We knew it was going to be crazy, and the final day of the 2017-18 NBA regular season did not disappoint. There was plenty of shuffling with the playoff seeds, and the Timberwolves won an overtime thriller to take the final Western Conference playoff spot from the Denver Nuggets. Here's everything you need to know about what happened on Wednesday, starting with the official first-round playoff matchups.
2017-18 NBA Playoff Matchups
Eastern Conference
(1) Raptors vs. (8) Wizards
(2) Celtics vs. (7) Bucks
(3) 76ers vs. (6) Heat
(4) Cavaliers vs. (5) Pacers
Western Conference
(1) Rockets vs. (8) Timberwolves
(2) Warriors vs. (7) Spurs
(3) Trail Blazers vs. (6) Pelicans
(4) Thunder vs. (5) Jazz
NBA scores for Wednesday, April 11
Wolves win, get final playoff spot out West
The Timberwolves survived a fourth-quarter collapse to beat the Nuggets in overtime and clinch the final playoff spot in the West. This is their first trip to the playoffs since 2004. Full story
Russ makes history
Russell Westbrook grabbed his 16th rebound in the third quarter against the Grizzlies, guaranteeing that he would average a triple-double for the second consecutive season. He's now the first player to achieve that feat more than once.
WESTBROOK WATCH!
With his 16th rebound, Russ secures averaging a triple-double for the 2nd straight season!#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/whznuO9lPY — NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2018
Russell Westbrook exits the game to congratulations after securing his triple-double average for the season! #ThunderUp
TICKETS ➡️https://t.co/FZAFEdI0LN pic.twitter.com/OLLMZFkf5P — NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2018
Wizards lose, locked into eighth
The Wizards came up short against the Magic, meaning they will finish in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Awaiting them are the Toronto Raptors.
Regular season in the books.
Meeks 18p
Morris 15p-8r
Beal, Sato 13p #WizMagic #DCFamily pic.twitter.com/JZ3h56xjlz — Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 12, 2018
Towns rocks the rim
The big KAT came ready to play. Check out Karl-Anthony Towns' phenomenal slam from early in the second quarter against the Nuggets:
Rondo to Davis x2
Rajon Rondo rewarded his big man for running the floor, slipping a nifty bounce pass to Anthony Davis, who hammered home the slam.
Later in the game, the duo connected for a stunning alley-oop.
Plumlee rises to the occasion
Mason Plumlee isn't really known as an elite athlete, but he looked pretty dang athletic on this play. Rolling to the rim, he went way up to throw down the alley-oop.
Mbah a Moute out for first round
A key part of the Rockets' revamped defense is reportedly likely to miss the first round of the playoffs after separating his shoulder on Tuesday night. Full story.
Vince Carter coming back for 21st season
The ageless wonder is coming back. Vince Carter announced that he plans on returning for his 21st NBA season next year, and he's "90 percent sure" it will be his last. Full story.
Hornacek to meet with Knicks front office
Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek hopes that the disappointing end to this season won't reflect poorly on his ability to run the team. He said on Wednesday that he wants to return as head coach next season, the final year of his three-year deal. He'll meet with various members of the front office in Thursday. Full story.
Recap of live updates
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.
Highlighted by the Timberwolves' thrilling overtime conquest of the Nuggets, the Western Conference playoff field is finally set.
The top-seeded Rockets will meet No. 8 Minnesota and the No. 2 Warriors gets a playoff re-match against the No. 7 Spurs.
The Blazers, by virtue of their victory over of Utah, earned third place and a matchup with the No. 6 Pelicans, while the Jazz finished fourth to get the fifth-place Thunder.
The postseason begins Saturday.
The Rockets took all four meetings with the Timberwolves this season, while the Warriors and the Thunder both beat their first-round foes 3-1. The Blazers and Pelicans split their series 2-2.
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.
