The NBA regular season is over, and the Knicks narrowly beat the Bulls in overtime in the final game, thus overtaking the Bucks to become second in the East. It's not a good thing for the Knicks to finish second in the East, and they could face the winner of either the 76ers or the Heat. The Bucks, on the other hand, were blacked out by the Heat last year, and the Magic fell to third place in the final game of defeat to the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. The Pacers beat the Hawks 157-115 in their final game to lock up sixth place, and they will be expected to come up against the Bucks, who have been struggling lately. The Cavaliers lost to the Hornets and are still in fourth place, and the Cavaliers have not been doing well in the first round of the playoffs against the Magic, but they obviously have an advantage in the face of the inexperienced Magic in the playoffs.
There was no miracle in the East in the final moments, although the 76ers won the Nets 107-86, but the rivals won all of them, and the Pacers and Magic went straight to the playoffs. In Embiid's absence, Maxey scored 26 points, and the 76ers finished seventh in the East and entered the play-offs, where they will compete with the Heat for seventh place at home at 7:00 on April 18, and the loser will compete with the Bulls and Hawks winners for eighth place in the East on April 20. Whoever of these two teams finishes seventh will avoid the league's No. 1 Celtics in the first round, while the Knicks, who are second in the East, are slightly weaker and Randle will miss the game due to injury.
The Heat defeated the Raptors 118-103 in the final game, and all seven players on the team scored in double figures, and Rozier still did not return from injury. The Heat had no choice but to win all three teams in front of them and thus remain in eighth place and enter the play-in tournament. The Heat drew 2-2 with the 76ers in the regular season, and the two teams had an even goal difference. The Heat's Bam Adebayo doesn't have many ways to face Embiid, and Jaime Harkes Jr.'s interior defense isn't that tough, but it's a strong complement to Adebayo. The 76ers currently have the overall strength advantage, Lowry and Hield may be key players, and Maxey is still difficult to stop. When the Heat arrives in the playoffs, Butler can switch to the rampaging mode, and Rozier's comeback will still be difficult, predicting that the 76ers will take the Heat to become seventh in the East.
The Bulls lost to the Knicks in the last overtime, and the team as a whole was still relatively resilient, DeRozan slashed 30 points, and the starting five all went in double figures, while the Bulls had already locked up ninth in the East. The Hawks suffered a crushing final loss to the Pacers, with Murray scoring 32 points and Trae Young finishing with 12 points and 12 assists. Last year, the Hawks finished seventh in the East, but this year they may beat the Bulls, but it will be difficult to get past the 76ers or the Heat. The Bulls and Hawks will battle it out on April 18 at 9:30 a.m. on the Bulls' home court, with the winner battling for eighth place in the East on April 20 and the loser going home for the season.