NBA Playoff Standings 2016: Final Regular-Season Records, Seedings and Bracket

Farewell, 2015-16 NBA season. You will be remembered fondly.

After all, you gave us arguably the greatest team in NBA history with the 73-win Golden State Warriors. You sent off the legendary Kobe Bryant into retirement. You gave us triple-doubles from Russell Westbrook, a fairly healthy Kevin Durant and a San Antonio Spurs squad that would be seen as much more dominant if it wasn’t overshadowed by those Warriors.

That was just in the Western Conference. In the East, fans saw more of LeBron James’ greatness, a Toronto Raptors squad that looks like a legitimate contender and inexplicable disappointments from the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.

Now comes the fun part.

The 2016 NBA playoffs start Saturday, which means Stephen Curry and the Warriors will look to parlay their record-setting ways into a second consecutive title while the rest of the league attempts to knock them off their throne.

With that in mind, here is a look at the final records and seeds for all of the NBA playoff teams.

Western Conference
Eastern Conference
Seed	Team	Record
1	Golden State Warriors	73-9
2	San Antonio Spurs	67-15
3	Oklahoma City Thunder	55-27
4	Los Angeles Clippers	53-29
5	Portland Trail Blazers	44-38
6	Dallas Mavericks	42-40
7	Memphis Grizzlies	42-40
8	Houston Rockets	41-41
Seed	Team	Record
1	Cleveland Cavaliers	57-25
2	Toronto Raptors	56-26
3	Miami Heat	48-34
4	Atlanta Hawks	48-34
5	Boston Celtics	48-34
6	Charlotte Hornets	48-34
7	Indiana Pacers	45-37
8	Detroit Pistons	44-38

NBA TV passed along a look at the bracket:

Underrated Series to Watch: No. 2 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 7 Indiana Pacers

While many fans will understandably focus on the Warriors, Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers at the start of the playoffs, don’t overlook the series between the No. 2 seed Toronto Raptors and the No. 7 seed Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference.

Call it an underrated series because there is plenty at stake for a Raptors squad that has no recent history of postseason success even though there is enough talent in place to challenge for a spot in the NBA Finals. What’s more, the Pacers are strong enough to upset Toronto, which adds another layer of intrigue to the impending battle.

Many fans may have the sentiment that the Cavaliers will sleepwalk their way into the NBA Finals, but the Raptors threatened them for the No. 1 seed in the East for much of the season. Toronto seemed to lose some of its shine when it dropped three out of four contests in late March, but it bounced back in April and went 6-2 with victories in its final four games.

DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry form one of the best backcourts in the league and can carry the offense on their shoulders throughout the playoffs. Toronto also added forward DeMarre Carroll during the offseason as a playoff-tested veteran who is versatile enough to defend the small or power forward position.

That will be critical because Indiana poses much more of a challenge than the No. 7 seed suggests.

The Pacers steamrolled their way to the end of the season with a 6-1 record in April and should have plenty of confidence after the impressive stretch. While Toronto is 3-1 in head-to-head showdowns against the Pacers this season, Indiana beat it at home once and lost in overtime in the other contest in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Pacers already know they can compete with the Raptors in Indiana, so stealing an early game in Toronto would go a long way toward bolstering their upset chances.

Indiana may also have the best player on the floor in this series since Paul George bounced back from his devastating leg injury, which cost him the vast majority of his 2014-15 campaign, and re-established himself as a dangerous weapon. Coming into action Wednesday, he was averaging 23.1 points, seven rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per night.

Tightly contested playoff series often come down to which team has the player who rises to the moment in the fourth quarter, and George is one of the best playmakers in the league who can do just that. 

Indiana also has a backcourt of Monta Ellis and George Hill with a combined 95 playoff games between them that will not be intimidated by the moment. Combine that with promising rookie Myles Turner alongside Ian Mahinmi down low, and the Pacers have enough talent to earn a first-round victory.

Zach Lowe of ESPN.com had Mahinmi as the third-most improved player in the league this season: “Mahinmi doubled his career assist total, nearly doubled his scoring average and obliterated almost every past statistical marker -- all while maintaining his SMOTHERED CHICKEN presence around the rim on defense. He became a different player.”

At least Toronto is not overlooking Indiana if Lowry’s comments are any indication, per Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: “We’ve got a team coming in, in the playoffs, that’s really good. [George] is unbelievable. [Ellis] is unbelievable. [Hill] is unbelievable. They’ve got some good bigs. We’ve got to start preparing for them. We’ve got one more game, and then we’ve really got to lock in.”

The Raptors may have been excellent for stretches this season, but the last time they won a playoff series was the 2000-01 season when Vince Carter was leading the charge. This same core was embarrassed by the Washington Wizards in a four-game sweep in the first round last season and has to prove itself against a Pacers squad that has experienced playmakers and a true difference-maker in George.

A crisis in confidence is a possibility for Toronto if it loses a couple of early games to the Pacers and starts remembering last year’s playoffs.

Don’t automatically assume the Raptors will breeze through this series because they are the No. 2 seed.