Play-in tournament finishes to start the NBA playoffs

With the play-in tournament completed, the playoff picture is now set in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat qualified through the play-in. 

April 10 the Lakers qualified for the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference by beating the Timberwolves in a messy game, and the Hawks qualified as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Heat in a game where Atlanta dominated the paint. April 11 the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans and the Chicago Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors to get a chance of qualifying for each conference’s eighth seed. However, April 13 the Timberwolves beat the Thunder in the West, and the Heat beat the Bulls in the East for the final spots in the playoffs.

The first round of the playoffs has 8 best-of-seven series. In the East, the Milwaukee Bucks play the Heat, the Boston Celtics play the Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers play the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks play the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the West, the Denver Nuggets play the Timberwolves, the Memphis Grizzlies play the Lakers, the Sacramento Kings play the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns play the Los Angeles Clippers.