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So now that we're tracking both the playoffs (the usual) and the lotto (the new) we have an expanded "While you were sleeping" schedule to track. Here was all the action from last night:
- UTA @ SAS -- The Jazz lost, which is what we want from this point onwards. You know how good Jabari and Andrew are. And you know precisely where we need help. Duh.
- CHA @ MIL -- The Bucks lost, we want them to stay ahead of PHI who has no intention of winning ever again.
- PHX @ TOR -- The Suns won, it was surprising, but I was happy to see it.
- DAL @ OKC -- Another surprising win for the Mavericks. These guys are winning tough games, and hats off to them.
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- BOS @ NOP -- The Celtics lost, so it invalidates our loss
- SAC @ MIN -- The Kings lost, so same deal here
- GSW @ POR -- And the Warriors won too, so that invalidates the PHX and DAL wins.
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- CLE @ LAC -- Cavaliers lost, so big deal. They are of no interest to us right now.
Movers and Shakers:
- Because LAL was idle, UTA and BOS jumped up one spot each, and now hold half a game on them
- SAC loss makes them 0.5 from LAL, and 1.0 from UTA/BOS
- Nothing else really big happened
- ... unless you look at all the small margin of victory games: PHX won by 8 on the road; BOS lost by 1 pt in OT; SAC lost by 2 pts., and GSW won by 1 pt on the road.
The Big Board:
| Record | Last 10 | Remaining | Standings | Game Result | ||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | % | GB | W | L | % | Gm | v20 | v10 | Seed | Lotto | Last | Next | ||||
| 1 | Milwaukee Bucks | 13 | 54 | 19% | 0.0 | 2 | 8 | 20% | 15 | 5 | 4 | East 15 | 1 | vs CHA | L | |||
| 2 | Philadelphia 76ers | 15 | 51 | 23% | 2.5 | 0 | 10 | 0% | 16 | 10 | 5 | East 14 | 2 | @ IND | ||||
| 3 | Orlando Magic | 19 | 48 | 28% | 6.0 | 2 | 8 | 20% | 15 | 11 | 3 | East 13 | 3 | |||||
| 4 | Utah Jazz | 22 | 45 | 33% | 9.0 | 1 | 9 | 10% | 15 | 13 | 4 | West 15 | 4 | @ SAS | L | @ HOU | ||
| 5 | Boston Celtics | 22 | 45 | 33% | 9.0 | 3 | 7 | 30% | 15 | 10 | 5 | East 12 | 4 | @ NOP | L | @ DAL | ||
| 6 | Los Angeles Lakers | 22 | 44 | 33% | 9.5 | 3 | 7 | 30% | 16 | 10 | 5 | West 14 | 6 | |||||
| 7 | Sacramento Kings | 23 | 44 | 34% | 10.0 | 3 | 7 | 30% | 15 | 11 | 4 | West 13 | 7 | @ MIN | L | |||
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 25 | 41 | 38% | 12.5 | 2 | 8 | 20% | 16 | 10 | 6 | East 11 | 8 | |||||
| 9 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 26 | 41 | 39% | 13.0 | 4 | 6 | 40% | 16 | 11 | 6 | East 10 | 9 | @ LAC | L | |||
| 10 | New York Knicks | 27 | 40 | 40% | 14.0 | 6 | 4 | 60% | 15 | 10 | 6 | East 9 | 10 | 3* | ||||
| 11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 27 | 39 | 41% | 14.5 | 3 | 7 | 30% | 16 | 8 | 3 | West 12 | 11 | vs BOS | W | |||
| 12 | Denver Nuggets | 29 | 37 | 44% | 16.5 | 4 | 6 | 40% | 16 | 9 | 3 | West 11 | 12 | 4* | vs LAC | |||
| 13 | Atlanta Hawks | 29 | 35 | 45% | 17.5 | 4 | 6 | 40% | 18 | 10 | 4 | East 8 | @ CHA | |||||
| 14 | Charlotte Bobcats | 33 | 34 | 49% | 20.0 | 6 | 4 | 60% | 15 | 11 | 6 | East 7 | @ MIL | W | vs ATL | |||
| 15 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 33 | 32 | 51% | 21.0 | 6 | 4 | 60% | 17 | 12 | 5 | West 10 | 13 | vs SAC | W | |||
| 16 | Brooklyn Nets | 33 | 31 | 52% | 21.5 | 7 | 3 | 70% | 18 | 16 | 9 | East 6 | 1* | vs PHX | ||||
| 17 | Phoenix Suns | 38 | 28 | 58% | 25.5 | 5 | 5 | 50% | 16 | 12 | 6 | West 9 | 14 | @ TOR | W | @ BKN | ||
| 18 | Memphis Grizzlies | 39 | 27 | 59% | 26.5 | 7 | 3 | 70% | 16 | 12 | 4 | West 8 | ||||||
| 19 | Dallas Mavericks | 40 | 27 | 60% | 27.0 | 6 | 4 | 60% | 25 | 13 | 6 | West 8 | @ OKC | W | vs BOS | |||
| 20 | Golden State Warriors | 42 | 26 | 62% | 28.5 | 7 | 3 | 70% | 14 | 12 | 7 | West 6 | 2* | @ POR | W | |||
| 1* - ATL has right to swap picks with BKN | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2* - UTA owns GSW pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3* - DEN owns NYK pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4* - DEN owes ORL their lower of their two 1st round picks | ||||||||||||||||||
Tonight's Action:
LOTS OF GAMES TONIGHT!
- PHI @ IND -- Philly already has a 20 game losing streak, why stop now? Really? Why stop? Ever? I bet right now Nerlens Noel 's ACL feels better than my 35 year old ones.
- UTA @ HOU -- We couldn't have the dribble penetration last night, we're going to have to face more of it tonight with Patrick Beverly and James Harden.
- BOS @ DAL -- We have to make the decision here, do we care more about our pick, or the pick GSW owes us? Because if DAL wins they'll be another 0.5 games closer to GSW. But if they win, BOS loses, and stays right with us.
- LAC @ DEN -- Clippers are on a roll, and Denver will only play harder and harder teams and look to lose more games down the stretch.
- ATL @ CHA -- East #8 @ East #7. Paul Millsap visiting Al Jefferson. All of the feels. Well, for me half of the feels. It's clear I wasn't in love with Big Al. It surprises me to no end to actually see him on the way to the playoffs.
- PHX @ BNK -- Brooklyn is hot right now, and Phoenix played last night, and won in Toronto. If good things are going to happen for us, it will have to happen in the Barclay's center tonight.
Last night was almost wasted because GSW won when PHX and DAL both did. Similarly, UTA lost, but so too did BOS and SAC. We want to see some separation at the end of March. But half of that is keeping pace.