If you think an NBA game in the dog days of late January and early February don’t matter, tell that to the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors' home loss to Phoenix on Jan. 31 and road loss to Utah on Feb. 5 made the difference between finishing in the top six and a spot in the playoffs and a seventh-place finish and a spot in the play-in game.
Playoff positions and seeds went down to the final day of the regular season Sunday. Golden State’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers combined with Minnesota’s victory over Utah pushed the Warriors into a play-in game against Memphis.
After 1,230 regular-season games, the league is set for the playoffs with play-in games scheduled Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in the Western and Eastern conferences.
Before we turn our full attention to the playoffs, let’s take a quick look at the winners and losers of the regular season:
NBA regular-season winners
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland posted its third 60-win season (64-18), and it’s first 60-win season with a team that did not include LeBron James. Talented with the Core Four (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley), deep (one of the best benches in the league) well-coached (Kenny Atkinson) and well-managed (president of basketball operations Koby Altman and GM Mike Gansey and staff), the Cavs have been one of the league’s best stories this season.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder finished with the NBA’s best record 68-14 and a franchise-record for wins in a season – something the Thunder with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jams Harden never did – and have an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They are a lot like the Cavs with talent and depth on the roster (SGA, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Aaron Wiggins, Lu Dort), coaching (Mark Daigneault) and front office (Sam Presti).
Boston Celtics
Coming off the franchise’s 18th championship in 2024, the Celtics did not ease through the regular season (61-21) but have also paced themselves for another deep playoff run. With the best starting five in the NBA (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis), the Celtics will be difficult to beat four times in a series.
Detroit Pistons
First-year Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was the right coach at the right time for the Pistons who became the first team in NBA history to triple their win total from the previous season. They turned a league-worst 14-68 into a 44-38 season. Trajan Langdon took over in the front office and Cade Cunningham took over on the court.
Houston Rockets
The Art and Science of an NBA Rebuild is not failsafe. The Rockets have done a fantastic job through the draft, free agency and trades. Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore are all 23 or younger, and they helped the Rockets to the No. 2 seed and their best record (52-30) since winning 53 games in ...
