The 2018-19 NBA regular season ended on Wednesday, in spectacularly strange fashion. The final playoff spot belongs to the Detroit Pistons, who claimed the East’s No. 8 seed by routing the Knicks. But that was all a prelude to a pair of absurd late games that dramatically altered the West playoff bracket in the span of minutes.
Here are the 2019 NBA Playoff matchups after a wild season finale
The Pistons claimed the final playoff spot in the East, while all hell broke loose in the West.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Before we get there, here are the matchups:
Eastern Conference
1. Milwaukee Bucks (60-22) vs. 8. Detroit Pistons (41-41)
2. Toronto Raptors (58-24) vs. 7. Orlando Magic (42-40)
3. Philadelphia 76ers (51-31) vs. 6. Brooklyn Nets (42-40)
4. Boston Celtics (49-33) vs. 5. Indiana Pacers (48-34)
Western Conference
1. Golden State Warriors (57-25) vs. 8. Los Angeles Clippers (48-34)
2. Denver Nuggets (54-28) vs. 7. San Antonio Spurs (48-34)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (53-29) vs. 6. Oklahoma City Thunder (49-33)
4. Houston Rockets (53-29 vs. 5. Utah Jazz (50-32)
The NBA playoffs begin on Saturday, April 13. Here’s how we got here.
How the final East spot was secured
The Pistons needed to beat the Knicks to clinch their spot in the postseason and did so with a 115-89 win despite star Blake Griffin sitting due to injury. Detroit beat out the Hornets, who lost to Orlando, but would’ve missed out even had they won.
The Nets grabbed the No. 6 seed by virtue of beating the Miami Heat. They finished tied with the Magic, but earned the higher seed by winning the head-to-head tiebreaker.
And then there was chaos in the West
Entering the night, there were only two Western Conference seeds set in stone: the Warriors at No. 1, and the Jazz at No. 5.
Spots 6-8 were locked down early in the night. Oklahoma City’s win over Milwaukee secured the No. 6 seed, while San Antonio defeating Dallas rendered the Clippers’ win over Utah, since San Antonio had the tiebreaker over L.A. via better conference record.
That left seeds Nos. 2-4 to decide in the final block of games, and boy was that weird.
The Blazers elected to sit all their key players in their season finale against the Kings, a curious move considering a loss locked them into the No. 4 seed and on the Warriors’ side of the bracket. Sacramento took a 28-point lead, but led by end-of-the-bench standouts like Anfernee Simons and Skal Labissiere, Portland erased that deficit and held on to win despite using only six players.
Look at this box score.
As that comeback was happening, the Nuggets fell behind by double digits at home against a Timberwolves team playing without Karl-Anthony Towns. A loss by Denver would have vaulted Houston into the No. 2 seed, relegated Denver to No. 3, and kept Portland at No. 4. But the Nuggets closed the game on a 15-0 run, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and preserving the No. 2 seed.
That meant the Rockets, who lost on a buzzer beater in their season finale on Tuesday, tumbled to the No. 4 seed without even playing. Houston went 3-1 against Denver this season, but 1-2 against Portland. That meant the Rockets would have emerged ahead if they finished with the same record as Denver, but not if they finished with the same record as Portland.
In the end, they finished one game behind the Nuggets and tied with the Blazers. Now, they’ll get the Jazz in the first round and the Warriors in the second should they advance. Poor Houston.
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