It\u2019s time to wave goodbye to tanking, player participation, gambling, salary cap circumvention, league expansion, and anything else going on in the NBA that takes away from what should be the primary focus for all involved.<\/p>\n
Winning.<\/p>\n
What could be described as a tumultuous 80th NBA regular season is finished, with postseason seeding in both conferences decided on the final day.<\/p>\n
In a bit of serendipity, after months of discussion in the league about \u201ctanking\u201d and how to stop it, a team was rewarded for going all out in its regular-season finale. That team was the Toronto Raptors, who leapfrogged the Atlanta Hawks by winning Sunday to improve their playoff positioning in the East.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gotta love this (stuff), you should have fun,\u201d said Raptors All-Star Scottie Barnes, who turned in an 18-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in Toronto\u2019s 136-101 trouncing of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
To summarize, the Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat won their games in the East; while the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and LA Clippers won in the West, setting every possible line of the NBA postseason bracket that can be determined by season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each conference \u2014 Detroit and Boston in the East, Oklahoma City and San Antonio in the West \u2014 must wait to see who comes out of the Play-In to know their first-round matchups.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s drama unfolded in the East (and no, we aren\u2019t talking about Rory McIlroy at Augusta<\/a>).<\/p>\n The Raptors, as previously mentioned, tried to win, and the Celtics always try, no matter the night. The Raptors began the day as the East\u2019s sixth seed, but, playing all of its regulars, pounded Brooklyn. The Celtics, the surprise No. 2 seed because they missed Jayson Tatum for most of the year and parted with three key veterans from its championship roster two years ago, used the same depth they relied on all year to stun the Orlando Magic, 113-108.<\/p>\n Baylor Scheierman, a second-year wing who normally comes off the bench, started and lit up the Magic for a career-best 30 points. Reserve center Luka Garza\u2019s 3-pointer with 31.7 seconds effectively sunk the Magic.<\/p>\n The Atlanta Hawks, meanwhile, entered the day as the No. 5 seed but chose to sit most of their regulars against the Miami Heat and lost, 143-117. The Hawks\u2019 strategy cost them.<\/p>\n Because Orlando lost and the Raptors won, Atlanta fell to No. 6 and will play the No. 3 New York Knicks in a first-round series. Toronto moved up a spot, to No. 5, and will play the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers in a first-round series.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have an amazing team, an amazing coach,\u201d Toronto coach Darko Rajakovi\u0107 said of the Cavs and their coach, Kenny Atkinson. \u201cEveryone thinks they\u2019re one of the contenders, and I agree with that. They\u2019re loaded.\u201d<\/p>\n Did the Hawks share that opinion and decide the Knicks were a better matchup? No one would admit it, openly. Atlanta was led by Buddy Hield, who came off the bench for 31 points.<\/p>\n The Heat had something to play for, too, and though they didn\u2019t quite get there, they were victorious behind 26 points from NBA top sixth man candidate Jamie Jaquez, and 25 from Bam Adebayo \u2013 who scored 83 points in a game earlier this season against Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cWhoever we play is going to be really good,\u201d Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said ahead of Sunday\u2019s loss. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to even try to figure that out. It\u2019s possible that certain teams want to play us \u2026 Wherever it falls is how it falls.\u201d<\/p>\n The Philadelphia 76ers, who started the day in eighth place, pounded Milwaukee, 126-106, and leapfrogged the Magic, who fell to eighth. Philadelphia will host Orlando in a Play-In game this week; the winner will move on to face the Celtics in a first-round series.<\/p>\n \u201cDisappointed, but we have to move on fast,\u201d said Orlando star Paolo Banchero, who played alongside all the other Magic regulars in the loss to Boston\u2019s backups.<\/p>\n The other Play-In will feature the No. 9 Charlotte Hornets against No. 10 Miami. The winner of that game plays the loser of Philadelphia-Orlando, with the winner advancing to a first-round series against the Pistons.<\/p>\n The Hornets earned the right to host the Heat by beating the Knicks, 110-96. The only Knick starter to play at all was Mikal Bridges, who was on the court for 23 seconds to extend his consecutive games streak to 638 \u2014 the NBA\u2019s longest active games streak.<\/p>\n The Play-In schedule looks like this: Charlotte hosts Miami at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and the Sixers host the Magic at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. In the West, the No. 7 Phoenix Suns host No. 8 Portland at 10 p.m. Tuesday and the No. 9 Clippers host No. 10 Golden State at 10 p.m. on Friday.<\/p>\n It was a relatively quiet final day out West, even though the No. 3, 4, 8 and 9 seeds were up for grabs. The Nuggets, who secured the third seed by beating San Antonio, 128-118, started three-time MVP Nikola Joki\u0107 and played him 18 minutes in the first half to make sure he was eligible for awards like MVP and All-NBA. Joki\u0107 finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. He finished as the NBA leader in assists (10.7) and rebounds (12.9) per game while also averaging about 27.8 points per game.<\/p>\n The Nuggets pulled him in the second half, and didn\u2019t play any of their other starters in the game, but outlasted a Spurs team that played all of its regulars except for Victor Wembanyama.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s what the rules provide. So we\u2019ll follow the rules,\u201d Nuggets coach David Adelman said before the game, about playing Joki\u0107 in the first half.<\/p>\n The Nuggets will play No. 6 Minnesota in a first-round series. The Lakers beat Utah, 131-107, but were relegated to fourth because of Denver\u2019s win. They will host No. 5 Houston in a first-round series.<\/p>\n The Blazers captured the ninth seed by holding on to beat Sacramento, 122-110. The Clippers won over the Warriors, 115-110, in a Play-In preview, but were blocked from advancing to the No. 8 seed by the Blazers\u2019 win. It was nevertheless a brilliant season turnaround for the Clippers, who were 6-21 at one point.<\/p>\n Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, was held out of his team\u2019s finale, ending any chance he had to catch Luka Don\u010di\u0107 of the Lakers for the NBA\u2019s scoring title.<\/p>\n Gilgeous-Alexander was last year\u2019s scoring champ, but finished this season averaging 31.1 points to Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s 33.5 points. Gilgeous-Alexander might very well hold onto his MVP trophy for another season \u2014 Don\u010di\u0107 can\u2019t take that away from him. In a weird twist, the 64 games Don\u010di\u0107 played this season are enough for him to qualify as scoring champ, but below the required 65 games for him to be eligible for MVP or most other regular-season awards.<\/p>\n It was a strange season like that \u2014 one the league will be glad to leave behind. There were too many instances of big names not being healthy, of players and coaches effectively kicked out of the league for gambling charges, of teams purposefully trying to lose, and of an entire franchise accused of rigging a no-show job for its star player to circumvent the salary cap.<\/p>\n The NBA still requires players to appear in 65 games for most award eligibility (Joki\u0107 entered play Sunday with 64 games played). Detroit star Cade Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung after 61 games played and wound up playing 64 \u2014 the same as Don\u010di\u0107. And LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry were among the other superstars who couldn\u2019t meet the threshold.<\/p>\n The players\u2019 union is looking for the rule to change; commissioner Adam Silver has said he thinks the rule is working.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about greatness and legacy, those awards matter,\u201d Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. \u201cYou understand the intent of the rule, but this guy has worked, sacrificed and played through injury. He just had one that he couldn\u2019t overcome, obviously. I feel like he should still be recognized, but it\u2019s one of those things that I know he\u2019ll look back on and when he\u2019s retired and you look at all the things he\u2019s accomplished. It is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTanking,\u201d or front offices and coaching staffs rigging lineups and rotations to create the best chance for their teams to lose games so they have the highest odds for a good draft pick, was so rampant this season<\/a> that Silver is seeking to end the practice altogether<\/a>. The Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers were fined for tanking<\/a>; the Sacramento Kings were investigated for it (but cleared).<\/p>\n The Washington Wizards set the NBA record for 20-point losses, while trading for stars Anthony Davis and Trae Young<\/a>. Davis never played for Washington, and Young barely played, but they\u2019re both on the roster for next season. And the Wizards, with the NBA\u2019s worst record, are among the three teams with the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. The Pacers, who finished with the second-worst record and have the same odds as the Wizards, traded for center Ivica Zubac<\/a>. The Jazz traded for Jaren Jackson Jr<\/a>. The trading and stashing by teams trying to lose was part of what pushed Silver to act.<\/p>\n The NBA\u2019s top losers \u2026 errr \u2026 how the lottery finished, from worst to 10th, was: Washington, Indiana, Brooklyn, Sacramento and Utah tied; Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans, Chicago, and Milwaukee \u2014 which parted ways with coach Doc Rivers after Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n The silver lining for Atlanta, despite the final day seeding drop: The Hawks get either the Pelicans\u2019 or Bucks\u2019 No. 1 pick this year, depending on which team fares better in the lottery next month.<\/p>\n Before the season even started, the Clippers were accused of circumventing the salary cap<\/a> with a multi-million-dollar marketing contract Kawhi Leonard received in 2022 from a major team sponsor. The NBA continues to investigate allegations that the Clippers arranged the deal for Leonard with now-bankrupt environmental firm Aspiration.<\/p>\n And after just two nights of the regular season, the Department of Justice unveiled major gambling-related charges against Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups<\/a>, Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former Lakers assistant (and LeBron\u2019s former personal shooting coach) Damon Jones. Billups did not coach this season. Rozier didn\u2019t play (he was waived by Miami on Friday<\/a>). And the federal court cases are ongoing.<\/p>\n