The Thunder finished ahead of Denver and Minnesota at the top of the Western Conference. We will find LeBron James and Stephen Curry in the play-in.
Despite the youth of its squad, the Oklahoma City Thunder achieved the feat of finishing the NBA season at the top of the Western Conference thanks to its victory against Dallas (135-86) on Sunday. While the suspense remained between three teams, OKC managed to retain the No. 1 place and therefore the home field advantage in the West. The Thunder finished with the same record as the champion Denver (57 wins – 25 losses), which they are ahead of thanks to their three successes in four direct confrontations this season. Denver, thanks to its success on the Memphis floor (126-111), moved up a notch to 2nd place ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves, beaten by Phoenix (125-106), their future opponent in the first round of the play-offs which will begin on April 20.
The Los Angeles Lakers (8th) of LeBron James defeated the New Orleans Pelicans (124-108), whom they will meet on Tuesday in Louisiana in the play-offs with a place in the play-offs at stake. Long in the positions directly qualifying for the play-offs, the Pelicans were overtaken on the last day of the regular season by the Phoenix Suns and finished 7th in the standings.
Read alsoNBA: Cleveland-Orlando, Milwaukee-Indiana… We know the complete table of the play-offs in the East
Golden State backs Sacramento
Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, who defeated the Utah Jazz (123-116), finished tenth and will play their season on Tuesday on the neighboring floor of the Sacramento Kings (9th). The winner of this dry match will face the loser of the confrontation between the Pelicans and the Lakers with the aim of winning the last ticket for the play-offs and facing the Thunder in the first round. The Los Angeles Clippers (4th) and the Dallas Mavericks (5th) were assured of their final ranking before this last day and will face each other in the first round.
The NBA play-off and play-off table for the Western Conference following the final matches of the regular season on Sunday :
PLAY-IN (match sec)
Tuesday April 16:
Game 1 – New Orleans Pelicans (7th) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (8th). The winner qualifies for the play-offs in 7th position (7).
Match 2 – Sacramento Kings (9e) contre Golden State Warriors (10e)
Friday April 19:
Loser of match 1 against winner of match 2. The winner qualified for the play-offs in 8th position (8).
PLAY-OFFS (best of seven matches)
Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs Qualifier (8)
Los Angeles Clippers (4) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5)
Minnesota Timberwolves (3) vs. Phoenix Suns (6)
Denver Nuggets (2) vs Qualifier (7)
