Looks like your opponent loaded up his roster in April so I'm pretty sure he had a better team despite the difference in records, so playoff normal was a suicide mission.
You would have been better off being realistic that you weren't going any further than the conference finals and just played for the win yesterday because you wouldn't have come within 25 points playing the first place team. You did notice that he beat you by 20 in your building recently?
Successful season/experiment overall, shows the importance of gameshape, enthusiasm and having players that produce well for their salaries. I hope you banked a lot of $$$.