Thunder's win locks them into 1st-round matchup with Rockets
James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul will renew acquaintances with each other in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder's 116-115 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday, the Thunder will play the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference's 4-5 playoff matchup beginning next week.
Exact seeding will be determined after each team plays its final regular-season game on Friday. The Thunder won the season series 2-1 and would hold the tiebreaker over the Rockets, although there is no real home-court advantage in the NBA's Walt Disney World Resort bubble.
Westbrook, who spent his entire 11-year career with the Thunder, was traded to the Rockets last summer for Paul - who reportedly had a falling out with Harden last season.
Westbrook will miss the Rockets' regular-season finale due to a quad strain. It's not known if that will affect his playoff availability.
The Thunder's win Wednesday also ensured they will send their 2020 first-round draft pick, which was top-20 protected, to the Philadelphia 76ers as a result of the February 2019 Markelle Fultz trade.
Two other Western Conference first-round matchups are also official as of Wednesday night.
The Los Angeles Clippers will face the Dallas Mavericks in Round 1 after clinching the West's second seed with their win over the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets' loss locked them into the third seed, so they'll face the sixth-seeded Utah Jazz.