NBA final four set for some rare matchups, some player milestones

If the NBA playoffs were like the NCAA tournament, chances are your brackets would be busted by now.

And that’s because these conference final matchups — at least by seeding — weren’t very predictable.

In the Western Conference finals, which start Tuesday, it’s No. 1 Oklahoma City and No. 6 Minnesota. In the Eastern Conference finals, which start Wednesday, it’s No. 3 New York and No. 4 Indiana.

Under the current NBA playoff format, which goes back to 1984, such matchups — 1 vs. 6, and 3 vs. 4 — have been fairly rare.

Even though this has been the season of the comeback victory — with five rallies from at least 20-point deficits so far in this postseason — it’s not advisable to expect a late rally when playing against the four teams left in these NBA playoffs.

Minnesota and Indiana are both 6-0 in this postseason when leading after three quarters. New York is 4-0 in that scenario.

Oklahoma City is 5-2 -- which, given the way the regular season went, is a bit surprising. The Thunder were 61-2 in the regular season when leading going into the fourth quarter.

There are some player milestones to watch out for down the stretch of these playoffs, including:

— Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 197 points away from 3,000 for the season. He’d be only the fifth player in the last 20 seasons to get there: Luka Doncic had 3,005 last season for Dallas, James Harden had 3,166 in 2018-19 for Houston, Kevin Durant had 3,156 in 2013-14 for Oklahoma City, and Kobe Bryant had 3,027 in 2005-06 for the Los Angeles Lakers.

— Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards needs 45 3-pointers for 400 on the season, something only Stephen Curry (twice) and James Harden (once) have done.

— Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton is 34 assists away from 800 on the season. He would join Mark Jackson as the only Pacers to hit that number twice; Haliburton had 875 last year, while Jackson had 846 in 1997-98 and 828 in 1999-2000.

— New York’s Jalen Brunson is 33 assists shy of having the second season of at least 2,000 points and 600 assists in Knicks history. The other time it happened was last year — by Brunson.

If the Thunder win the NBA title, they would finish the season with 84 wins.

And that would put them among league royalty.

Only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (88-18, including playoffs), the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (87-13) and the 1996-97 Bulls (84-17) have reached the 84-win mark for a season.


(AP Photo Nate Billings)