Starting 5: Curry, Harden & a grand finale

Happy Monday from the Starting 5 fam.

The bracket is SET. The postseason starts Tuesday.

But Sunday? Sunday was special.

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION

April 14, 2025

Bracket Is Set: What’s coming this week? And how did we get here?

Grand Finale: LA beats Golden State to claim 5th seed, send Dubs to Play-In

West Roundup: Denver & Minnesota win to secure Playoff spots, OKC makes history

East Roundup: Bub Carrington ends rookie campaign with bang

This Week’s Reads: Catch up on a few of our favorites from the past 7 days

BUT FIRST …

Before the NBA postseason tips off Tuesday, a new generation of WNBA stars hits the league tonight.

The SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament tips Tuesday night on TNT, with the No. 7 Magic & No. 8 Hawks at 7:30 ET, followed by No. 7 Golden State vs. No. 8 Memphis at 10. Winners advance to the Playoffs.

WNBA Draft: Tonight, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith headline the 2025 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm (7:30, ESPN)

G League Finals: The NBA G League crowns a champ tonight when Mason Jones, Skal Labissiere & the Stockton Kings take on Mac McClung, Ethan Thompson and the Osceola Magic in Game 3 of the Finals on ESPN 2 (8 ET)

1. 2024-25 POSTSEASON STARTS TUESDAY

It took history.

It took weeks of razor-thin margins & standings Tetris.

It took overtime in the final of the 1,230 regular-season games this year.

But the 2024-25 NBA postseason is set, across the Playoffs and SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament, with all 20 seeds locked in. Play-In starts Tuesday. Playoffs on Saturday.

What’s Coming:

The SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament (tipping Tuesday on TNT) features the 7-10 seeds in both conferences, battling for the final two spots in their respective Playoffs
The First Games: The winner of Tuesday’s 7-8 seed games advances automatically. The loser gets another shot, facing Wednesday’s winners.
Win-Or-Go Home: Wednesday sees single-elimination games between 9-10 seeds, starting with Heat-Bulls at 7:30 on ESPN, then Mavs-Kings at 10 on ESPN. Winner plays again Friday
Win-Or-Go Home, Again: On ESPN & TNT, Friday pits Tuesday’s losing teams vs. Wednesday’s winning teams, with the winners of that taking the final Playoff spots
Playoffs This Weekend: Two of sports’ signature days await when the Playoffs tip on Saturday & Sunday — starting with hoops all day Saturday on ESPN & ABC

How We Got Here: Sunday started with four West teams vying for the final 3 Playoff spots, between the Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves. The Grizzlies could finish 7th or 8th.

It ended with only one game still going on, putting an entire season’s spotlight on the finish of LA & Golden State … which went to OT.

Denver won, holding onto the 4th seed
Minnesota won, putting it in position to jump to 5th if Golden State won or 6th if LA did
Memphis won, but stayed at 8th because Minnesota won
That sent all eyes to the Bay, where LA secured the 5th seed after an OT classic (read more about it in Section 2)

Each West Matchup, Real Quick:

No. 7 Warriors vs. No. 8 Grizzlies, Tuesday: Dubs & Grizz meet in postseason for the first time since their 2022 6-game series. Ja Morant & Steph Curry rank 8th and 9th in PPG post-All-Star, respectively
No. 9 Kings vs. No. 10 Mavs, Wednesday: The Mavs have returned some fixtures to the lineup, and the Kings found their form over the season’s last 5 games. Focus in on the matchup between Domantas Sabonis and Anthony Davis
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Clippers: Led by Nikola Jokić, Denver’s third in the NBA in PPG … but the scorching-hot Clips, led by James Harden & Kawhi Leonard, are third in DefRtg
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Wolves: Minny’s 1-0 against L.A. since Luka Dončić got to town. With both teams clicking, and two top-10 defenses in OppPPG since All-Star, LeBron, Luka and Anthony Edwards headline a showcase of superstars and high-motor squads
No. 1 Thunder & No. 2 Rockets get their opponents from the Play-In

Each East Matchup, Real Quick:

No. 7 Magic vs. No. 8 Hawks: NBA assist leader Trae Young & steals leader Dyson Daniels anchor an electric Hawks team. But Paolo Banchero and the NBA’s 2nd best defense have overcome injuries all year to be here, and heated up late
No. 9 Bulls vs. No. 10 Heat: Coby White & Josh Giddey have led Chicago’s second-half charge, with Chicago 15-5 in its last 20. Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo & the Heat overcame a 10-game slide to go 8-4 to end the season
No. 4 Pacers vs. No. 5 Bucks: Tyrese Haliburton & Indy have been one of the league’s best teams since March (17-7), at 5th in PPG. Meanwhile, Giannis has turned on superhero mode with Damian Lillard out, averaging a triple-double since then
No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Pistons: Jalen Brunson and Cade Cunningham meet in a battle of star points guards who both rank top 10 in PPG & APG. Against a gritty NY squad, can Detroit continue its historic turnaround?
No. 1 Cavs & No. 2 Celtics get their opponents from the Play-In

2. A GRAND FINALE: STARS SHINE AS CLIPS BEAT DUBS IN OT, CLINCH 5 SEED

Ezra Shaw/NBAE via Getty Images

The 4th quarter was ticking down in San Francisco, and every other game in the 2024-25 NBA regular season had ended.

For the Clippers and the Warriors, the two other teams competing with them for Playoff spots – Denver & Minnesota – had already won.

Which made the stakes simple: winner goes to the Playoffs, loser to the Play-In.

From there, with their postseason futures on the line and the eyes of the NBA world on them, some of the NBA’s biggest names of the past decade put on a show.

Clippers 124, Warriors 119 (OT): In a game that saw 23 lead changes and four of the game’s greats all score 30+ pts – via James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler III – Harden’s 12-pt OT drove LA to the 5th seed, and the Dubs to the Play-In. | Recap

Big Time Players, Big Time Games: Harden (39), Curry (36), Leonard (33) and Butler (30) made history as the first quartet to each score 30+ in a regular season finale – ever
Local Legend: Harden, the Los Angeles native, becomes the first Clipper ever to post multiple games with 35+ pts, 10+ ast, 5+ reb & 5+ treys
“Hard Fought”: Hear from The Beard as he walked off the floor on Sunday
Board Men: Led by Ivica Zubac’s 17 boards, the Clippers out-rebounded the Warriors 42-25 – including 9 on the offensive glass

Final Stretch: The fourth quarter opened with Golden State down 1. From then on, Curry and Harden – the two active 3PM leaders, and two of the 5 active leaders in scoring – left their stamps on a singular season finale.

Curry got 18 of his 36 in the 4th Q, going 5-for-5 from the floor, 3-for-3 from distance, and hitting clutch shot after clutch shot – all with his hand wrapped due to a thumb injury
Harden got 7 in the 4th, then exploded in the extra frame – including consecutive 3s and a crucial late bucket on a Butler goaltend
Back & Forth: LA went up by as many as seven in the 4th, and four for Golden State, as the lead changed hands five times
Last 2 Mins: A Curry 3 put GSW up 111-107, but a Beard lay-in and Zubac slam tied it up with under a minute left
In OT: Down 6 after Harden’s triples, the Warriors clawed back to 119-117 with :50 left on a tough Butler bucket
Last Possessions: Leonard made 1 of 2 FTs with 6 seconds left to put LA up 122-119. Buddy Hield got a look to tie, but missed left just before time expired

SoCal Statement: The win gave the Clippers a season sweep over their NorCal rivals, and their 7th straight over the Warriors

3. WEST ROUNDUP: NUGGETS, WOLVES LOCK UP LAST PLAYOFF SPOTS

Nuggets 126, Rockets 111: Needing a win to lock up the 4 seed, Denver used a 37-19 3rd quarter and an 18-7-7 game from Nikola Jokić to clinch home-court advantage in Round 1. | Recap

1st Player Ever: The performance made Jokić the only player in NBA history to finish the regular season Top 3 in PPG, RPG & APG
Season Leaders: SGA finished top in PPG, Trae Young in APG, Domantas Sabonis in RPG, Dyson Daniels in SPG and Wemby in BPG. Tap for more

Wolves 116, Jazz 105: Able to finish as high as 4th or low as 8th, the Wolves led by just one at half. Then Anthony Edwards took over, dropping 18 in the third quarter and 43 overall to down the Jazz and clinch the final Playoff spot. | Recap

Trey Ball: Ant-Man finishes the season with 320 treys, 7th most in NBA history – and 98 more than he’d ever made before

Memphis 132, Dallas 97: Looking to jump to 7th, Memphis got 79 combined points from Lamar Stevens, Marvin Bagley III and Cam Spencer (and this no-look from Yuki), but the Wolves’ win kept the Grizz at 8th. | Recap

Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Kings 109, Suns 98: Domantas Sabonis put himself in rare company with his 61st double-double of the year, leading the 9th seeded Kings to a W in their regular-season finale. | Recap

1 Of 5: Just four other players have ever led the league in double-doubles for three straight seasons: Wilt Chamberlain (9x), Moses Malone (6x), Kevin Garnett (5x) and George Mikan (4x)

Thunder 115, Pelicans 100: Branden Carlson dropped a career-high 26 pts & 10 reb, while Aaron Wiggins chipped in 28-7-7 to give the Thunder their 68th win – fifth most all-time. | Recap

All-Time Season: The Thunder’s average 12.9 point differential ranks as the highest in NBA history, passing the ’70-’71 Bucks and ’71-’72 Lakers

Blazers 109, Lakers 81: Dalano Banton’s 23 points helped the Blazers stave off Dalton Knecht’s 27, as Portland notched its 36th win – 15 more than last year. | Recap

Spurs 125, Raptors 118: Chris Paul became the 3rd player 39 years or older to play in all 82 games, as San Antonio downed Toronto to close the year. | Recap

4. EAST ROUNDUP: CARRINGTON’S GAME-WINNER CAPS ROOKIE’S RUN

Heading into Sunday’s finale, every East postseason seed had been locked up.

But that didn’t stop the fireworks, with two rivalry games heading to OT and one of the league’s most electric rooks putting the finishing touch on his breakout campaign.

Wizards 119, Heat 118: Bub Carrington drove left and hit a floater as time expired, notching the final Tissot Buzzer-Beater of the regular season to end his year with an exclamation point. | Recap

Carrington, who Steve Aschburner has on his All-Rookie Second Team, becomes the first Wizards rookie to play 82 games since Jeff Ruland in 1981-82
Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s career-high in points (41 pts, 10 reb and 7 ast) made him the 2nd youngest Heat player to have 40+ pts & 10+ reb, behind only Dwyane Wade (2x)

Pacers 126, Cavaliers 118 (2 OT): Quenton Jackson’s 21 points led Indiana as the Pacers went on a 32-7 run to force OT, then beat the East leaders in two extra frames. | Recap

Nifty 50: The win gave Indy its first 50-win season since 2013-14

Bucks 140, Pistons 133 (OT): The Bucks came into Friday needing to beat a rival Detroit team just once to clinch the 5 seed. It took extra time on Sunday, but Milwaukee managed to do it twice. | Recap

Standing Pat: Pat Connaughton’s career-high 43 pts, with 11 reb, 5 ast & 2 stls made him the 4th Buck with 40+ pts, 10+ reb & 5+ ast in a game, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo (28x), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20x) and Khris Middleton
Threesley: Malik Beasley finishes the season with 319 treys, behind only Ant Edwards this year, and Steph Curry (5x) & James Harden in NBA history

Hawks 117, Magic 105: In a matchup between teams meeting in Tuesday’s Play-In, Hawks rook Keaton Wallace put up a triple-double to lead Atlanta past Orlando. | Recap

Wallace joins Chris Paul as the only rookies in NBA history with 15+ pts, 15+ ast, 10+ reb and 5+ stls in a game

Celtics 93, Hornets 86: Payton Pritchard dropped 34 pts with 7 reb & 7 ast to give the Celtics win No. 61 this year. | Recap

Knicks 113, Nets 105: New York picked up its 10th straight win against its crosstown rival, getting 29 pts from Landry Shamet and 21 from Cam Payne. | Recap

Bulls 122, 76ers 102: Kevin Huerter (18 pts) and Talen Horton-Tucker (17) led Chicago as the Bulls finished their red-hot final stretch by pulling away in the second half to drop Philly. | Recap

5. READS OF THE WEEK