Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga dunks over John Butler Jr., left, and Skylar Mays of the Trail Blazers during Golden State’s 157-101 win Sunday. Craig Mitchelldyer/Associated Press

Golden State is in the playoffs. LeBron James is heading to the play-in tournament. And the Minnesota Timberwolves lost Rudy Gobert to a fight with a teammate, then won a fight to improve their playoff hopes.

The final day of the NBA season was predictably wild – with tons of unpredictable elements as well.

It took until the 1,230th and last game of the year went final, but the Western Conference playoff and play-in bracket is finally set, highlighted by the Los Angeles Clippers and defending champion Golden State Warriors getting a few days off, knowing that they’re officially in the postseason.

The Clippers beat Phoenix to clinch the No. 5 seed – and a first-round matchup with Phoenix. Golden State had its highest-scoring game in almost 33 years on its way to routing Portland 157-101 and clinching the No. 6 seed, giving the Warriors an automatic berth in the playoffs and a first-round matchup with Sacramento.

Golden State led by as many as 59 points – the largest lead by any team all season.

James and the Los Angeles Lakers will have two chances to get into the playoffs, starting with Tuesday’s play-in game against No. 8 Minnesota. If the Lakers lose that game, they’ll play Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 9 New Orleans and No. 10 Oklahoma City.

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The Lakers-Timberwolves winner faces No. 2 Memphis in the quarterfinals. The winner of Friday’s West play-in game will start the playoffs next Sunday at No. 1 Denver.

No team in the West has had a better record since the All-Star break than the Lakers, who went 16-7 down the stretch – even with James sidelined for about half of that run by injury.

Minnesota locked up the No. 8 seed by holding off New Orleans, 113-108.

Gobert threw a punch at Kyle Anderson – his teammate – during a first-half timeout and didn’t return to the game. Minnesota also lost Jaden McDaniels to a right hand injury after he appeared to punch a wall.

“We made the decision to send Rudy Gobert home after the incident in the second quarter,” Timberwolves President Tim Connelly said in a postgame statement. “His behavior on the bench was unacceptable and we will continue handling the situation internally.”

If the Timberwolves had lost, they would have been the No. 9 seed. The Pelicans had a chance to finish as high as No. 5. Instead, they settled for No. 9.

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The Eastern Conference postseason matchups were all set before Sunday. No. 7 Miami plays No. 8 Atlanta in a play-in game on Tuesday, and No. 9 Toronto plays No. 10 Chicago on Wednesday. The Heat-Hawks winner advances to face No. 2 Boston; the loser will play the Raptors-Bulls winner on Friday for the chance to take on No. 1 Milwaukee in the quarterfinals.

No. 3 Philadelphia will play No. 6 Brooklyn, and No. 4 Cleveland will meet No. 5 New York.

PISTONS: Coach Dwane Casey stepped down after Sunday’s 103-81 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Casey will move to a role in the franchise’s front office.

The Pistons ended the season with an NBA-worst 17-65 mark and missed the postseason for the fourth straight year.

ROCKETS: Stephen Silas won’t return as Houston’s head coach, two people familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

Silas wrapped up his third season with the team when the Rockets beat the Wizards 114-109 to finish the season 22-60. That’s tied with the Spurs for the second-worst record in the NBA.

His contract had a fourth-year option that the team is declining to pick up, according to the two people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move hadn’t been announced.


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