While you were sleeping March 9th

The NBA Trade Deadline is over. Teams have waived and signed players. We know which teams are tanking, and we know which teams are playing for the post season. It’s March, so our feature “While you were sleeping...” returns! So let’s get to it!

The only movers and shakers last night were found in that “After Utah” glut of teams. The Oklahoma City Thunder won while the Memphis Grizzlies lost, so they switched places. Teams that were on huge win streaks and losing streaks reversed their fates for at least one night.

Anyway, let’s take a look at what happened:

AllThatAmar

GOOD NEWS!

• [2] San Antonio Spurs lost to the [6] Oklahoma City Thunder, 102-92
• [14] Phoenix Suns lost to the [15] Los Angeles Lakers, 122-110

Beyond my desire for GSW / SAS sepration the main reason why OKC winning is good is because of momentum and emotion. SAS had won 9 in a row, and that wasn’t helping me out at all. OKC had lost 4 in a row. Winning last night was such an emotional moment for them that maybe they could be loose and less focused in their game against UTA tomorrow. Had OKC lost they would be going into the UTA home game with 5 losses in a row and murder on their minds. The SAS victory for them is a psychological pressure release valve. Some of that ‘steam’ is out of them as a result. The Lakers had lost eight games in a row, and they obviously can’t tank THIS obviously. It’s nice to see them get a win.

“Meh” NEWS!

• Nothing “Meh” happened last night out West

And frankly, that’s fine.

BAD NEWS!

• [5] Los Angeles Clippers beat the [7] Memphis Grizzlies, 114-98
• [9] Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 114-108

LAC vs MEM was a battle of the 5th and 6th seeds at the start of this night. LAC winning puts them at 2.0 GM behind UTA. That’s not great for us. There’s nothing one can do, of course POR was going to beat PHI. They have now won 4 in a row and are creeping up on DEN. It doesn’t look like POR will be in “tank mode” by the time they play UTA twice in April. Boo!

Tonight’s Games:

• [1] Golden State Warriors @ [11] Minnesota Timberwolves
• [3] Houston Rockets @ Chicago Bulls
• [8] Denver Nuggets vs Boston Celtics
• [10] Dallas Mavericks vs Brooklyn Nets
• [12] Sacramento Kings vs Washington Wizards

The Dubs will most likely handle MIN here. HOU @ CHI could be GREAT for UTA if CHI wins. But I don’t think CHI will do UTA any favors. DEN is surely to lose to BOS, a team that is playing great right now on their West trip - a team that just recently beat GSW. DAL can’t possibly lose to BKN. And SAC is likely to lose to WAS. Most of these games don’t matter to UTA at all. Only the CHI one, and obliquely, the DEN one.

It’s fun to be in a #PlayoffPush again!