East playoffs locked in: Hawks vs. Heat, Bulls vs. Raptors for play-in

All the drama on the final day of the NBA season will be in the West because the East standings and playoff matchups are set.

Here are the final top 10:

1. Milwaukee Bucks 2. Boston Celtics 3. Philadelphia 76ers 4. Cleveland Cavaliers 5. New York Knicks 6. Brooklyn Nets ——————- 7. Miami Heat 8. Atlanta Hawks 9. Toronto Raptors 10. Chicago Bulls

That sets up a play-in game Tuesday with the Hawks visiting the Heat. The winner of that game becomes the No.7 seed and will travel to Boston next weekend to take on the Celtics. The loser of that game will play Friday against the winner of the Bulls at Raptors game Wednesday. Whichever team wins on Friday will be the eighth seed and have a quick turnaround to play Sunday in Milwaukee.

The most intriguing first-round series is the New York and Cleveland — Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers against the team that thought they were going to trade for Mitchell last summer but didn’t play a winning hand to get it done. Jalen Brunson and the high-powered Knicks offense take on the best defense in the NBA in the Cavaliers in what should be a gritty series.

The other matchup that is locked in place is Brooklyn — led by the surprise scoring threat of Mikal Bridges after the big mid-season trades — against MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid, James Harden and one of the true title contenders in the league.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Darvin Ham gets briefed every morning on where his team could end up in the Western Conference playoff race. While the various scenarios are enough to warp the mind of any fan, the Los Angeles Lakers’ coach knows the only thing he can do is make sure his team keeps on winning.

The Lakers kept their hopes alive of avoiding a spot in the play-in tournament with a 121-107 victory