The NBA playoffs are finally in sight after a wild regular season featuring incredible individual accomplishments (Russell Westbrook's season-long triple-double average), fantastic midseason turnarounds (e.g. Milwaukee and Washington) and an unusual amount of daily drama emanating from Cleveland, New York and other cities.Tuesday's results, as well as some news from around the league, provided some more clarity on the NBA playoff picture, but the field won't be finalized until the regular season ends after Wednesday's games.Here's what we learned on Tuesday and what that will mean for some teams moving forward.Atlanta Hawks Clinch No. 5 Seed and Will Face WashingtonThe Hawks are flying into the playoffs after winning their fourth straight game on Tuesday night, a 103-76 win over Charlotte.With the win, Atlanta has clinched the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs.Washington beat Atlanta three out of four times in the season series this year and should be the favorite in the playoffs.That being said, the Hawks look fantastic lately, having beaten Boston once and Cleveland twice before taking down the Hornets.The Wizards have the slight edge, but this should be a fun series.Milwaukee Bucks Sew Up No. 6 and Will Rest Players vs. BostonWith Atlanta's win, Milwaukee has clinched the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and will face the Toronto Raptors in the first round.The Bucks went 1-3 against Toronto this year, but forward Khris Middleton missed all three of the Bucks' losses due to a hamstring tear that forced him to miss the first half of the regular season.He scored 24 points in the Bucks' lone win against the Raps, a 101-94 victory in Milwaukee. Ever since Middleton returned, Milwaukee is 20-11 in 31 games.The Bucks can now rest easy before the playoffs. Per Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, four Bucks won't even make the trip to New England for the regular-season finale against Boston:Boston needs to win on Wednesday against Milwaukee to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and it's hard to envision the C's losing considering that the Bucks are basically taking the game off. OddsShark lists Boston as massive 13.5-point favorites on Wednesday night.Barring a monstrous upset, Cleveland would then be the No. 2 seed in the East. The Cavs would need to beat Toronto and hope Boston loses in order to jump over the C's for the No. 1 spot.Three Jazz Players Probable vs. SpursThe Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, who have matching 50-31 records, will face each other in the first round of the NBA playoffs, but it's still not known which team will have home-court advantage.We do know that one team will be the No. 4 seed and the other will be No. 5, and we also know that the Clippers have the tiebreaker over the Jazz by virtue of winning the season series.Therefore, if the Clips beatSacramento at home to close the season, they will be the fourth seed. They will almost certainly win that matchup, as OddsShark lists the Clips as massive 16-point favorites.That being said, the Jazz are not going to give up their quest for the No. 4 seed, which they can obtain with a win at home vs. San Antonio plus a Clippers loss, without a fight.Per the Jazz PR Twitter account, some key players will likely suit up against San Antonio:With the Spurs having clinched the No. 2 seed, it's conceivable that they rest some players and cap some others' minutes. Therefore, the Jazz could easily take this home game.That being said, barring a huge upset in Los Angeles, the Jazz will be heading to the Staples Center for Game 1 in the first round.
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