Thunder. Thunder guard Andre Roberson and Jazz guard Thabo Sefolosha are both out for the season.
Thunder projected starting lineup: G Russell Westbrook; G Corey Brewer; F Carmelo Anthony; F Paul George; C Steven Adams
Jazz projected starting lineup: G Ricky Rubio; G Donovan Mitchell; F Joe Ingles; F Derrick Favors; C Rudy Gobert
Thunder win if
The Thunder need two things: They need Russell Westbrook to dominate the game, and they need the Paul George that averaged north of 20 points in his last four games. This alone shows what makes the Thunder's experiment this year so difficult, but it worked, at least as far as getting them home court. With that being said, Adams will need to body-up on Gobert and force him out of the paint. Westbrook being the team's leading rebounder should give some Thunder fans pause.
Jazz win if
Rudy Gobert makes the paint his on both ends of the floor, plain and simple. If he can punish Russell Westbrook for challenging him inside while also maintaining his 13.5 points per game to complement Donovan Mitchell, who we know will put up points, the Jazz will be a tough out. A little of that late-season momentum carrying over wouldn't hurt either. Jae Crowder, who has vastly improved since his trade to Utah, could also be an impactful sixth man.
SportsLine projections
According to SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh, the Thunder have a 5.3 percent chance to win the conference and a 2.2 percent chance to win it all. On the flip side, the Jazz have a 6.8 percent chance of winning the conference and 3 percent chance to win the Finals. SportsLine will have game-by-game gambling advice for every playoff series here.
The NBA playoffs are here. Press start.
Yes, the matchups are set, and they are glorious. We've got a stacked Western Conference, where the Rockets have to face a team with two All-Stars in Round 1 despite being the No. 1 seed. And over in the East, the team everyone is expecting to win is the No. 4 seed Cavaliers.
Here's a look at the full playoff bracket, with an NBA Jam theme for the vintage video game crowd:
Michael Meredith/CBS Sports
To recap those matchups -- and click for full previews:
NBA Western Conference Playoff Bracket
1. Rockets vs. 8. Timberwolves
4. Thunder vs. 5. Jazz
3. Blazers vs. 6. Pelicans
2. Warriors vs. 7. Spurs
NBA Eastern Conference Playoff Bracket
1. Raptors vs. 8. Wizards
4. Cavaliers vs. 5. Pacers
3. 76ers vs. 6. Heat
2. Celtics vs. 7. Bucks
The East is set.
It took 82 games, the entire regular season and even an overtime in Miami to decide things, but the bracket for the Eastern Conference playoffs is filled.
No. 1 Toronto will play No. 8 Washington, No. 2 Boston will meet No. 7 Milwaukee, No. 3 Philadelphia draws No. 6 Miami and No. 4 Cleveland gets No. 5 Indiana.
All the Game 1s will be Saturday or Sunday, at the lower seed.
Indiana went 3-1 against the Cavaliers in the regular season. All the other first-round matchups are ones where the playoff foes split four meetings this season.
