The Winners and Losers From the NBA’s Musical-Chairs Finale

AP Images/Ringer illustration The NBA playoff picture shifted drastically on the final day of the regular season. Who played Game 82 right and who failed miserably? We examine Sunday's ripple effects. The last day of the regular season, with all 30 teams playing and just two postseason matchups set, was a potpourri of intersecting stakes, styles, and skill levels. We got two-ways, 10-days, a below-the-rim all-timer from LeBron James, seeding manipulation from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who ended up being the only team with enough chutzpah to test the basketball gods, and a heroic New York Knicks team that doesn't know any other way than going out on its shield. In the West, with the top three seeds tied before Game no. 82 for the first time in NBA history, there was little incentive for chicanery. There's a good chance the Thunder and Nuggets, who secured the no. 1 and no. 2 seeds, respectively, will respectively face Steph Curry and LeBron in the first round—not much of a reward—but tanking for the third seed wouldn't have been much better, leading to a matchup with Kevin Durant. The postseason viability of the Lakers, Warriors, and Suns—aging and vulnerable but experienced...