With the play-in match beginning two Tuesdays from now, six groups have punched their ticket previous and straight into the playoffs with six spots nonetheless up for grabs.
Denver, Memphis, and Milwaukee have all clinched their division titles whereas Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland have all clinched a spot as nicely. For the groups vying for these last six spots, the desperation is creeping in, and you possibly can actually really feel it bleed by the TV screens, particularly as we acquired additional into the evening.
The one dropping workforce that didn’t end inside 15 or fewer was Boston, our first recreation of the evening, who’s already fairly safe of their playoff positioning:
Wizards breeze by Celtics, 130-111
Almost a wire-to-wire victory for Washington, the most recent lead Boston held got here with greater than six minutes remaining within the first quarter. Wizards had the peak benefit with Kristaps Porzingis going off for 32 factors and 13 rebounds, flanked by 25 and 10 from Deni Avdija, each of whom have measurement benefits over the Celtics’ huge rotation.
Boston loses some floor within the race for the East’s prime seed now 2.5 video games behind Milwaukee, dropping in a blowout after three consecutive blowout victories. Eleventh-seeded Washington can be 2.5 video games again of their aim, although they’re simply aiming for the play-in match in any capability at this level.
Donovan Mitchell’s 44 factors not sufficient as Hawks beat Cavs 120-118
With 8:56 left within the recreation, Trae Younger hit a triple to present the Hawks 105 factors, however they scored simply 15 the remainder of the best way, a stretch that included simply 5 made baskets and two shot clock violations. Alongside the best way, Cleveland used a 16-3 run within the fourth capped off by back-to-back threes from Donovan Mitchell to battle again and that’s after they made it a recreation once more.
Dejounte Murray scored 5 of the Hawks’ last eight factors on his solution to a team-best 29 factors on 50% taking pictures. Trae Younger scored simply 16 factors on 4 made pictures, so the 45 factors from Atlanta’s backcourt paled compared to the 71 factors from Cleveland’s backcourt. However Atlanta’s pair acquired the factors that mattered most down the stretch to get the win.
OKC claws again to keep away from blowout, nonetheless loses to Charlotte in 137-134 thriller
Charlotte was down 93-101 early within the fourth, however then exploded for a 30-9 run to steer 123-110 with simply six minutes remaining. Simply when it appeared just like the Thunder could be on the ropes, they responded with a 19-6 run of their very own to tie the sport at 129 with simply over two left. PJ Washington, who scored a career-high 43 factors, gave Charlotte a 132-129 lead which was sufficient of a head begin to shut out the win.
As anticipated in a recreation that smashes its over like this one does at 271 mixed factors (44 over than the 227 line set by DraftKings), the field rating was full of standout performers, even past Washington’s profession evening. Former OKC guard Theo Maledon had his finest recreation in a Charlotte uniform with 19 factors and 9 assists towards the workforce he made his NBA debut with.
With out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander within the lineup for OKC, somebody needed to step up and three guys did, scoring 30+ every – Isaiah Joe (33 factors on 6-11 3P), Josh Giddey (31 factors, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists), and Jalen Williams (31 factors, 4 assists, and 4 steals).
Toronto scores by committee in 106-92 win over Warmth
There have been solely 5 gamers who had it going offensively on this recreation; two for Miami and three for Toronto. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo mixed for 54 factors on 51.3% taking pictures, however all different scorers for the Warmth shot 29.3% on their solution to 38 factors. Fred VanVleet was unusually chilly for the Raptors, scoring simply 12 factors on 13 pictures, however Pascal Siakam (26), OG Anunoby (22), and Scottie Barnes (22) had been in a position to do sufficient. Each squads stay firmly within the East’s play-in.
Grizzlies hold win streak alive after beating Magic 113-108
Orlando has proven in latest weeks that they’re not a workforce to be taken flippantly. They proved that Tuesday, beginning out with a 10-7 lead after a couple of minutes. Memphis then rattled off a 32-7 run and maintained that lead for many of the method by, barring a 15-point spurt in 70 seconds to shut out the sport by the Magic.
With Ja Morant sitting this one out because of his “‘return-to-play’ protocol,” Desmond Bane stepped up with 31 factors and eight rebounds to assist finest 49 mixed factors from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. With three video games on both aspect of them and wins in seven straight video games, the Grizzlies seem fairly locked into that #2 spot out West.
Warriors get ahold of themselves, beat Pelicans 120-109
This was a shenanigan-filled video games with an array of technical and flagrant fouls within the first half alone, beginning with some chippiness between Draymond Inexperienced and Brandon Ingram adopted instantly by Inexperienced working over Herb Jones and continuing to kick him within the head. The Pelicans took benefit, extending their lead out to twenty as Inexperienced sat on the bench cooling down.
The patented “third quarter Warriors” confirmed as much as Chase Heart to show a 17-point halftime deficit into only a 4-point deficit going into the ultimate 12 minutes. They compounded that with a 16-4 run within the fourth to take a multi-possession lead earlier than Steph Curry hit the primary dagger with 3:20, giving the Warriors a double-digit lead on a deep triple; the sport’s all-time taking pictures king completed with 39 factors, eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.
