The Milwaukee Bucks wanted a chance for payback against the Miami Heat, who ousted them from the second round of the NBA playoffs last year.

Two teams that took the opportunity to rest key players in different ways on the final weekend of the regular season should be fully refreshed Saturday afternoon when the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks visit the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in their Western Conference playoff opener.

The star trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving will play together for just the ninth time when the Brooklyn Nets open the Eastern Conference first-round, best-of-seven series against the visiting Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

Nearly 20 years ago the Denver Nuggets, led by a player wearing No. 15, were a yearly presence in the NBA playoffs.