“Good momentum going into the playoffs,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after his team finished No. 1 in the West. “Nothing to complain about. … We won a lot of basketball games. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what everybody laces their shoes up for, to win basketball games and have a chance to win a championship.”

 

The only first-round series that was set before Sunday was Clippers-Mavericks in the West. Added to the list now: Bucks-Pacers and Cavaliers-Magic in the East, along with Timberwolves-Suns in the West.

 

The games themselves didn’t bring much drama on the regular season’s final day. Of the 15 games, only one was decided by one possession — and it was at Madison Square Garden, where New York got a big win. The Knicks held off Chicago 120-119 in overtime, a result that let them leapfrog Milwaukee for No. 2 in the East.

“A hell of a regular season,” Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo said. “Let’s get ready for the playoffs.”

 

Among the biggest blowouts on Sunday: Oklahoma City beat Dallas by 49 to wrap up No. 1 in the West, Indiana stayed out of the play-in by beating Atlanta by 42, Sacramento downed Portland by 39, San Antonio topped Detroit by 28 and Orlando — which could have been in the play-in with a loss — rolled past Milwaukee by 25.

 

Orlando won 47 games to capture the Southeast Division and get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

 

“So proud of them,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “There’s not really a lot of words for it. You talk about a group who has been up, been down, battled back, resilient … they proved it. Big stakes, they took it in their own hands.”