SAN FRANCISCO — With 7:36 remaining in the third quarter, Jimmy Butler III was hunched over at the free throw line trying to catch his breath, looking very much like “Playoff Jimmy” as he and the Golden State Warriors were locked into a battle with Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and the LA Clippers.
For several West teams, the final day of the regular season felt like the playoffs had already begun. And it required overtime to determine the Western Conference playoff picture. The Clippers outlasted the Warriors 124-119 in overtime at Chase Center to settle one of the most chaotic regular-season finishes in recent memory.
Entering Game No. 82, the Western Conference’s fourth through 10th spots were up in the air. Only Oklahoma City, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers had secured the top three spots.
The Denver Nuggets, despite a chaotic final week in which they fired their head coach and general manager, rallied to secure the fourth seed with a 126-111 win over the Rockets. It was their third-straight victory under interim coach David Adelman. Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets will now host the Clippers, who secured the fifth seed with their massive win at Golden State.
The third-seeded Lakers and LeBron James will play Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, who handled business with a 116-105 win over Utah. Heading into Sunday, Minnesota was at risk to drop as far as the eighth seed in some scenarios. Edwards scored 43 points after stressing to his teammates the urgency to avoid having to play at least one more game.
“Like, we don’t want to play in the play-in, because I’ve been in both situations,” Edwards said. “We want to be fully prepared going into the playoffs. We want that whole week.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time three teams from a single conference clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the season since conferences were established in 1970-71.
Top-seeded Oklahoma City and second-seeded Houston will wait for the play-in to determine whom they will face.
Due to Golden State’s loss, the Warriors will be in the play-in tournament and host Memphis in the 7-8 game. The Kings and Mavericks will square off in the 9-10 game.
The Clippers and Warriors were in the spotlight on Sunday afternoon, and the game didn’t disappoint with a thrilling finish. Leonard is nearing the form that made him a two-time Finals MVP, finishing with 33 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Harden hit two big 3-pointers at the start of overtime to help the Clippers win. He finished with 39 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
“We’re a good team and we’re excited to show the world, but we’re a good team,” Harden said in a postgame interview with ESPN on the court.
Stephen Curry, playing with an injured shooting thumb, finished with 36 points, and Butler had 30 points and nine rebounds. Butler also came up gimpy after Leonard drove into him late in the game but remained in the game.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
