The 2024-25 NBA regular season came to a close Sunday, and the 2025 NBA playoff bracket is set. The Clippers clinched a playoff spot and sent the Warriors to the Play-In Tournament with a thrilling 124-119 overtime win on Sunday. Seeds 4-10 in the West were all determined on Sunday as the Nuggets and Timberwolves joined the Clippers as teams to clinch playoff spots.
Here's what was determined on Sunday:
It was a wild day in the association, so let's take a look at some winners and losers from the NBA's regular-season finale.
Those of you who haven't been paying attention to the Clippers for the past two months got a glimpse of what's in store in the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard and James Harden combined for 72 points, 17 assists and 13 rebounds on 26-for-42 (62%) shooting, including 9 of 16 from 3-point range in Sunday's 124-119 overtime win over the Warriors. Harden came up clutch in overtime, hitting back-to-back clutch 3s to start things off.
JAMES HARDEN BACK-TO-BACK THREES 🎯
— NBA (@NBA) April 13, 2025
CLUTCH FROM THE CLIPPERS STAR!
LAC-GSW ON ESPN. pic.twitter.com/eqs9YXODSj
Meanwhile, Ivica Zubac punished the small-ball Warriors, going for 22 points and 17 rebounds on 11-of-16 shooting as the Clippers improved to 18-3 since March 5 and enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Their "Big Three" of Leonard, Harden and Zubac is supplemented by perfectly-suited role players like Norm Powell, Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr. and midseason acquisition Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Leonard is healthy and dominant, Harden is resurgent, and the Clippers are absolutely terrifying.
The intensity during Sunday's loss to the Clippers showed just how much the Warriors wanted to earn the No. 6 seed and avoid the Play-In Tournament. Alas, it wasn't in the cards, and they will face the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Tuesday for a shot to earn the No. 7 seed. If they lose that, they will play the winner of the No. 9 Dallas vs. No. 10 Sacramento matchup for the No. 8 spot, with the loser being eliminated from the postseason.
The Warriors' stated goal for the second half of the season was to avoid the Play-In Tournament, so this one stings. That being said, if they are able to earn the No. 7 seed, one could argue that a first-round matchup with the upstart Houston Rockets is more favorable than going toe-to-toe with the savvy playoff acumen of the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James and Luka Dončić. We'll have to see how things shake out, but there's a chance that the Warriors and Lakers could now meet in the second round instead of the first, which would be one of the most-anticipated series of the postseason.
Yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves went to the Western Conference finals last season, but you'd have to imagine that the Lakers would rather face them than Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors in the opening round. So they were likely celebrating internally as the Wolves' win and the Warriors' loss meant that Minnesota landed in the No. 6 spot and will face the No. 3 Lakers starting next weekend.
The Lakers split with the Wolves this season, but only played them once after acquiring Dončić -- a 111-102 win in late February. Lest we forget, the last time Dončić played Minnesota in the playoffs, he delivered one of the most iconic shots in NBA postseason history, followed by an emphatic "you can't f---ing guard me" directed toward Wolves center Rudy Gobert.
With Dončić, James and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have three excellent perimeter scorers and playmakers capable of exploiting matchups with Gobert and Minnesota forward Julius Randle, which is more than they could say against the Warriors, for sure.
Look, we're not here to disparage a guy who suits up for every game in the load management era, but something feels a bit slimy about the way New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges extended his NBA-best games played streak to 556 straight on Sunday. With the Knicks having locked up the No. 3 seed in the East, there was no need for Bridges or any of the regulars to risk injury in a meaningless game against the Nets. So, while every other starter was inactive, Bridges got into his uniform, took the court for the opening tip and ... immediately fouled someone to get out of the game.
Mikal Bridges started, committed a foul, and checked out after 6 seconds just so he could keep up his streak of games played 😭
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 13, 2025
He's currently at 556 👀 pic.twitter.com/zBHSSg1kT9
I mean ... congratulations?
Bridges' streak now ranks 14th all-time, but he'd have to more than double it in order to catch leader A.C. Green's incredible 1,192 straight games played from 1986-2001. This isn't the first time that Bridges has pulled this move either -- he checked out after four seconds in the 2023 finale for the Brooklyn Nets, which was actually his 83rd game of the season due to his midseason trade from the Phoenix Suns.
Bridges, who hasn't missed a single game since his junior year of high school, deserves all the credit in the world for his durability. But if he's going to suit up for the sole purpose of extending his streak, how about he plays just the first half? That seems like a reasonable compromise.
It's probably not a great idea to test Anthony Edwards, and Detroit Pistons sharpshooter Malik Beasley found that out the hard way on Sunday. Edwards entered the finale with a one 3-pointer lead over Beasley for the most in the NBA this season, and Beasley went out and knocked down seven more in Detroit's 140-133 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Doing some quick math, Beasley took to social media to lay down the gauntlet for Edwards, whose game tipped off just as Beasley's was ending.
Ant you gotta get 7 3s to beat me tonight 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
— Malik Beasley (@mbeasy5) April 13, 2025
Why don't you venture a wild guess at how many 3s Edwards made in the Timberwolves' 116-105 win over the Utah Jazz? That's right, seven on the dot.
THREE-POINTER NO. 320 FOR ANT 🔥
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 13, 2025
He leads the league in 3PM this season! pic.twitter.com/pBndMp14vy
That shot gave Edwards the regular-season 3-point crown, edging Beasley 320 to 319. Both deserve to take a bow for a phenomenal year, as they land seventh and eighth, respectively, on the all-time single-season 3-point list. Stephen Curry holds five of the six totals ahead of them, including the No. 1 mark of 402 3-pointers in 2015-16.
Beasley must also hold a bit of a gripe with the league office, who rescinded what would have been Edwards' 18th technical foul, which he picked up on Friday and would have led to his automatic suspension for Sunday's game.
There's a reason they call it the SouthLeast. The Orlando Magic's loss on Sunday gave them a final record of 41-41, but that was enough to win the NBA's Southeast Division (yes, they still have divisions). According to Dan Feldman, it's the first time since the NBA/ABA merger that a team has won its division without a winning record.
Congratulations to the Southeast Division-champion Orlando Magic, the first team without a winning record to win a division since the NBA-ABA merger.
— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) April 13, 2025
The other teams in the division are the Atlanta Hawks (40-42), Miami Heat (37-45), Charlotte Hornets (19-63) and Washington Wizards (18-64).
It must also be an odd feeling to win the division and then have to take the floor for a play-in game to determine your postseason fate. Strange year for the Magic.
It's always cool to see brothers doing stuff in the NBA, and Sunday provided us with the Bagleys -- Marvin and Marcus -- putting on a bit of a show. Marcus played 43 minutes in the Philadelphia 76ers' 122-202 loss to the Chicago Bulls, logging 10 points, 15 rebounds and four steals. Meanwhile, Marvin Bagley III went off for 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Memphis Grizzlies in their 132-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Marvin has struggled to live up to his No. 2 draft pick status over the course of his seven-year NBA career, but has consistently been able to put up numbers when he gets playing time, averaging 19 points and 10.5 rebounds per 36 minutes in 288 games. On the other hand, Marcus' 10-game run with the 76ers was his first NBA action after going undrafted in 2023 out of Arizona State. He averaged seven points and seven rebounds with Philadelphia, and may have made enough of an impression to earn him a chance to extend his NBA career next season.
The last day of the NBA season is always full of surprises -- statistically speaking, at least. We knew we were in for a treat when the entire Eastern Conference postseason was etched in stone before games even began, meaning we'd see a lot of lower-usage players get a chance to cook. That was certainly the case, and here's a look at some of the craziness that ensued:
Sometimes you forget just how good NBA players are, and then you see guys who don't even normally sniff the floor go out and drop 30-plus. It's a reminder of the incredible skill level throughout the league, and some of these performances might even carry over into next season for a select few.
The Clippers are in the playoffs. The Warriors are in the play-in. The Clippers got 70 combined points from James Harden and Kawhi Leonard to win, 124-119, over the Warriors on Sunday.
Here are the West seeds:
1. Thunder
2. Rockets
3. Lakers
4. Nuggets
5. Clippers
6. Timberwolves
7. Warriors
8. Grizzlies
9. Kings
10. Mavericks
We have at least five more minutes in the 2024-25 NBA regular season. The Warriors and Clippers are heading to overtime, tied 111-111 after 48 minutes. Kawhi Leonard had 32 points in regulation but couldn't hit a jumper over Draymond Green in the final seconds. Stephen Curry leads all scorers with 33 points.
Denver and Minnesota are in the playoffs. The Nuggets crushed the Rockets and the Wolves ran away from the Jazz on Sunday. The Nuggets will be the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. The Wolves will either be fifth or sixth depending on what happens in the Warriors-Clippers game.
The Kings took care of the Suns on Sunday. Sacramento will be the West's No. 9 seed and host the Mavs in the 9-10 Play-In Game on Wednesday night.
If these results hold, here's how the seeding would shake out in the West:
Jimmy Butler scored 10 points in the opening quarter as the Warriors jumped out to the lead in this pivotal game. The Dubs ended the first quarter on a 16-3 run. Kawhi Leonard and James Harden split 15 first-quarter points for the Clippers.
We know the East's 10 postseason seed. The West? Well seeds 4-10 need to be settled this afternoon. Here's what's at stake today:
The Houston Rockets are locked in as the West's No. 2 seed. They'll face the West's No. 7 seed, an opponent that will be decided by the Play-In Tournament. The Rockets don't have anything to play for on Sunday. The Nuggets -- who clinch the No. 4 seed with a win -- do. Yet Houston will play its starters regular minutes. Denver, it sounds, will have to earn its playoff spot.
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