clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NBA Draft 2015 Lottery Standings: While you were sleeping April 8th, 2015

If the season ended tonight who would have the most ping pong balls?

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

There were six games in the NBA last night, and honestly -- surprisingly --there was an actual change that matters in the NBA Playoffs seeding; furthermore, it trickled all the way down to change up the NBA Draft lotto order too!

.

What happened last night?

Winner Loser Commentary
1 MIA East 10 105 - CHA East 11 100 Goran Dragic ignites for 28 / 4 / 5
2 ATL East 1 96 - PHX West 10 69 And Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris beat up a guy who was texting their mom
3 SAS West 6 113 - OKC West 8 88 Kawhi Leonard actually looking like more than a 5th fiddle
4 NOP West 9 103 - GSW West 1 100 Team with something to play for wins game!
5 SAC West 13 116 - MIN West 15 111 The most boring game that's historically relevant
6 LAC West 5 105 - LAL West 14 100 Tarik Black misses the double double by 1 reb.

We have to start with the beatdown the Spurs put on the Thunder.

Beyond that, everyone else went according to plan except for the Pelicans who took advantage of events and beat the Warriors! A huge game for them that now puts them in the Western Conference playoffs!

.

NBA Draft Lottery standings:

     2014 2015 WYWS April 8

Okay, so MIA and IND switches spots, ho-hum. The big news is that OKC got dethrones by NOP. If you add this to all the other mess that's happening, I had to update the future picks thingy on the bottom. Dallas clinched a playoff spot, so #2 is no longer a possibility. And Memphis clinched a long time ago, so I don't know why I didn't eliminate #8 sooner. For Jazz fans the #13 thing is very slim still, but really unlikely. Just a recap, we want #13 to happen this season. But it probably will not.

But all the teams with an actual CHANCE to win the lotto didn't do anything to disrupt their odds last night. Tankers gotta tank.

.

Western Conference standings:

Team W L % GB GL Streak Last Night Tonight
1 Warriors z 63 - 15 80.77% 0.0 4 -2 @ NOP L
2 Rockets x 53 - 24 68.83% 9.5 5 3 @ SAS
3 Grizzlies x 52 - 25 67.53% 10.5 5 -1 vs NOP
4 Trail Blazers y 50 - 27 64.94% 12.5 5 -1 vs MIN
5 Clippers x 53 - 26 67.09% 10.5 3 4 vs LAL W
6 Spurs x 52 - 26 66.67% 11.0 4 8 @ OKC W vs HOU
7 Mavericks x 46 - 31 59.74% 16.5 5 -2 vs PHX
8 Pelicans 42 - 35 54.55% 20.5 5 1 vs GSW W @ MEM
9 Thunder 42 - 36 53.85% 21.0 4 -4 vs SAS L
10 Suns 39 - 39 50.00% 24.0 4 -1 @ ATL L @ DAL
11 Jazz 35 - 42 45.45% 27.5 5 1 @ SAC
12 Nuggets 28 - 49 36.36% 34.5 5 -4 vs LAL
13 Kings 27 - 50 35.06% 35.5 5 1 vs MIN W @ UTA
14 Lakers 20 - 57 25.97% 42.5 5 -4 @ LAC L @ DEN
15 Timberwolves 16 - 61 20.78% 46.5 5 -7 @ SAC L @ POR
z - Clinched Conference
y - Clinched Division
x - Clinched Playoffs

So NOP is in, and OKC is out. Almost every team plays tonight (there are 4.6 games left on average), but you definitely see some groupings. The Lakers and Wolves are too far to be caught by anyone. The Nuggets could catch the Kings, but I don't think the Kings let that happen. And then you have the Jazz slightly behind the Suns, but that's also a game where Utah won't pass Phoenix.

Up top you have the Warriors where no one can catch them, and at #7, Dallas is too far from #6, and too ahead of #8/9 that they are also on an island.

Everything else is Lord of the Flies.

NOP and OKC are 0.5 games apart, and every game is a big deal. The Thunder have now lost 4 straight games, and what used to be a given is now something we don't even think is going to happen anymore.

And everything from #2 to #6 is left to be sorted out, 3.0 games separate these five clubs. Portland will get Top 4 (but not homecourt) because of their division status. But every team is fighting for every game at this point still.

.

Tonight's Games:

Road Home Commentary
1 TOR East 4 @ CHA East 11 Must win for the Raptors
2 BOS East 8 @ DET East 12 Can Celtics hold off the rest of the East?
3 CHI East 3 @ ORL East 13 Derrick Rose will play tonight!
4 WAS East 5 @ PHI East 14 76ers are motivated to lose at all costs!
5 ATL East 1 @ BKN East 7 No Paul Millsap tonight.
6 IND East 10 @ NYK East 15 Reggie Miller vs. Spike Lee, right?
7 NOP West 8 @ MEM West 3 Can Pelicans stay in the West playoffs?
8 CLE East 2 @ MIL East 6 Trivia: Two teams Mo Williams has played for
9 HOU West 2 @ SAS West 6 Can anyone stop the Spurs?
10 LAL West 14 @ DEN West 12 Love how the Lakers have all these B2B games when Kobe Bryant is out
11 SAC West 13 @ UTA West 11 Will Sim Bhullar add to his NBA career 0:16 seconds?
12 PHX West 10 @ DAL West 7 Remember when these two teams used to be a thing?
13 MIN West 15 @ POR West 4 Kevin Martin is taking names right now! Watch out!

THIRTEEN GAMES! That's 26/30 NBA teams playing all in one night. It's pretty exciting for those of us with NBA League Pass. There are a couple of good games out East, but I really am excited to see what happens between the Spurs and Rockets. That's a pretty big game. Also the Pelicans and Grizzlies -- NOP controls their playoff destiny. And in order to make it they're going to have to beat some playoff teams to do so.

.

Lots left to be determined in both the Lotto and the Playoff Seeds. As the NBA regular season comes to a close, I honestly have to say I'm watching more and more games than I did back during January. NBA action is still fantastic.