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Lots of games last night, but still so much to figure out in the NBA Draft lotto and NBA Playoffs races!
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What happened last night?
| Winner | Loser | Commentary | ||||||||||
| 1 | TOR | East | 4 | 92 | - | CHA | East | 11 | 74 | They really need Big Al Jefferson back | ||
| 2 | BOS | East | 8 | 113 | - | DET | East | 12 | 103 | Okay, so this Isaiah Thomas just dropped 34 off the bench | ||
| 3 | ORL | East | 13 | 105 | - | CHI | East | 3 | 103 | Let me be one of the first 10,000 people to ask "what's up with the Bulls?" | ||
| 4 | WAS | East | 5 | 119 | - | PHI | East | 14 | 90 | No John Wall, no problem | ||
| 5 | ATL | East | 1 | 114 | - | BKN | East | 7 | 111 | Not even the police can even up the difference between these two teams | ||
| 6 | IND | East | 10 | 102 | - | NYK | East | 15 | 86 | Knicks scored 31 in the 4th and still lost by a billion | ||
| 7 | MEM | West | 3 | 110 | - | NOP | West | 8 | 74 | This wasn't pretty. | ||
| 8 | CLE | East | 2 | 104 | - | MIL | East | 6 | 99 | LeBron James is pretty good sometime | ||
| 9 | SAS | West | 6 | 110 | - | HOU | West | 2 | 98 | Everyone fears time, but time fears the Spurs | ||
| 10 | DEN | West | 12 | 119 | - | LAL | West | 14 | 101 | Randy Foye only attempts three pointers now | ||
| 11 | UTA | West | 11 | 103 | - | SAC | West | 13 | 91 | Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert both had double doubles | ||
| 12 | DAL | West | 7 | 107 | - | PHX | West | 10 | 104 | Like always, Mavs beat the Suns | ||
| 13 | POR | West | 4 | 116 | - | MIN | West | 15 | 91 | Andrew Wiggins nets 29/5/4, prob will win ROY | ||
Cavs are just flying high right now. When LeBron teams get this loose they usually win a lot of playoff games.
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NBA Draft Lottery standings:
Okay, no one is going to catch the Knicks, even if the Wolves lose ever game left. Not happening. But in the slightly larger picture no one is crashing the Top 4, it's pretty much locked in for the Knicks, Timberwolves, 76ers, and Lakers. The next group (Magic, Kings, Nuggets, Pistons) don't really move up or down at all either.
You get movement in the bottom of the lotto. Last night the Pacers and Heat switched spots again, and in the pseudo-lottery (the bottom of the East playoffs) the Nets and Celtics switched spots again too. Surprisingly, the Bulls fell two spots, letting the Raptors and Mavericks go up one. That doesn't really have any effect on anything in the lotto though. But for the standings it makes a little blip on the radar.
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Western Conference standings:
| Team | W | L | % | GB | GL | Streak | Last Night | Tonight | |||||||||||
| 1 | Warriors | z | 63 | - | 15 | 80.77% | 0.0 | 4 | -2 | vs | POR | ||||||||
| 2 | Grizzlies | x | 53 | - | 25 | 67.95% | 10.0 | 4 | 1 | vs | NOP | W | |||||||
| 3 | Rockets | x | 53 | - | 25 | 67.95% | 10.0 | 4 | -1 | @ | SAS | L | |||||||
| 4 | Trail Blazers | y | 51 | - | 27 | 65.38% | 12.0 | 4 | 1 | vs | MIN | W | @ | GSW | |||||
| 5 | Clippers | x | 53 | - | 26 | 67.09% | 10.5 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Spurs | x | 53 | - | 26 | 67.09% | 10.5 | 3 | 9 | vs | HOU | W | |||||||
| 7 | Mavericks | x | 47 | - | 31 | 60.26% | 16.0 | 4 | 1 | vs | PHX | W | |||||||
| 8 | Pelicans | 42 | - | 36 | 53.85% | 21.0 | 4 | -1 | @ | MEM | L | ||||||||
| 9 | Thunder | 42 | - | 36 | 53.85% | 21.0 | 4 | -4 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Suns | 39 | - | 40 | 49.37% | 24.5 | 3 | -2 | @ | DAL | L | ||||||||
| 11 | Jazz | 36 | - | 42 | 46.15% | 27.0 | 4 | 2 | @ | SAC | W | ||||||||
| 12 | Nuggets | 29 | - | 49 | 37.18% | 34.0 | 4 | 1 | vs | LAL | W | ||||||||
| 13 | Kings | 27 | - | 51 | 34.62% | 36.0 | 4 | -1 | @ | UTA | L | ||||||||
| 14 | Lakers | 20 | - | 58 | 25.64% | 43.0 | 4 | -5 | @ | DEN | L | ||||||||
| 15 | Timberwolves | 16 | - | 62 | 20.51% | 47.0 | 4 | -8 | @ | POR | L | ||||||||
| z - Clinched Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| y - Clinched Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| x - Clinched Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
Man, the Wild Wild West is crazy. There are less than four games left on average, and almost every spot from #2 to #9 is up for grabs. By some tie-braker rules the Grizz jumped over the Rockets. And the Pellies and Thunder are tied-ish for #8. There are 2.0 games between #2 and #6 (accurately the Blazers). Every game counts.
As a side note, the Jazz should really have beaten the Suns, and missed so many opportunities to be ahead of them in the standings.
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Tonight's Games:
| Road | Home | Commentary | ||||||
| 1 | CHI | East | 4 | @ | MIA | East | 10 | Another must win for the Heat |
| 2 | POR | West | 4 | @ | GSW | West | 1 | Can Blazers give Warriors their 3rd home loss this season? |
Two games tonight. Honestly, Miami and Portland really need these wins badly.
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Sorry again this is up so late. Life get busy sometimes . . .