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OKC Thunder clinch spot in NBA play-in tournament after Mavericks' loss to Bulls

jeff patterson, oklahoman
·2 min read
Thunder guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrates with Luguentz Dort (5) against the Nets on March 14 at Paycom Center.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be playing meaningful basketball after this weekend.

The Thunder clinched the Western Conference's No. 10 seed in the NBA play-in tournament Friday night when the Bulls beat the Mavericks 115-112, eliminating Dallas from the postseason race with one game left in the regular season.

OKC (39-42) has a half-game lead on Dallas (38-42) in the Western Conference standings, but the Thunder won the season series against the Mavericks to earn the tiebreaker.

In a must-win game Friday against former Thunder coach Billy Donovan's Bulls, the Mavericks sat key players, including Kyrie Irving. Luka Doncic played just 13 minutes for Dallas.

The Thunder will now travel to play the No. 9 seed on Wednesday night, needing to win twice on the road to earn the No. 8 seed in the West for the NBA Playoffs.

The Thunder host the Memphis Grizzlies at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the regular-season finale.

More: Tramel: Dario Saric helps save OKC Thunder hopes for NBA play-in tournament

NBA playoff picture for Western Conference

As of 10 p.m. Friday night:

  1. z-Denver Nuggets (52-28)

  2. y-Memphis Grizzlies (51-30)

  3. y-Sacramento Kings (48-32)

  4. y-Phoenix Suns (45-35)

  5. Los Angeles Clippers (42-38)

  6. Golden State Warriors (42-38)

  7. New Orleans Pelicans (42-39)

  8. Los Angeles Lakers (41-39)

  9. Minnesota Timberwolves (40-40)

  10. pb-Oklahoma City Thunder (39-42)

NOTE: z-clinched conference; y-clinched division; x-clinched playoff berth; pb-clinched play-in berth

More: Tramel's ScissorTales: New CBA deal finally gets rid of positions on All-NBA teams

NBA play-in tournament schedule

Eastern Conference (matchups are set):

  • No. 10 Chicago Bulls at No. 9 Toronto Raptors, 7 or 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN)

  • No. 8 Atlanta Hawks at No. 7 Miami Heat, 7 or 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (TNT)

  • East loser 7-vs-8 vs. East winner 9-vs-10, TBA on Friday, April 14

Western Conference (projected matchups):

  • No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 9 Minnesota Timberwolves, 8:30 or 9 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN)

  • No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans at No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 or 9 p.m. Tuesday (TNT)

  • West loser 7-vs-8 vs. West winner 9-vs-10, TBA on Friday, April 14

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder clinch spot in NBA play-in tournament after Mavericks lose