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This is late because there were so many games last night, and I'm trying to watch as many of them as possible. Anyway, some minor changes for the NBA Draft lottery, but a HUGE CHANGE in the Western Conference for the NBA Playoffs. Let's get to it!
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What happened last night?
| Winner | Loser | Commentary | ||||||||||
| 1 | TOR | East | 4 | 101 | - | ORL | East | 13 | 99 | DeMar DeRozan is scoring like crazy, had 29 last night | ||
| 2 | ATL | East | 1 | 104 | - | CHA | East | 11 | 80 | Marvin Williams and Mo Williams finish with 6 pts total | ||
| 3 | BOS | East | 7 | 99 | - | CLE | East | 2 | 90 | Huge win for Celtics | ||
| 4 | BKN | East | 8 | 117 | - | WAS | East | 5 | 80 | Deron Williams gets 9 / 9 / 7 / 1 in the win | ||
| 5 | MIL | East | 6 | 99 | - | NYK | East | 15 | 91 | Giannis Antetokounmpo is too good, man | ||
| 6 | IND | East | 9 | 107 | - | DET | East | 12 | 103 | C.J. Miles drops 24 / 5 / 2 on the Pistons | ||
| 7 | OKC | West | 9 | 116 | - | SAC | West | 13 | 103 | OKC finally win, Enes Kanter with 25 /6 | ||
| 8 | NOP | West | 8 | 90 | - | PHX | West | 10 | 75 | They didn't make up any ground on NOP though | ||
| 9 | SAS | West | 6 | 104 | - | HOU | West | 3 | 103 | Spurs have now won 10 in a row, and I can't even. | ||
| 10 | DAL | West | 7 | 144 | - | DEN | West | 12 | 143 | This score makes sense only if it's Cricket | ||
| 11 | MEM | West | 2 | 89 | - | UTA | West | 11 | 88 | Being upset over losses is a long-lost feeling | ||
| 12 | LAL | West | 15 | 106 | - | MIN | West | 14 | 98 | Andrew Wiggins with 29/10/6/2 … ridiculous. | ||
The East makes no sense, and the West is a blood bath. But this is the way it has always been.
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NBA Draft Lottery standings:
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Soooooo, the top 8 seem to be all locked up. And pretty much in that order. IND/UTA flip flopped. MIL/PHX flip flopped. TOR/CHI flip flopped -- but they are in the playoffs, so it doesn't matter.
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Western Conference standings:
| Team | W | L | % | GB | GL | Streak | Last Night | Tonight | |||||||||||
| 1 | Warriors | z | 64 | - | 15 | 81.01% | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | vs | MIN | ||||||||
| 2 | Grizzlies | x | 54 | - | 25 | 68.35% | 10.0 | 3 | 2 | @ | UTA | W | @ | LAC | |||||
| 3 | Spurs | x | 54 | - | 26 | 67.50% | 10.5 | 2 | 10 | @ | HOU | W | |||||||
| 4 | Trail Blazers | y | 51 | - | 28 | 64.56% | 13.0 | 3 | -1 | vs | UTA | ||||||||
| 5 | Clippers | x | 53 | - | 26 | 67.09% | 11.0 | 3 | 4 | vs | MEM | ||||||||
| 6 | Rockets | x | 53 | - | 26 | 67.09% | 11.0 | 3 | -2 | vs | SAS | L | |||||||
| 7 | Mavericks | x | 48 | - | 31 | 60.76% | 16.0 | 3 | 2 | @ | DEN | W | |||||||
| 8 | Pelicans | 43 | - | 36 | 54.43% | 21.0 | 3 | 1 | vs | PHX | W | ||||||||
| 9 | Thunder | 43 | - | 36 | 54.43% | 21.0 | 3 | 1 | vs | SAC | W | ||||||||
| 10 | Suns | 39 | - | 41 | 48.75% | 25.5 | 2 | -3 | @ | NOP | L | ||||||||
| 11 | Jazz | 36 | - | 43 | 45.57% | 28.0 | 3 | -1 | vs | MEM | L | @ | POR | ||||||
| 12 | Nuggets | 29 | - | 50 | 36.71% | 35.0 | 3 | -1 | vs | DAL | L | ||||||||
| 13 | Kings | 27 | - | 52 | 34.18% | 37.0 | 3 | -2 | @ | OKC | L | ||||||||
| 14 | Lakers | 21 | - | 58 | 26.58% | 43.0 | 3 | 1 | vs | MIN | W | ||||||||
| 15 | Timberwolves | 16 | - | 63 | 20.25% | 48.0 | 3 | -9 | @ | LAL | L | @ | GSW | ||||||
| z - Clinched Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| y - Clinched Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| x - Clinched Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
Okay, so what changed? Well the Spurs went up from #6 to #3, jumping over the Blazers, Clippers, and of course Rockets. That shows you how close all of these teams are, with 2.9 games left in the West, and these teams are separated by 1.0 games. But that's just for #2 and #6, not including #4. There are some safe zones.
#1 -- GSW is safe, no one can catch them
#4 -- POR is safe because they won the division, they don't have to worry about anything, they know they are playing #5
#7 -- DAL is safe/stuck at #7. They can't catch #6. No Team likely for #6 can fall to #7. And no team that is #8 can get to #7. So in this regard, they don't have to go nuts. This is nice for the Jazz, who host them at home on the 13th.
For most of the teams in the lotto, they are all stuck as well. DEN and SAC could switch places, but I don't expect them to. UTA and PHX could tie, but I don't think it's going to happen.
The big battle, outside of the playoff standings is going to be between NOP and OKC, and it looks like NOP has the inside track.
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Tonight's games:
| Road | Home | Commentary | ||||||
| 1 | NYK | East | 15 | @ | ORL | East | 13 | Can Patrick Ewing and the Knicks hold off Shaquille O'Neal and the Magic? (What? It's no 1995?) |
| 2 | TOR | East | 3 | @ | MIA | East | 10 | I don't expect the Heat to win, so obviously they will. |
| 3 | PHI | East | 14 | @ | CHI | East | 4 | Nerlens Noel is . . . He's . . . He's doing stuff. |
| 4 | MEM | West | 2 | @ | LAC | West | 5 | Another huge night for Memphis and the Western Conference standings. |
| 5 | UTA | West | 11 | @ | POR | West | 4 | Gotta win, Jazz. Gotta win. |
| 6 | MIN | West | 15 | @ | GSW | West | 1 | Lemme guess, Wiggins will get good stats, GSW will still win despite sitting guys |
MEM @ LAC is big, but I'm felling good about UTA @ POR.
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Let's go Jazz!