The grand finale (for now)

A wild set of results leads to a very competitive first round.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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I Am A Patient Boy

You knew Boston was the No. 1 in the East. We decided this back in, like, February. The other three “waiting for the play-in” top seeds took until Game 82 to decide.

The Thunder left nothing to chance, playing all their stars against the Mavericks’ B-team and winning the first half by 41. That result clinched Oklahoma City the No. 1 seed a year after the Thunder missed the playoffs as a below-.500 No. 10 seed and two years after they had the No. 2 pick. Sheesh.

The Timberwolves caught the Suns on one of those afternoons where they simply refused to miss shots. Also, Minnesota committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter. Chris Finch declined to attempt a late comeback attempt and accepted the No. 3 seed.

That left the door open for your defending champ Denver Nuggets, who in fact played all their stars too (despite some injury report chicanery) and eventually pulled away from Memphis to clinch No. 2.

Over in the East, the Bucks failed in their quest to lock things up with Giannis. Damian Lillard was 2/14 in a critical game. Was the hour we lost a few weeks ago Dame Time? Orlando’s defense is vicious. I’m not sure what the near-term future holds, but this was a heckuva win.

That left the door open to the Cavaliers … who sat Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Caris LeVert … and then sat their other starters and rotation players in the fourth while a top-3 seed was still possible due to the Bucks trailing and the Knicks being in a dogfight with Chicago. The Cavaliers opted to fall down to the 4/5 series with Orlando, basically. Should they succeed, the Celtics (likely) await in Round 2. Congrats? Anyways, on the one hand being a realist and protecting banged-up players is smart. On the other hand, it can look cowardly and fearful, too. Decisions, decisions.

The Bucks’ loss also left the door open to the Knicks. And the Bucks game finished before the Knicks and Bulls made it to overtime. (I think I’m recalling the timeline correctly.) The Knicks might have been trying to lose this game with all the inbounds miscues in the closing seconds …

… but DeMar DeRozan ensured that New York faces the winner of Miami vs. Philadelphia with a couple of uncharacteristic clutch misses. Thanks?

The Bucks thus drop to No. 3 and as a result land a series with the No. 6 Pacers, who put 86 points on the Hawks in the first half and actually didn’t ease up all that much in the second half with another 71 points. Yes, that’s a Buck Fifty-Seven in regulation. Indiana’s offense might be back?

You may recall a certain rivalry brewing between Milwaukee and Indiana earlier this season. Winner of this series gets Giannis’ real 64-point game ball?