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The Los Angeles Clippers worked overtime to clinch a playoff spot — and send the Golden State Warriors to the NBA's play-in tournament.
The final game to end the regular season was a big one for seeding in the Western Conference, with the Clippers beating the Warriors 124-119 in overtime Sunday to clinch the No. 5 seed.
The Warriors fell to No. 7 and will host No. 8 Memphis on Tuesday, with the winner earning the No. 7 seed.
Had Golden State won, the Clippers would have fallen to seventh. But James Harden prevented that with 39 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to cap an All-Star season for the former NBA MVP and give the Clippers an eighth straight win and a 50-32 record.
“We’re a good team and we’re excited to show the world, but we’re a good team,” Harden said in a postgame interview with ESPN on the court.
The West bracket wasn't set until a final day that had numerous teams in the running for numerous positions after the top three of Oklahoma City, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers was already determined.
The Denver Nuggets regrouped after their chaotic final week that included the firing of coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth to secure the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round against the Clippers by beating the Rockets 126-111.
The Lakers, Nuggets and Clippers all finished 50-32, with Los Angeles having the tiebreaker to finish No. 3 and start a series in Los Angeles for the first time since 2012.
The Timberwolves — who could have slipped all the way to eighth in some scenarios — instead landed in the No. 6 spot at 49-33 following their 116-105 victory over Utah. Anthony Edwards scored 43 points after stressing to his teammates the urgency to avoid having to play at least one more game.
“Like, we don’t want to play in the play-in, because I’ve been in both situations,” the All-Star guard said. “We want to be fully prepared going into the playoffs. We want that whole week.”
So did the Warriors, who have never won a game in the play-in tournament. They would have finished sixth to set up another marquee matchup between Stephen Curry and LeBron James in the postseason and have just two days to shake off the disappointment.
“We’re right where we want to be,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “We’ve still got an opportunity and we control our own fate. We’re going to be just fine.”
Sacramento is No. 9 and Dallas No. 10 in the West. They will play Wednesday in Sacramento, with the winner having to beat the loser of the Golden State-Memphis game to face the top-seeded Thunder in the first round.
There was no final-day drama in the East, where everything had already been decided.
Cleveland is No. 1 and Boston is No. 2, and they will await the two teams to advance from the play-in. The No. 3 New York Knicks will face the No. 6 Detroit Pistons, and No. 4 Indiana will meet No. 5 Milwaukee.
Orlando is No. 7 and will host eighth-seeded Atlanta on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to face the Celtics. The loser will get another shot against the winner of the game between No. 9 Chicago and No. 10 Miami.
Finishing with 50
Besides the victories by the Nuggets and Clippers, the Indiana Pacers beat Cleveland in two overtimes to finish 50-32. That gave the NBA nine teams with at least 50 wins for the first time since 10 teams did it in 2014-15.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
