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Wow, it's been a while since I've done one of these . . . what has changed for the NBA Playoffs standings and NBA Draft lottery since last time? Well, a lot. For one I think we know a few teams are really into the hunt for more ping pong balls. And second, the Utah Jazz have lost four games in a row and are not a threat to the West's "maybes" anymore.
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What happened last night?
| Winner | Loser | Commentary | |||||||||||||
| 1 | DET | East | 12 | 111 | - | ORL | East | 13 | 97 | Reggie Jackson joins the PG Triple Double Club | |||||
| 2 | TOR | East | 4 | 94 | LAL | West | 14 | 83 | Toronto clinches the Atlantic Division | ||||||
| 3 | LAC | West | 5 | 119 | PHI | East | 14 | 98 | Nerlens Noel puts up good numbers on an awful team | ||||||
| 4 | WAS | East | 5 | 110 | CHA | East | 11 | 107 | Double Overtime and poof goes the Hornets | ||||||
| 5 | ATL | East | 1 | 99 | MIA | East | 7 | 86 | Atlanta clinches the Eastern Conference | ||||||
| 6 | BKN | East | 9 | 106 | CLE | East | 2 | 98 | Cleveland's streak ends at four wins | ||||||
| 7 | BOS | East | 8 | 96 | NYK | East | 15 | 92 | At least they kinda tried | ||||||
| 8 | HOU | West | 3 | 120 | MIN | West | 15 | 110 | But did you see that Andrew Wiggins move tho? | ||||||
| 9 | GSW | West | 1 | 107 | MEM | West | 2 | 84 | One more win and the Dubs have a franchise high | ||||||
| 10 | NOP | West | 9 | 102 | SAC | West | 13 | 88 | Tyreke Evans is still very talented | ||||||
| 11 | SAS | West | 6 | 94 | DAL | West | 7 | 76 | This is now Boris Diaw 's team | ||||||
| 12 | DEN | West | 12 | 107 | UTA | West | 11 | 91 | Utah can now do no better than .500 | ||||||
| 13 | POR | West | 4 | 87 | PHX | West | 10 | 81 | Portland not ready to go quietly into that night | ||||||
A million things happened last night, but for the most part, the better team won every game (better = higher in standings). The only head scratcher was Brooklyn beating Cleveland. And for the most part, all the teams that wanted to win won, and all the teams that wanted to lose lost. The #UTAatDEN game was just so bad, I don't need to discuss it.
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NBA Draft Lottery standings:
So there's been plenty of movement in the bottom of the lotto since last week. Utah has now doubled their chances at a Top 3 pick, and they honestly could get a few more if they continue to lose. Toronto won their division, but are still here in this table because that's how strong the East is.
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Western Conference standings:
| Team | W | L | % | GB | GL | Streak | Last Night | Tonight | |||||||||||
| 1 | Warriors | y | 59 | - | 13 | 81.94% | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | @ | MEM | W | @ | MIL | |||||
| 2 | Grizzlies | x | 50 | - | 23 | 68.49% | 9.5 | 9 | -2 | vs | GSW | L | |||||||
| 3 | Rockets | x | 49 | 23 | 68.06% | 10.0 | 10 | 3 | vs | MIN | W | ||||||||
| 4 | Trail Blazers | 46 | - | 25 | 64.79% | 12.5 | 11 | 2 | @ | PHX | W | vs | DEN | ||||||
| 5 | Clippers | x | 48 | - | 25 | 65.75% | 11.5 | 9 | 6 | @ | PHI | W | |||||||
| 6 | Spurs | 46 | - | 26 | 63.89% | 13.0 | 10 | 2 | vs | DAL | W | ||||||||
| 7 | Mavericks | 45 | - | 28 | 61.64% | 14.5 | 9 | -1 | @ | SAS | L | ||||||||
| 8 | Thunder | 41 | - | 31 | 56.94% | 18.0 | 10 | -1 | @ | UTA | |||||||||
| 9 | Pelicans | 38 | - | 34 | 52.78% | 21.0 | 10 | 1 | vs | POR | L | ||||||||
| 10 | Suns | 38 | - | 35 | 52.05% | 21.5 | 9 | -2 | vs | SAC | W | ||||||||
| 11 | Jazz | 31 | - | 41 | 43.06% | 28.0 | 10 | -4 | @ | DEN | L | vs | OKC | ||||||
| 12 | Nuggets | 28 | - | 45 | 38.36% | 31.5 | 9 | 1 | vs | UTA | W | @ | POR | ||||||
| 13 | Kings | 26 | - | 46 | 36.11% | 33.0 | 10 | -1 | @ | NOP | L | ||||||||
| 14 | Lakers | 19 | - | 52 | 26.76% | 39.5 | 11 | -1 | @ | TOR | L | ||||||||
| 15 | Timberwolves | 16 | - | 56 | 22.22% | 43.0 | 10 | -2 | @ | HOU | L | ||||||||
| z - Clinched Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| y - Clinched Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| x - Clinched Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
Last night 14 of 15 teams in the West played, and mostly each other. The Dubs beat #2 Memphis for primacy, they are just in another class. The #2 to #7 spots in the West are still separated by 5.0 games and there are on average 9.8 more games to play this season for each team in the Western Conference. The Jazz are 6.5 games behind the Suns, and I think we're not going to catch them.
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Tonight's games:
| Road | Home | Commentary | |||||||||
| 1 | ATL | East | 1 | @ | CHA | East | 11 | Another loss means CHA has yet another losing season | |||
| 2 | NYK | East | 15 | @ | CHI | East | 3 | New York has only five road wins this season | |||
| 3 | GSW | West | 1 | @ | MIL | East | 6 | Good luck Michael Carter-Williams | |||
| 4 | OKC | West | 8 | @ | UTA | West | 11 | The Enes Kanter revenge game? | |||
| 5 | DEN | West | 12 | @ | POR | West | 4 | Will the real Denver team stand up? | |||
Tonight is probably the only game on the Jazz schedule that matters until fan appreciation night. Gotta get this one.
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Okay, should I continue doing these every day? Also would you want this out in the AM? Because I can do that.