Brandon Dill/Associated Press
A single spot in the NBA playoff standings changed hands on the final day of the regular season.
The Milwaukee Bucks dropped out of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference after they decided to rest Giannis Antetokounmpo and most of their other top contributors.
That allowed the Boston Celtics to move up one position with their win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Boston is now the most likely first-round opponent for the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn secured home-court advantage in the East play-in round by beating the Indiana Pacers. The Nets need to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in a week to set up a showdown with the Celtics.
The Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz picked up victories on Sunday night to ensure the top 10 in the Western Conference did not change.
Golden State remained in the No. 3 seed thanks to a 40-point performance out of Klay Thompson, while Utah had an easy night against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The postseason begins with the play-in round games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The first-round series open up on Saturday and Sunday.
NBA Playoff Bracket
Final Regular-Season Standings
Eastern Conference
1. Miami (53-29)
2. Boston (51-31)
3. Milwaukee (51-31)
4. Philadelphia (51-31)
5. Toronto (48-34)
6. Chicago (46-36)
7. Brooklyn (44-38)
8. Cleveland (44-38)
9. Atlanta (43-39)
10. Charlotte (43-39)
The only change in the Eastern Conference standings on Sunday was the flip between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwaukee opted to rest its starters to have a chance of dropping to the No. 3 seed and avoid the Brooklyn Nets in the first round.
The Bucks dropped to the No. 3 seed after the Celtics won on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies, who had nothing to play for with the No. 2 seed in the West already clinched.
Boston’s win put it on a collision course with the Nets for the first round. Brooklyn hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in the first play-in contest in the East.
Brooklyn defeated Cleveland last Friday to take over the No. 7 spot in the East standings. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be difficult for the Cavaliers to stop over four quarters in an elimination setting.
The Brooklyn-Cleveland loser faces the Atlanta-Charlotte winner for the East’s No. 8 seed on Friday night.
Atlanta and Charlotte face off in an elimination contest on Wednesday night in Georgia. The Hawks and Hornets split their regular-season series. The Hornets won the last meeting on March 16.
The Hawks closed with seven wins in their last nine games. The Hornets enter on a three-game winning streak. The one significant victory in that stretch was a road win over the Bulls.
The winner of Friday’s play-in contest squares off with the Miami Heat in the first round. That series will likely begin Sunday because of the turnaround needed for the victor.
Philadelphia and Toronto are confirmed postseason opponents. The Sixers will be without Matisse Thybulle for the road games because he does not meet Canada’s vaccination mandate.
Milwaukee-Chicago is the other confirmed first-round playoff matchup in the East.
Western Conference
1. Phoenix (64-18)
2. Memphis (56-26)
3. Golden State (53-29)
4, Dallas (52-30)
5. Utah (49-33)
6. Denver (49-33)
7. Minnesota (46-36)
8. Los Angeles Clippers (42-40)
9. New Orleans (36-46)
10. San Antonio (34-48)
Golden State and Utah set the top six West teams in place with their respective victories on Sunday night.
The Warriors locked into the No. 3 seed with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans. That result kept the Dallas Mavericks in fourth place.
Dallas received a brief injury scare when Luka Doncic left Sunday’s game early with a calf injury. According to Marc Stein, the Mavs are calling the injury a left calf strain.
Doncic has at least six days to rest up before the Mavs embark on their playoff series with the Jazz.
Utah remained ahead of the Denver Nuggets with its win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Quin Snyder rested Donovan Mitchell for the clash against the tanking Blazers.
Dallas and Utah are aligned with the Phoenix Suns in the top half of the Western Conference bracket.
Golden State and Denver face off in the first round with the winner likely taking on the Grizzlies in the conference semifinals.
Memphis’ first-round opponent will be known Tuesday, when the Minnesota Timberwolves clash with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The loser of that contest awaits the New Orleans-San Antonio winner on Friday in an elimination showdown.
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