After 82 games, it's time to fly into postseason
By NBA.com staff reports
Posted Apr 16 2009 3:29AM
Finally, the confusing playoff scenarios that wrecked brains like a nuclear medicine final exam is over.
It came all the way down to final night of the regular season, but the NBA's playoff bracket is set.
In the East, the 76ers locked up the No. 6 seed on Wednesday by beating the Cavs 111-110 in overtime, while the Bulls lost at home 109-98 to the Raptors to settle for the No. 7 seed.
The Bulls will face the second-seeded, defending champion Celtics in the first-round of the playoffs.
Out West, where most of the confusion resided, the Spurs won the Southwest Division and earned the No. 3 seed with a 105-98 overtime victory against Chris Paul and the Hornets. The loss dropped the Hornets into the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against the Northwest Division champion Nuggets. Denver had already locked up the division when they took the floor against Portland, which won 104-76.
The Blazers' big win helped them earn the fourth seed and home-court advantage in a first-round series against Houston.
Houston had a chance to be seeded as high as second in the West, but lost 95-84 to the Mavericks and fell all the way to No. 5.
The sixth-seeded Mavericks, who climbed out of the No. 8 seed and avoided a matchup with the top-seeded Lakers, will play the Spurs in the first round.
Toronto 109, Chicago 98
Memphis 98, Atlanta 90
Miami 102, Detroit 96, OT
Orlando 98, Charlotte 73
Indiana 115, Milwaukee 108
Boston 115, Washington 107
New York 102, New Jersey 73
Dallas 95, Houston 84
Sacramento 97, Minnesota 90
San Antonio 105, New Orleans 98, OT
Philadelphia 111, Cleveland 110, OT
Portland 104, Denver 76
Phoenix 117, Golden State 113
Oklahoma City 126, L.A. Clippers 85
Eddie House of the Boston Celtics broke Danny Ainge's single-season franchise record with a 44.4 percentage on 3-point shots.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- 2010 All-Star Ballot
- 2009-10 Season Preview
- Free Agent Tracker
- 2009 Playoffs
- 2009 NBA Draft
- twitter.com / NBA
- NBA on Facebook
- Transactions
- 2009 Awards
- Officiating & Rules
- 2009 All-Star
- Coach bios
- Hoopedia
 | Arena Link: Carmelo Anthony The Nuggets forward talks about a win over the Bulls and brings a special guest on with him. |
 | Saturday's Top 10 Ten of the best plays from Saturday's NBA action are right here. |
 | The Daily Zap We're gonna take you on a quick ride around the league on Saturday in the Daily Zap. |
 | Nightly Notable Darren Collison has 22 points and 11 assists in a big win over the Atlanta Hawks. |
 | Timberwolves vs. Blazers Martel Webster scores 21 points and grabs 13 rebounds as the Blazers defeat the Timberwolves. |
 | Pick n' Roll Greg Oden sets the pick and Brandon Roy rolls down the baseline for the slam. |
 | Pistons vs. Jazz Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko each score 22 points as the Jazz defeat the Pistons in overtime. |
 | Bulls vs. Nuggets Carmello Anthony scores 30 points and grabs 11 rebounds as the Nuggets defeat the Bulls. |
 | Arena Link: Tony Parker Tony Parker joins the NBA TV crew after a blowout victory in San Antonio. |
 | Hawks vs. Hornets Darren Collison had 22 points and 11 assists as the Hornets snap the Hawks seven-game win streak. |
NBA.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network