NBA playoffs: The season finale delivered, setting the stage for more

Moving day is usually reserved for those quiet Saturdays in Augusta, Georgia, but the NBA turned its own back nine into a huge roar Sunday, with scoreboard watching, ducking and dodging, and, finally, a clear playoff picture. Well, clear-ish, considering there’s still the matter of a compelling play-in tournament featuring stars galore.

The rest of the league can take a collective breath before ramping back up next weekend. It’s an earned one considering how wild it’s been since after the All-Star break — the usual malaise and situational tanking being replaced by scenarios and tiebreakers. Hardly anyone could truly cruise to the finish line, except for the Boston Celtics.

Never in the league’s rich history was there a day like Sunday, where the Western Conference’s top seed could’ve gone to one of three teams on the season’s last day, and the bottom of the bracket was just as intriguing and, at times, puzzling.

Who could’ve expected the youthful Oklahoma City Thunder to watch as the defending champion Denver Nuggets tumbled and the surprising Minnesota Timberwolves stumbled to the finish line? If anything, it’s supposed to be the youth that wilts under the specter of playoff pressure.

Desperation was on display, in the case of the Phoenix Suns, who wanted to avoid the chance of the play-in. And when the Timberwolves didn’t look as if they wanted to take advantage of winning the conference, a showdown was set up, a potential rivalry having seeds sown.

So, it’s the Thunder who appear to have the poise of a veteran team, and even though it’ll be very easy to evoke the memories of the now gray-beard Kevin Durant and Co. in OKC, this version feels more like Magic — as in that Orlando Magic team that rode the wave of a smooth guard named Penny (and that Shaq fella) to the NBA Finals in 1995.

If you squint, you’ll see some similarities between Penny…