The Timberwolves sure know how to punch their ticket to the postseason

PLUS: The Clippers keep their own shenanigans on the sideline instead of on the court.

Good morning. The NBA postseason has arrived. Let’s basketball.

The Bracket

The East bracket has been set since Friday night. Here it is again in case you missed it.

East Play-in Tournament
Hawks at Heat (Tuesday) — winner gets No. 7 seed
Bulls at Raptors (Wednesday) — loser is eliminated

Bulls/Raptors winner at Hawks/Heat loser (Friday) — winner gets No. 8 seed, loser is eliminated

East Playoff Bracket
Bucks (1) vs. No. 8 seed
Cavaliers (4) vs. Knicks (5)

Celtics (2) vs. No. 7 seed
Sixers (3) vs. Nets (6)

Here’s the newly settled West bracket.

West Play-in Tournament
Timberwolves at Lakers (Tuesday) — winner gets No. 7 seed
Thunder at Pelicans (Wednesday) — loser is eliminated

Thunder/Pels winner at Wolves/Lakers loser (Friday) — winner gets No. 8 seed, loser is eliminated

West Playoff Bracket
Nuggets (1) vs. No. 8 seed
Suns (4) vs. Clippers (5)

Grizzlies (2) vs. No. 7 seed
Kings (3) vs. Warriors (6)

That’s right: the neighboring Kings and the Warriors have never made the playoffs in the same season since the Kings moved to Sacramento four decades ago … until now, where they will face each other, with the Warriors as the defending champs and the Kings breaking a 16-year playoff drought.

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Scores

Hawks 114, Celtics 120

Sixers 134, Nets 105 — Cam Thomas, 46 points in the loss.

Hornets 106, Cavaliers 95

Magic 110, Heat 123 — The Heat had a little pre-game ceremony to honor Udonis Haslem in his final regular season game. Bam Adebayo brought a gift.

In the game, Haslem goes off.

A magical moment from our friend Markelle Fultz.

Pacers 141, Knicks 136

Bucks 105, Raptors 121

Rockets 114, Wizards 109 — Welp, I said Sunday morning that I expected coaching news would mostly wait until Monday. That was not true. The Rockets announced that Stephen Silas would not return for a fourth season.

Pistons 81, Bulls 103 — Dwane Casey announced he would not return to the sidelines for the Pistons; he will join the front office. That’s two openings on a couple of the worst teams in the league.

Spurs 138, Mavericks 117 — Gregg Popovich spent part of his pre-game media availability with a sermon on gun violence and democracy. You can watch part of it here.

Pelicans 108, Timberwolves 113 — Brandon Ingram started the game on a rip-roaring heater and finished with 42 points. But the Wolves hung around and took control in the fourth to get the 8th seed.

The victory was completely overshadowed by Rudy Gobert punching Kyle Anderson during a sideline argument. Mon f—-ing dieu.

Woj reports that it was accountability assignment that led to the punch.

That was the least consequential punch of the night for the Timberwolves, though.

[Jaden] McDaniels punched the wall leading into a tunnel late in the first quarter, an apparent reaction to picking up his second foul. McDaniels immediately started clutching his right hand, and X-rays soon revealed a season-ending fracture, sources said.

The Timberwolves won the game, but at what cost?

My dear Pelicans: yes, you lost the game and now must win two games just to make the playoffs. But at least your best perimeter defender didn’t break his hand punching a wall and your best interior defender didn’t get sent home after punching his teammate. Silver linings, I suppose.