Despite the youth of its squad, the 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.
Atlanta, for its part, lost to Indiana, which secured direct qualification for the play-offs in the East.
While the suspense remained between three teams, Oklahoma City managed to maintain the No. 1 spot and therefore 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), moves up a notch to 2nd place ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves, beaten by Phoenix (125-106), their future opponent in the 1st 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 (play-in) with a place in the play-off at stake. . Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors finish 10th and will play their season on Tuesday on the neighboring floor of Sacramento.
Miami in play-offs
In the East, the poster for match 1 of the play-offs was already known. Atlanta was certain to have to challenge Chicago on Wednesday in Illinois. Hawks coach Quin Snyder had also left Clint Capela rested for the last match of the regular season, heavily lost (157-115) by the Hawks on the Pacers floor.
The Indiana franchise thus snatched 6th place, the last directly qualifying for the play-offs where the Pacers will face Milwaukee, which hopes to be able to count on its star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Miami, finalist last season, finally finished 8th and will have to go through the play-offs.
The Heat will travel to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, who have seen the return of pivot Joel Embiid for a few days, for a dry qualifying match for the play-offs. The loser of this meeting will face Chicago or Atlanta on Friday for the last ticket and a duel against Boston at stake.
/ATS
2024-04-15 02:53:35
#Thunder #finishes #West
