The NBA Play-In Tournament has concluded, meaning the NBA Playoff seeding and matchups are set.
With the new system in place, the tournament provides instant high-stakes games before the playoffs even begin. The implications for the games created a heightened level of entertainment, and there even were some upsets in the end as the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers fell to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The first round of the NBA Playoffs begins Saturday.
Let’s look at the standings and first-round matchups:
Eastern Conference Standings
1. Miami Heat (53-29)
2. Boston Celtics (51-31)
3. Milwaukee Bucks (51-31)
4. Philadelphia 76ers (51-31)
5. Toronto Raptors (48-34)
6. Chicago Bulls (45-36)
7. Brooklyn Nets (44-38)
8. Atlanta Hawks (43-39)
Eastern Conference Matchups
No. 1 Heat vs. No. 8 Hawks (Game 1: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Nets (Game 1: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
No. 3 Bucks vs. No. 6 Bulls (Game 1: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET)
No. 4 76ers vs. No. 5 Raptors (Game 1: Saturday, 6 p.m. ET)
The East provides about as even of a field as the NBA can get, including three teams with identical records towards the middle of the pack. The conference is not only loaded in the middle but has a No. 7 seeded Nets team that could run the table.
Western Conference Standings
1. Phoenix Suns (64-18)
2. Memphis Grizzlies (56-26)
3. Golden State Warriors (53-29)
4. Dallas Mavericks (52-30)
5. Utah Jazz (49-33)
6. Denver Nuggets (48-34)
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (46-36)
8. New Orleans Pelicans (36-46) OR Los Angeles Clippers (42-40)
Western Conference Matchups
No. 1 Suns vs. No. 8 Pelicans (Game 1: Sunday, 9 p.m. ET)
No. 2 Grizzlies vs. No. 7 Timberwolves (Game 1: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
No. 3 Warriors vs. No. 6 Nuggets (Game 1: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET)
No. 4 Mavericks vs. No. 5 Jazz (Game 1: Saturday, 1 p.m. ET)
The west is more top-heavy than the east. The Suns carry the best record in the NBA as well as the highest odds to take home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
The NBA Playoffs will bring plenty of drama, with many elite players on the mend for a historically star-driven league.
