NBA Playoff Standings 2015: Final Regular-Season Records, Seedings and Bracket

Nearly six full months of NBA action came down to one night. Wednesday's flurry of contests decided the remaining playoff spots in both conferences, unclogged a massive jam atop the Western Conference and set the stage for this weekend to kick off a two-month playoff extravaganza.

The top seeds in both conferences were decided long ago. The Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors were the class of the NBA all season, sprinting ahead of the pack early on and never really looking back. Beyond them, though, there has been a nearly constant state of flux that opened up the door for big surprises in the season's second half.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were once 19-20, seemingly on the brink of implosion amid in-fighting and a wildly flawed roster. One rejuvenated LeBron James, a vastly improved Kyrie Irving and a revamped roster, thanks to the additions of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov later, and Cleveland reclaimed its rightful spot as Eastern Conference favorites.

In the West, the No. 2 seed came down to the final night. The Rockets, Clippers and Spurs each entered Wednesday with a chance to claim the coveted spot, so we all know how this went right? San Antonio's playoff-grizzled vets soared, while the Clippers and Rockets once again failed in the clutch.

Wait, what? Houston and L.A. won and the Spurs lost? Gregg Popovich will have to contend with being a No. 6 seed now?

Well, if that's not a surprising enough lead-in, I don't know what will be. Here is a look at how the final regular-season standings played out and a preview of the first round.

Final NBA Standings

Seed	Team	Wins	Losses
1	Atlanta Hawks	60	22
2	Cleveland Cavaliers	53	29
3	Chicago Bulls	50	32
4	Toronto Raptors	49	33
5	Washington Wizards	46	36
6	Milwaukee Bucks	41	41
7	Boston Celtics	40	42
8	Brooklyn Nets	38	44

Seed	Team	Wins	Losses
1	Golden State Warriors	67	15
2	Houston Rockets	56	26
3	Los Angeles Clippers	56	26
4	Portland Trail Blazers	51	31
5	Memphis Grizzlies	55	27
6	San Antonio Spurs	55	27
7	Dallas Mavericks	50	32
8	New Orleans Pelicans	45	37

1st-Round Playoff Series Outlook

The Blowouts:

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

(1) Golden State Warriors Over (8) New Orleans Pelicans
(1) Atlanta Hawks Over (8) Brooklyn Nets
(2) Houston Rockets Over (7) Dallas Mavericks
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers Over (7) Boston Celtics
(3) Chicago Bulls Over (6) Milwaukee Bucks

None of these matchups carry even the slightest bit of upset potential. Only a cataclysmic injury to a star player could truly change the course for any of these teams, and even then it would have to happen early in the series.

The Warriors are probably disappointed they're playing New Orleans rather than Oklahoma City, given the Pelicans are an actual basketball team rather than a one-man wrecking crew. There is going to be at least one "Anthony Davis Game," where the budding star does enough on his own to force Golden State to sweat. New Orleans is also a legitimate NBA roster that goes eight or nine deep with solid players.

It would not be a complete shock if this series went five games. Anything beyond that is wishful thinking. The Warriors are not just a good team; they're a historically great one. They finished the regular season as the NBA's best defense and its second-best offense, good for one of the best point differentials in modern history.

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

The Pelicans are going the way of their original mascot one way or another.

The same goes for Brooklyn, which, by some random chance, has also eliminated a mascot within the last year. Additionally, the Nets have a roster of live NBA players, some of whom are even former All-Stars.

Brook Lopez has been playing like the best center on the planet for the last two months, Joe Johnson's always good for at least one big playoff moment and Deron Williams can occasionally remind you he used to be Deron Williams.

But context matters. The Hawks essentially coasted their way to 60 wins, playing their best basketball in the season's first half before Mike Budenholzer did his best Pop impersonation down the stretch. Atlanta hasn't had anything to play for in weeks, and the players who stayed healthy through this malaise should be well-rested.

The Bulls also shouldn't have any trouble mowing through a Bucks team that's come back to earth over the last couple of months. It might have happened anyway, but that Michael Carter-Williams/Brandon Knight swap sure doesn't look great right now.

Two of our other blowouts will see the participants of the Rajon Rondo trade being sent packing early. The Mavericks have fallen off big-time since the Rondo deal, though I'm quick to caution against any sweeping rationalizations here.

Dallas was playing a bit above its weight class early in the season and always topped out as an exciting offensive team bound to crash back down to earth. Acquiring Rondo has merely made that crash harder and swifter than it would have been otherwise on the offensive end.

Houston, with James Harden playing MVP-level basketball and Dwight Howard rounding back into health, has nothing to worry about here. 

The same's true for the Cavaliers, who may wind up sweeping Brad Stevens' group of overachievers. Stevens deserves all the credit in the world for somehow getting this roster to play near-.500 basketball. I don't see a current or future All-Star anywhere on this roster—apologies to Marcus Smart—and Stevens has them at 24-13 since Feb. 1.

All credit to the former Butler Bulldog. They're just going to get treated like a chew toy.

The Truly Intriguing

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

(3) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (6) San Antonio Spurs
(4) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (5) Memphis Grizzlies
(4) Toronto Raptors vs. (5) Washington Wizards

First thing: The NBA's antiquated divisional rules are giving the old Montreal Screwjob to the Clippers. In a just world where we could move on from the divisional tie-ins to seeding, the Clippers would be playing a struggling Blazers team in the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup. Portland's not been the same since Wesley Matthews went out for the season and is clearly a different team than it was in January.

Instead, Doc Rivers and Co. get the Spurs. Yep. Those Spurs. The ones who decided to start taking the regular season seriously a few weeks ago and reeled off 11 straight wins. The ones who are getting All-NBA play from Kawhi Leonard, have Tony Parker finally looking like himself again and have used their anti-aging serum to keep Tim Duncan a two-way force.

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have each taken scores of criticism during their partnership for a lack of playoff success. They're yet to get past the second round, and the last time these two sides played in a series, San Antonio laid a 4-0 lambasting on the Clippers.

On paper, the Clips are the second-best team in basketball. Their offense is humming again, a constant thing of beauty built around Paul's otherworldly smarts, Griffin's blossoming all-around game and DeAndre Jordan's ruthless efficiency. But these are the Spurs, and you know damned well they're going to pull out all the stops on what might be their final ride.

Elsewhere, our No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchups provide a look at teams who wish the playoffs started months ago. The Grizzlies looked like they'd compete with Golden State for the No. 1 seed before petering out. Marc Gasol's MVP candidacy merely became an All-NBA look, additions such as Jeff Green haven't quite worked out, and the team has kind of settled into "it is what it is" territory.

The Blazers' loss of Matthews eliminated their best perimeter defender and a reliable gunner from three. Even with C.J. McCollum's emergence, there's something missing with this roster. Memphis should enter this series as a favorite.

We could write a similar refrain about Washington and Toronto, two teams that peaked months ago now seemingly battling for a second-round exit. One could argue that front offices in both cities doubled down on feel-good runs from last year rather than truly assessing the ceilings of their respective rosters.

Both of these matchups will provide an opportunity to right the ship. But that Spurs-Clipper series? It may wind up deciding which team takes the biggest shot at Golden State's throne.

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All stats via NBA.com