Donovan Mitchell Reiterates Desire To Stay In Cleveland
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell could be a free agent next year, as he’ll make $50.1MM in 2026/27, with a $53.8MM player option for ’27/28. Mitchell will be eligible this summer for a four-year extension worth a projected $277MM.
Sam Amick of The Athletic recently asked Mitchell how he would feel about signing a long-term deal with the Cavaliers, and the 29-year-old guard had nothing but good things to say about the organization.
“I love Cleveland. I’ve said it before: I want to play here for as long as I can,” Mitchell told The Athletic. “And the goal is to win — as long as we’re continuing to win at the highest level. But I love it, man. It’s a place that I feel like I can call home, you know what I mean? And I feel good. My fiance (singer/songwriter and actress Coco Jones) feels good about it.
“… The Cleveland life — I love it. I’m good. Now, the basketball just has to continue to be right where it’s been. This organization has shown time and time again that they’re willing to do whatever it takes, and that’s what you want.”
Amick’s exclusive interview with Mitchell covers his preexisting relationship with James Harden (both represent Adidas), when Mitchell learned of the trade talks with the Clippers, how Mitchell felt about the state of the team leading up to the Harden deal, and more. When asked about a report that Mitchell used his contract status to pressure the Cavs to make a move, the seven-time All-Star denied that was the case.
“I’ve said this many times, Sam, and I don’t know why people don’t believe me,” Mitchell said. “But I really like it here. There’s also a business component (that) people just don’t understand. Like, I did an interview with (The Athletic’s) Joe (Vardon) the other day, and that s–t I was talking about with the food was real.
“My thing is, this s–t is real. I don’t know why — I mean, I know why — but people can’t fathom the fact that I’m really enjoying it here. And when I’m talking about Cleveland, I’m talking about the organization. I felt like, okay, yes, there was a business (discussion about the Harden trade), like ‘Yes, let’s do this.’ But I never went to them and was like, ‘Yo, let’s do this.’ And that’s why I appreciated it, because this was on them.”
As Amick observes, Harden and Mitchell are two of the more accomplished active players who have never won a championship despite making the playoffs each season of their respective careers. Mitchell told Amick he and Harden both plan to “do whatever it f—ing takes to win” their first title this season.
“I don’t want to say it’s his last shot, or my last shot, either. But it’s our best shot,” Mitchell said of Harden. “There’s a reason why he chose here. He sees it. We know what we’ve gotta do. Now, how do we do it? Him and I are gonna be fine. We’re gonna stagger our minutes. We’re gonna do all that, and then in crunch time we all know.
“(But) how are we going to get (Sam Merrill involved)? How we gonna get J.A. (Jarrett Allen), Evan (Mobley), Max (Strus), Keon (Ellis), Dennis (Schröder), everybody, around to gel and fit, you know what I mean? And the best part about (Harden) was that when you have a guy come in, and he’s like ‘Don, this is your team, bro.’ Then you go do your thing. You feel comfortable to be like, ‘Alright, bet.”
Amick’s conversation with Mitchell is worth reading in full for Cavaliers fans who subscribe to The Athletic.
Details On NBA’s Playoff Bonus Money For 2025/26
The pool of bonus money for NBA playoff teams this season is worth approximately $36MM, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico.
The top six teams in each conference earn bonuses based on their regular season records, while the 16 playoff teams also receive a chunk of money from the playoff pool, increasing the value of their payout with each series win. That bonus money is divvied up among the players on each club’s 15-man roster.
Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament aren’t entitled to any of the playoff bonus money, even if they had the seventh- or eighth-best regular season record in their conference.
The breakdown for 2026’s playoff pool money is as follows (rounded to the nearest thousand), per Sportico:
Regular season achievements:
- Best record in NBA (Thunder): $896K
- No. 1 seeds in each conference (Pistons, Thunder): $784K per team
- No. 2 seeds (Celtics, Spurs): $628K per team
- No. 3 seeds (Knicks, Nuggets): $471K per team
- No. 4 seeds (Cavaliers, Lakers): $384K per team
- No. 5 seeds (Raptors, Rockets): $297K per team
- No. 6 seeds (Hawks, Timberwolves): $210K per team
Postseason achievements:
- Teams participating in first round (all 16 playoff teams — the 12 listed above, plus the Sixers, Trail Blazers, and Friday’s play-in winners): $481K per team
- Teams participating in conference semifinals (eight teams): $586K per team
- Teams participating in conference finals (four teams): $980K per team
- Losing team in NBA Finals: $3,921,000
- Winning team in NBA Finals: $9,078,000
A team that makes a deep playoff run will cash in on more than one of the bonuses listed above.
For example, if the Thunder win the championship, their payout from the playoff pool would be worth more than $12.8MM in total — that amount would include their bonuses for posting the NBA’s best record, claiming the West’s No. 1 seed, making the first round, making the conference semifinals, making the conference finals, and winning the NBA Finals.
The total amount of the playoff bonus pool, which is based on a formula connected to basketball-related income (BRI), is up 3% from last season, according to Badenhausen and Akabas.
Central Notes: Donovan, Bulls, Cavs, Bucks, Gores
Before the Bulls fired top executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley last week, it felt like there was a 90% chance that head coach Billy Donovan would be leaving the team, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, who suggests that the former front office didn’t seem to have a plan that would make Donovan optimistic about the team’s future.
However, with Karnisovas and Eversley no longer in the picture, Donovan’s decision feels more like a coin flip, Cowley writes, speculating that there’s now a “49%” chance of the head coach departing.
Within his story, Cowley writes that Karnisovas’ and Eversley’s talent evaluation had long been considered questionable, dating back to the 2020 draft, when Karnisovas “fixated” on Patrick Williams with the No. 4 overall pick. According to one of Cowley’s sources, there were scouts and executives within the organization who preferred Tyrese Haliburton, but Karnisovas didn’t view the point guard as a “serious prospect.” Haliburton has since made two All-NBA teams and gotten within one win of a championship.
We have more from around the Central:
- In a separate story for the Chicago Sun-Times, Cowley considers a few potential targets for the Bulls with their newly secured second first-round pick, courtesy of Portland. Cowley identifies UConn’s Braylon Mullins, Michigan’s Aday Mara, and Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance as prospects who Chicago may consider drafting using that pick, which will be either 15th or 16th overall.
- What’s at stake for the Cavaliers during this year’s playoffs? “Everything,” according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required), who believes that any number of organizational and roster changes could be on the table if Cleveland fails to advance to at least the conference finals this spring after spending more than any other team on its roster in 2025/26.
- Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription required) poses some of the most pressing questions facing the Bucks this summer, including whether ownership wants to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo long-term, who will be the next head coach, and whether they can nail their first lottery pick since 2016.
- Pistons owner Tom Gores published a letter on Tuesday thanking fans for sticking with the team through a challenging rebuild that included five straight years between 14 and 23 wins, including a franchise-worst 14-68 mark in 2023/24. “What we’re building here is a story for the ages,” Gores wrote. “One of the great comeback stories in sports, and not just because of where we are today but because of how we got here.”
Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2025/26
As we outlined in February, a total of 14 teams projected to be taxpayers prior to an eventful trade deadline week, with the 16 non-taxpayers on track to receive about $13.8MM apiece in tax distribution money at that point.
However, the Celtics, Nuggets, Suns, Mavericks, Sixers, Magic, and Raptors all ducked below the luxury tax line with their pre-deadline transactions, while a few other teams remained in the tax but took steps to significantly reduce their end-of-season bills.
As a result, seven NBA teams project to finish over the luxury tax line in 2025/26, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Here are those seven clubs, along with their projected tax penalties:
- Cleveland Cavaliers ($68.7MM)
- Golden State Warriors ($67.9MM) *
- New York Knicks ($44.4MM)
- Los Angeles Lakers ($22.2MM) *
- Houston Rockets ($7.2MM)
- Los Angeles Clippers ($6.7MM) *
- Minnesota Timberwolves ($6MM)
Total: $223.1MM
Note: Teams marked with an asterisk are paying repeater tax rates.
While the projected tax payments are quite similar to the ones from a couple months ago, the total is up slightly overall. That’s because the Warriors, Rockets and Timberwolves signed players to fill out the back ends of their rosters. The Lakers will undoubtedly finalize their roster today — they have one standard opening ahead of Sunday’s deadline.
Based on the current figures from Marks, each non-taxpayer is projected to receive a payout of about $4.9MM. That figure is determined by cutting the total league-wide tax penalties in half, then dividing them evenly among the non-taxpaying teams (in this case, 23 clubs). The projected payout was at $4.8MM in February.
In 2024/25, 10 taxpayers paid a total of $461.2MM in penalties and the 20 non-taxpayers reportedly received $11.5MM apiece. This season’s projected distribution payment of $4.9MM is the lowest figure since 2020/21, according to Marks.
It’s worth noting that the tax penalties could still change again before the 2025/26 league year ends. According to Marks (Twitter links), 36 players had a total of 133 different incentives in their contracts entering the fall, and 15 of those bonuses are still up in the air entering the final day of the regular season. Some of those bonus situations may not be resolved until the playoffs end.
The Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers would all be subject to repeater penalties in 2026/27 if they’re taxpayers again next season. Additionally, the Bucks, Celtics, Suns, and Nuggets would pay repeater rates if they’re in the tax in ’26/27, since all four clubs were in the tax for three straight years from 2023-25. They’ll each need to spend one more season as a non-taxpayer in order to reset the repeater clock.
Wemby, Kawhi Meet 65-Game Criteria; Jokic One Game Away
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama returned on Friday from a one-game absence due to a rib contusion and played 26 minutes in a win over Dallas, ensuring that he has met the requirements for the 65-game rule and will now be eligible for postseason awards, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes.
Wembanyama has technically logged 20-plus minutes in just 62 regular season games this season, but he also surpassed the 15-minute mark in two additional appearances, which count toward the minimum. Additionally, he gets credit for playing 25 minutes in December’s NBA Cup final, even though that game isn’t considered a regular season contest.
With the Spurs locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, it seems unlikely that Wembanyama would have suited up for Friday’s matchup with Dallas if not for the 65-game rule.
“I tried to protect (the injured rib) as much as possible while still being respectful of the game,” he said after racking up 40 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists in the victory, per ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “But it was OK. It didn’t bother me that much, just a few times where it was a specific moment or specific hit where it was painful.”
Wembanyama, who has averaged 25.0 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 3.1 APG, and a league-leading 3.1 BPG for the 62-19 Spurs, looks like a lock to win Defensive Player of the Year and earn All-NBA honors, almost certainly as a first-teamer. He also should show up on most – if not all – Most Valuable Player ballots.
Another MVP candidate, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, was held out of Friday’s matchup with Oklahoma City due to right wrist injury management, meaning he’ll have to play at least 15 minutes in Sunday’s regular season finale in order to reach the 65-game threshold. While that’s certainly possible, head coach David Adelman suggested after Friday’s win that it’s not a lock, according to Reynolds. Adelman suggested that an “adult conversation” will take place prior to tip-off on Sunday.
“Obviously, the success in the playoffs matters more than anything else,” Adelman said. “But this rule stares at us right now. And so, we’ve got to make a proper decision and we need to go in there with a real plan of, ‘This is what it’s going to be.’ Either he gets those minutes, or we say, ‘Let’s just move on.'”
Interestingly, the Spurs and Nuggets will face one another on Sunday in San Antonio. And even though Wembanyama has already met the award eligibility criteria and Jokic hasn’t, San Antonio may be the team more motivated to win Sunday’s game, since doing so could push Denver into the No. 4 spot in the West (assuming the Lakers beat Utah). That would put the Lakers, instead of the Nuggets, on the Spurs’ side of the Western Conference playoff bracket.
Ahead of Sunday’s slate of games, here are a few more updates on the 65-game rule and award eligibility, with a hat tip to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):
- Clippers star Kawhi Leonard played over 37 minutes on Friday, marking his 65th appearance of the season and making him award-eligible. Although Leonard now looks like a safe bet to make an All-NBA team, Friday’s outcome was a disappointing one, as Portland beat L.A. to take control of the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings.
- Also becoming award-eligible on Friday as a result of meeting the 65-game criteria were Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, and Warriors forward Draymond Green. All three players are candidates to earn All-Defensive votes this season.
- Another All-Defensive candidate, Thunder swingman Luguentz Dort, narrowly surpassed the 20-minute threshold on Friday and will need to do so again on Sunday in order to be eligible for postseason awards.
- Trail Blazers All-Star forward Deni Avdija will have to play at least 15 minutes on Sunday in order to meet the 65-game criteria. He’ll likely receive All-NBA and Most Improved Player consideration if he qualifies.
Hawks Clinch Playoff Spot; Top Four East Seeds Now Locked In
The Hawks have become the fifth Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot after defeating Cleveland on Friday, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Dyson Daniels recorded his second career triple-double (13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) and CJ McCollum registered a game-high 29 points in just 24 minutes during the 22-point win, notes Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks (Twitter link).
Atlanta, which is currently 46-35, also secured the Southeast Division title with Friday’s victory. This is the first time the Hawks have avoided the play-in tournament since 2020/21, when they made a surprise run to the conference final as the No. 5 seed.
Detroit secured the East’s No. 1 spot following last Saturday’s win in Philadelphia, but the other seeds had been up in the air until now. Friday’s results have provided a little more clarity. The Celtics locked up the No. 2 seed by demolishing New Orleans; the Knicks are No. 3 after they beat Toronto and Cleveland lost; and the Cavaliers are No. 4.
The Hawks can clinch the No. 5 seed if they win Sunday’s game at Miami. The 45-36 Raptors, who are currently No. 6, also control their own fate — a win Sunday over the tanking Nets will secure a guaranteed playoff berth.
There’s theoretically still a pathway for the No. 7 Magic (45-36) or the No. 8 Sixers (44-37) to sneak in as the East’s sixth guaranteed playoff team on Sunday. The Magic would need a win at Boston combined with a Raptors loss, which would make Orlando the No. 6 seed (the Hawks would be No. 5 in that scenario no matter how they fare against Miami). Philadelphia needs Orlando and Toronto to lose Sunday and it has to beat Milwaukee at home to finish No. 6, with Atlanta again the No. 5 in that scenario.
If the Hawks, Raptors, Magic and Sixers all win on Sunday, they will finish where they currently are in the standings. That outcome wouldn’t be surprising.
The Hornets are now locked into the play-in tournament after losing to the Pistons on Friday. They’ll face the Heat in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in game. Charlotte will be No. 9 with either a win Sunday (at New York) or a Miami loss. The Heat need to beat Atlanta and need Charlotte to lose to the Knicks to move up to No. 9.
Injury Notes: Wemby, Castle, Nuggets, Bulls, Tyson, Barrett
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has been upgraded from questionable to available for Friday’s game vs. Dallas, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News.
Orsborn’s colleague Jeff McDonald wrote on Thursday that San Antonio was privately optimistic that Wembanyama would be active Friday. The third-year center needs to play at least 20 minutes against the Mavs to qualify for major postseason awards. He left Monday’s game early due to a left rib contusion, an injury which sidelined him for Wednesday’s win over Portland.
Reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, who also missed Wednesday’s game, will be out again Friday, Orsborn adds. Head coach Mitch Johnson said Castle is dealing with multiple nagging injuries; he was listed as having right knee soreness two days ago, while Friday’s designation is left foot soreness.
“Eighty games and the way he plays. It’s real. We’re not just sitting him just to sit him,” Johnson said.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- The Nuggets will be playing without all five of their normal starters on Friday against Oklahoma City, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post tweets. All five players (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson) had previously been listed as questionable. Jokic sitting out means he’ll need to play at least 15 minutes in Sunday’s finale at San Antonio to be eligible for year-end awards.
- After missing three games with an illness, Bulls forward Matas Buzelis will return to action for Friday’s penultimate game vs. Orlando, according to Will Gottlieb of CHGO Bulls (Twitter link). Isaac Okoro (left quad contusion) will be out Friday but there’s a chance he could return for Sunday’s finale vs. Dallas, while Josh Giddey (left hamstring strain injury management), Guerschon Yabusele (left shoulder and left elbow sprains), Nick Richards (right elbow sprain) and Anfernee Simons (left wrist fracture) will miss the final two games of Chicago’s season.
- Jaylon Tyson is in the Cavaliers‘ starting lineup on Friday, tweets Danny Cunningham of Locked on Cavs. The second-year wing has missed Cleveland’s past 10 games due to a left great toe bone bruise. Tyson is starting in place of Donovan Mitchell, who is out with what the team calls right ankle injury management.
- Raptors wing RJ Barrett was a late scratch ahead of Friday’s contest vs. New York, as Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca relays (via Twitter). Barrett is dealing with right knee soreness. It’s the second night of a back-to-back for Toronto, which will also be without Immanuel Quickley and Collin Murray-Boyles. The Raptors can clinch a playoff spot if they beat the Knicks.
And-Ones: Lottery Reform, MVP, Playoff Storylines, Jones
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that the lottery reform concept which has gained the most momentum is one that would expand the lottery to 18 teams and give the bottom 10 clubs equal odds at the top pick (8% each). The remaining 20% would be split among the eight play-in teams, with each of the top 18 spots in the draft drawn via lottery.
However, according to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports, a number of general managers who took part in a call on Tuesday to discuss the issue expressed reservations about that proposal, noting that it would give teams some incentives to tank out of the top six into play-in range — or to tank out of the play-in altogether.
“This solves nothing,” one GM said. “It could make the problem even worse just like the 14% odds did.”
As O’Connor details, some GMs expressed support for expanding the lottery to 22 teams instead of 14, since the idea of a team tanking a playoff series in order for an outside shot at the No. 1 pick is considered unlikely. Additionally, the odds would be flattened even further with 22 teams in the mix, reducing the appeal of tanking into a specific spot, O’Connor writes, since the upside would be smaller.
With the NBA looking to discourage a race to the bottom, one general manager suggested that the league’s worst three teams shouldn’t even be eligible for the No. 1 overall pick, O’Connor reports. While the league office found that suggestion to be too extreme, commissioner Adam Silver responded more enthusiastically to a proposal to slightly reduce the odds for the bottom three finishers.
If the NBA were to expand the lottery to 22 teams and slightly reduce the odds for the bottom three teams, O’Connor suggests that the result could look something like this: A 5% shot at the No. 1 pick for the bottom three teams; 6% for the other seven non-play-in teams; 5% for the play-in losers; 4% for the two worst teams among the first-round losers; 3% for the next three worst first-round losers; and 2% for the remaining three first-round losers.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Who is the players’ choice for 2026 Most Valuable Player? According to Sam Amick, Josh Robbins, and Joe Vardon, the overwhelming choice among players polled by The Athletic is Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who received 62 of 159 total votes (39.0%). Nuggets center Nikola Jokic came in second with 34 votes (21.6%), while no other player earned more than 13 (8.2%). Notably, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama finished outside the top five, though two of the players ahead of him – Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Lakers guard Luka Doncic – may not end up being award-eligible due to the 65-game rule.
- Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN spoke to executives, coaches, and scouts around the NBA to get a sense of which storylines they’ll be watching closest during the postseason. Those storylines include the Cavaliers‘ defensive regression, the Spurs‘ shooting surge, and Jalen Duren‘s ability to be a second option on a Finals team. “I like Duren,” one Western Conference executive said of the Pistons center, who will be a restricted free agent this summer. “I’m terrified to give him his max (salary), but the dude is a beast. He grabs every rebound, can guard and his scoring has exceeded everything I would have expected coming into the season.”
- After 36 years at the network, veteran NBA and college football play-by-play announcer Mark Jones is leaving ESPN, reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. According to Marchand, this Sunday’s game between Boston and Orlando will be the final one Jones works on ESPN.
Central Notes: Cavs, Wade, Siakam, Donovan, Bulls
With the playoffs around the corner, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson is still considering what his starting and closing lineups will look like, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). As Fedor points out, the fact that Dean Wade immediately reentered the starting five in his Wednesday return from a seven-game absence due to an ankle sprain bodes well for the forward’s chances of keeping that role during the postseason.
“We have the data, how good he’s been with that group,” Atkinson said of starting Wade. “We’ve been struggling a little bit defensively. He obviously adds that element and when he makes a three(-pointer) or two like he did, that helps us tremendously.”
Wade, Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, and Max Strus have all dealt with health issues this season and have been active at the same time in just two games this season, so Atkinson acknowledged that availability will be the first factor that determines his playoff rotation. With Wade on a minutes restriction and Tyson still sidelined with a toe injury on Wednesday, it was Merrill who closed the game for Cleveland.
“I feel confident with Sam’s ability,” Atkinson said of that decision. “That’s the hard one. You’re going to have probably three, four people to choose from, I would think. You guys are going to say, ‘Why didn’t you play this guy?’ So, we’ve got to make those decisions, we’ve got to make the right decisions under pressure.”
We have more from around the Central:
- As a result of missing Thursday’s game in Brooklyn due to a left ankle sprain, Pacers forward Pascal Siakam will fall short of the 65-game threshold to be eligible for end-of-season awards, notes Tony East of Circle City Spin (Twitter link). Based on Indiana’s record (19-61), Siakam was a long shot for All-NBA recognition anyway, but he has had an excellent individual season, averaging 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the floor, including 35.8% on three-pointers.
- Responding on Thursday to Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf‘s assertion that the team doesn’t want to hire a head of basketball operations who isn’t a fan of Billy Donovan, the veteran head coach suggested to reporters, including Ian Nicholas Quillen of The Associated Press, not to read too much into it. “I think Michael was making the point of how he felt about me,” Donovan said. “But I also understand that, like I said, everybody’s got to look out for what is best for the Bulls at that point in time.”
- Addressing several Bulls-related topics in a mailbag for The Chicago Tribune (subscription required), Julia Poe says that investing in player development and scouting should be a priority under the next front office, writing that Arturas Karnisovas was “lacking notably in his willingness to fill out staffing in key departments and allowed personal issues to dictate his personnel management.”
- In his preview of their offseason, Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube link) looks at potential next steps for the Bulls and explains why the team needs to be careful about how it uses its significant cap room this summer.
Thunder Secure West’s No. 1 Seed For Third Straight Season
The Spurs have been on an absolute heater since the start of February, winning 29 of 32 games during that stretch, but it won’t be enough to catch the Thunder in the regular season standings.
On Wednesday, shortly after San Antonio won its 61st game of the season, Oklahoma City picked up its 64th victory, beating the Clippers in L.A. by a score of 128-110. With only two games left in the regular season, the Thunder now can’t be caught for the No. 1 seed and will finish atop the Western Conference for a third straight year. They’ve also secured the NBA’s best record, which means they’ll have home court advantage in all of their playoff series this spring, including – potentially – the Finals.
The Thunder have won 19 of their past 20 games and have become just the third team in NBA history to compile at least 64 wins in back-to-back seasons, notes Brandon Rahbar of Daily Thunder (Twitter link). The only other two franchises to achieve that feat were the Bulls, who did it from 1995-97, and the Warriors, who won at least 67 games in three straight seasons from 2014-17.
“It’s impressive,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the team’s regular season success, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Obviously, none of it means anything if you don’t win in the end, and you know that. But teams that win in the end have some of the same characteristics and traits and check off the same boxes. So checking off those boxes is kind of just like knowing we’re headed in the right direction. Obviously, we’re far from the finish line of where we want to go, but like I said, it lets us know we’re heading right there.”
With the Thunder now locked into the No. 1 seed and the Spurs having clinched No. 2, they’ll face the two teams that come out of the play-in tournament in the first round of the playoffs.
Phoenix’s win over Dallas on Wednesday ensured that the Suns will enter the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed, meaning they’ll host the No. 7/8 game and would get a second home game against the No. 9/10 winner if they lose that first contest. The Warriors are locked into the No. 10 seed in the West and will have to win two road games to make the playoffs, while the Clippers and Trail Blazers continue to jockey for No. 8.
The Timberwolves‘ loss to Orlando on Wednesday also guaranteed that Minnesota will finish sixth in the Western Conference standings. The Nuggets are in the driver’s seat for No. 3, with a two-game lead over the Rockets and Lakers.
Over in the East, the Hawks could’ve clinched a playoff berth with a win in Cleveland on Wednesday, but their fourth-quarter comeback attempt came up short. Atlanta still currently holds the No. 5 seed in the East with two games left to play, but the Raptors, Magic, and Sixers – in that order – are all within 1.5 games, and the Hawks will face the Cavaliers again on Friday.