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I took a night off because, seriously, I've been writing a lot over the last four years. Anyway, there are big changes in the Western Conference standings, and the NBA Playoffs look to be amazing this year. The NBA Draft lottery is all but figured out, and we have a new way of presenting that data. Also, lots of the conditional picks have been figured out. So let's get to i!
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What happened last night?
| Winner | Loser | Commentary | ||||||||||
| 1 | BOS | East | 117 | - | CLE | West | 78 | Boston not giving up on Playoff hopes | ||||
| 2 | MIL | East | 96 | - | BKN | East | 73 | Good job, good effort Nets | ||||
| 3 | DET | East | 116 | - | CHA | East | 77 | Michael Jordan can't make a winner | ||||
| 4 | DEN | West | 122 | - | SAC | West | 111 | I don't really care. | ||||
| 5 | IND | East | 116 | - | OKC | West | 104 | C.J. Miles blasts off for 30 and 10, kills OKC | ||||
| 6 | WAS | East | 108 | - | ATL | East | 99 | John Wall returns, and dominates | ||||
| 7 | HOU | West | 121 | - | NOP | West | 114 | James Harden still fighting for that MVP trophy | ||||
| 8 | SAS | West | 107 | - | PHX | West | 91 | Tim Duncan is ageless. | ||||
| 9 | DAL | West | 120 | - | LAL | West | 106 | Dirk Nowitzki is feeling it now | ||||
New Orleans and Oklahoma City both losing last night makes their last two games that much more important.
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NBA Draft Lottery standings:
Okay, so I don't think anyone is going to break into the Top 4 seeds, and Orlando looks to be gobbling up another Top 5 pick this season. (So we'll find out who next year's Aaron Gordon is pretty soon.) The #6 - #10 seeds have some space between each team, but you never know what's going to happen between Denver and Detroit.
The next group, #11-15, is a little bit closer, except it now shows the teams in the lotto -- so PHX and OKC (for now) show up. The Nets have to give their pick to the Hawks, so that's hilarious. They have no desire to be a lotto team and are fighting for the playoffs to minimize their loss.
That's kinda the same thing with New Orleans -- they have to give up their pick this year too, so there's no point to be a lotto team. There are some conditions that we still have to wait out on until after the lottery, but this is what it looks like, fans.
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Western Conference standings:
| Team | W | L | % | GB | GL | Streak | Last Night | Tonight | |||||||||||
| 1 | Warriors | z | 65 | - | 15 | 81.25% | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | vs | MEM | ||||||||
| 2 | Spurs | x | 55 | - | 26 | 67.90% | 10.5 | 1 | 11 | vs | PHX | W | |||||||
| 3 | Clippers | x | 54 | - | 26 | 67.50% | 11.0 | 2 | 5 | vs | DEN | ||||||||
| 4 | Trail Blazers | y | 51 | - | 29 | 63.75% | 14.0 | 2 | -2 | @ | OKC | ||||||||
| 5 | Grizzlies | x | 54 | - | 26 | 67.50% | 11.0 | 2 | -1 | @ | GSW | ||||||||
| 6 | Rockets | x | 54 | - | 26 | 67.50% | 11.0 | 2 | 1 | vs | NOP | W | @ | CHA | |||||
| 7 | Mavericks | x | 49 | - | 31 | 61.25% | 16.0 | 2 | 3 | @ | LAL | W | @ | UTA | |||||
| 8 | Pelicans | 43 | - | 37 | 53.75% | 22.0 | 2 | -1 | @ | HOU | L | @ | MIN | ||||||
| 9 | Thunder | 43 | - | 37 | 53.75% | 22.0 | 2 | -1 | @ | IND | L | vs | POR | ||||||
| 10 | Suns | 39 | - | 42 | 48.15% | 26.5 | 1 | -4 | @ | SAS | L | ||||||||
| 11 | Jazz | 37 | - | 43 | 46.25% | 28.0 | 2 | 1 | vs | DAL | |||||||||
| 12 | Nuggets | 30 | - | 50 | 37.50% | 35.0 | 2 | 1 | vs | SAC | W | @ | LAC | ||||||
| 13 | Kings | 27 | - | 53 | 33.75% | 38.0 | 2 | -3 | @ | DEN | L | vs | LAL | ||||||
| 14 | Lakers | 21 | - | 59 | 26.25% | 44.0 | 2 | -1 | vs | DAL | L | @ | SAC | ||||||
| 15 | Timberwolves | 16 | - | 64 | 20.00% | 49.0 | 2 | -10 | vs | NOP | |||||||||
| z - Clinched Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| y - Clinched Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| x - Clinched Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
So, the Spurs are #2 in the West after winning 11 games in a row. Yikes. The Clippers are #3 right now and that shows you how quickly things can change in the West. There are 0.5 games between the Spurs, Clippers, Grizzlies, and Rockets. Three of those teams are in the same division.
No one is catching the Dubs, the Blazers, or the Mavs. So you could see those three coast to the playoffs.
The #8 seed is still up for grabs, even if OKC giving up their pick no longer is.
Utah can still catch Phoenix, but it'll be tough. And that's it. The rest of the west is pretty much locked up now.
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Tonight's games:
| Road | Home | Commentary | ||||||
| 1 | HOU | West | 6 | @ | CHA | East | 11 | Houston still gets to play against the East? Lucky. |
| 2 | MIL | East | 6 | @ | PHI | East | 14 | Bucks will do the 76ers a favor here. |
| 3 | DET | East | 12 | @ | CLE | East | 2 | Cavaliers can't be caught, so they will chill. |
| 4 | ORL | East | 13 | @ | MIA | East | 10 | The Battle for Florida! |
| 5 | CHI | East | 4 | @ | BKN | East | 8 | Nets need this win, unfortunately, so do the Bulls. |
| 6 | NYK | East | 15 | @ | ATL | East | 1 | Two teams just counting the days till the end of the regular season. |
| 7 | POR | West | 4 | @ | OKC | West | 9 | Portland has nothing to play for, OKC? Everything. |
| 8 | NOP | West | 8 | @ | MIN | West | 15 | Pesky Wolves not going to play spoiler tonight. |
| 9 | DAL | West | 7 | @ | UTA | West | 11 | Mavericks are locked into their seed, Jazz have fan night. |
| 10 | LAL | West | 14 | @ | SAC | West | 13 | California knows how to party. |
| 11 | DEN | West | 12 | @ | LAC | West | 3 | Clipps need this game. |
| 12 | MEM | West | 5 | @ | GSW | West | 1 | Grizz are hungry for a win. |
Huge night in the NBA tonight. Set your DVRs.
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I can't believe we're only a few more nights away from figuring out what the lotto odds are and what the NBA seeds are for the playoffs. It's going to be crazy!