A lot still needed to be decided heading into the final day of the regular season, and after a busy night that featured some seed shuffling, the playoff matchups are finally set. The two final teams to secure postseason spots were the Pelicans and Nets, who both picked up victories to help earn their respective eight seeds.
The Pelicans faced a daunting task on Wednesday. With the Thunder facing a cakewalk game against the Timberwolves, New Orleans essentially had a must-win game against the red-hot Spurs, who entered the night winners of 11 straight games.
Sure enough, Oklahoma City left no doubt about its outcome early on, scoring 47 points in the first quarter en route to an 18-point lead. With that game already in the bag, the pressure was on New Orleans.
The Pelicans responded in impressive fashion. Not only did New Orleans run out to a 23-point first-half lead on the back of Anthony Davis and Norris Cole, but they also didn't buckle when San Antonio made the inevitable second-half run.
Things certainly got tense in the fourth quarter when the Spurs pulled to within four with 7:37 to play, but the Pelicans punched back and did enough to withstand the rally and nab that playoff spot with a 108-103 win.
Davis finished with a game-high 31 points, and he also had 13 rebounds and several key blocks down the stretch. Tyreke Evans added 19 points, while Cole had 13 off the bench. With the victory, New Orleans now has the pleasure of facing the top-seeded Warriors in the first round.
Over in the Eastern Conference, the Nets needed a win against the Magic and some help from the Grizzlies against Indiana. Things didn't look great for Brooklyn in the early going against lowly Orlando, but the Nets took control in the fourth quarter and came away with a 101-88 victory.
Brooklyn got an outstanding performance off the bench from Bojan Bogdanovic, who poured in 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting overall and 4-of-8 from long range. Four other Nets scored in double figures.
Brooklyn then could only wait for Indiana-Memphis to end, but there wasn't too much intrigue in that one. The Grizzlies controlled most of the game and were never seriously threatened in the second half of a 95-83 triumph that sent the Nets to the playoffs to play Atlanta.
3 other things we learned
Seed shuffle: The West saw quite a shakeup with the seeds, and it was all set in motion by the Spurs' loss. San Antonio had the inside track on the No. 2 seed when the night started, but the loss to New Orleans coupled with the Rockets' victory over the Jazz meant Houston became proud owners of the second seed. Then, with the Grizzlies winning later in the evening, the Spurs dropped all the way to sixth and a date with the Clippers in arguably the most intriguing first-round matchup. Memphis gets the fifth seed but home-court advantage over fourth-seeded Portland.
Not much changed in the East other than the Nets taking over the eighth seed from Indiana. The Raptors put themselves in position to possibly snag the No. 3 seed with a win over the Hornets, and at one point, it looked like Toronto would get it when Atlanta went up big on Chicago. But the Bulls came storming back from an 18-point deficit and the Hawks rested their starters in the fourth quarter, which helped Chicago come away with a win and the third seed.
Russell Westbrook doesn't care about no scoring title: Westbrook made it known early that the Thunder weren't going home because of their own doing by scoring 23 of his game-high 37 points in the first quarter of the easy win over Minnesota. The point guard clinched the scoring title over James Harden with his big night, but Westbrook took no solace in his individual accomplishment because Oklahoma City missed the playoffs.
Needless to say, it was quite the eventful season in Oklahoma City. The year was marred by season-ending injuries to Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka, and Westbrook's superhuman efforts weren't quite enough to get the Thunder in the playoffs. Injuries have derailed the last three seasons for Oklahoma City, and it feels so long ago when Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka appeared to be on the cusp of a budding dynasty.
Paul George had a bad injury scare: Everybody feared the worst when George had to be carried off the floor with an apparent left leg injury in the Pacers' loss to Memphis. It was George's right leg that suffered the gruesome break last summer, and the immediate thought was that this was some kind of overcompensation injury.
Indiana called the injury a sore left calf and said George was questionable to return to the game, but he was soon carried into the locker room for further evaluation and didn't return. While it looked bad, the Pacers forward said the injury was just a calf strain, and he seemed to be in good spirits when Tweeting after the game. So that's a relief.
Play of the Night
Usually Kawhi Leonard is the one making people look foolish with defense. This time, it was Leonard who looked bad, courtesy of Anthony Davis.
7 fun things
The night got off to a rousing start when Joey Crawford fell on his face.
The Heat and Sixers engaged in an epic tank-off over a draft pick. Philly really got into the tanking spirit by letting Joel Embiid play coach.
Meanwhile, Allen Iverson took over the Sixers Twitter account.
Trevor Booker gave Enes Kanter a reminder that the Thunder didn't make the playoffs.
Here's a fun graphic with the playoff bracket.
Final scores
Raptors 92, Hornets 87 (Raptors HQ recap | At The Hive recap)
Bulls 91, Hawks 85 (Blog a Bull recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)
Mavericks 114, Trail Blazers 98 (Mavs Moneyball recap | Blazer's Edge recap)
Rockets 117, Jazz 91 (The Dream Shake recap | SLC Dunk recap)
Celtics 105, Bucks 100 (CelticsBlog recap | Brew Hoop recap)
Thunder 138, Timberwolves 113 (Welcome to Loud City recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Pelicans 108, Spurs 103 (The Bird Writes recap | Pounding The Rock recap)
Nets 101, Magic 88 (NetsDaily recap | Orlando Pinstriped Post recap)
Cavaliers 113, Wizards 108 (Fear The Sword recap | Bullets Forever recap)
Pistons 112, Knicks 90 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Posting and Toasting recap)
Heat 105, 76ers 101 (Hot Hot Hoops recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Grizzlies 95, Pacers 83 (Grizzly Bear Blues recap | Indy Cornrows recap)
Warriors 133, Nuggets 126 (Golden State Of Mind recap | Denver Stiffs recap)
Kings 122, Lakers 99 (Sactown Royalty recap | Silver Screen and Roll recap)