By The Associated Press undefined
Here’s just some of what happened on Tuesday in the NBA: Michael Malone got fired by Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic got ejected, Cleveland clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers rose to fourth in the Western Conference and Phoenix got put on the brink of elimination.
There are five days left in the NBA regular season. It’s already spicy in the stretch run. Oh, and Doncic goes back to Dallas on Wednesday night for the first time since getting traded to the Lakers, so prepare for even more drama.
Only 45 regular-season games remain and 16 of the 20 postseason seeds are still to be decided. Cleveland is No. 1 in the Eastern Conference and Boston is No. 2 in the East. Oklahoma City will be No. 1 in the Western Conference, with Houston No. 2.
Everything else is still at least somewhat up for grabs.
Entering Wednesday, New York is No. 3 in the East, followed by No. 4 Indiana, No. 5 Milwaukee and No. 6 Detroit. They’re all in the playoffs. The play-in field in the East right now (and it will be these four teams, in some order): No. 7 Orlando, No. 8 Atlanta, No. 9 Chicago and No. 10 Miami.
In the West, it’s the Lakers at No. 3 now, the Clippers at No. 4, Denver — with a new coach after Malone’s firing — at No. 5 and Golden State at No. 6. But none of those teams have clinched a playoff berth yet, meaning all could fall into the play-in. Memphis is No. 7, Minnesota No. 8, Sacramento (certain to be in the play-in) is No. 9 and Dallas is No. 10. The Mavs need one more win or one more Phoenix loss to clinch a play-in berth and eliminate the Suns.
Wednesday’s games
Boston at Orlando: Celtics can tie Golden State (34-7 in 2015-16) for the best road record in NBA history. Magic can strengthen their grip on the No. 7 spot in the East.
L.A. Lakers at Dallas: There’s playoff positioning at stake, but really, this one is all about Doncic returning to Dallas for the first time since getting traded.
Miami at Chicago: Winner will (at least temporarily) have the No. 9 spot in the East and the inside track to at least one home play-in game.
San Antonio at Golden State: Warriors can’t afford to slip up now in the quest to escape the play-in tournament, not with only two games left after this.
Oklahoma City at Phoenix: It’s must-win time for the Suns, who need a whole lot of help if they’re going to the play-in tournament.
Denver at Sacramento: David Adelman’s debut for the Nuggets, who will try to snap a four-game slide. The Kings can move closer to securing No. 9 and get back to .500.
Houston at L.A. Clippers: Rockets are the No. 2 seed. Clippers just got to No. 4 for now and could have Kawhi Leonard back in the lineup for this one.
Philadelphia at Washington, Charlotte at Toronto, Portland at Utah: No playoff implications.
National TV schedule
There’s an ESPN doubleheader on Wednesday — Lakers-Mavericks for Doncic’s return to Dallas, followed by Denver-Sacramento for Adelman’s debut. It’s a TNT doubleheader on Thursday, with Cleveland at Indiana and Minnesota at Memphis.
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200) and Cleveland (+500), then the Lakers (+1000), Golden State (+1200) and Denver (+1600). Nobody else has odds shorter than 35-1.
Key dates
April 11 — All 30 NBA teams play.
April 12 — No games.
April 13 — All 30 NBA teams play, end of regular season.
April 15 — The No. 7 and No. 8 finishers in both conferences play to start the play-in tournament. Winners are the No. 7 seed for the playoffs; losers will host play-in elimination games on April 18.
April 16 — The No. 9 and No. 10 finishers in both conferences play. Winners move on to April 18; losers are finished for the season.
April 18 — The April 15 game losers play host to the April 16 game winners. Winners are the No. 8 seed for the playoffs; losers are finished for the season.
April 19 — NBA playoffs begin.
Numbers watch
— The NBA record for total 3-pointers made in a season fell on Sunday. Boston also has broken the NBA’s single-season records for 3-pointers made and attempted by a team.
— For the first time, the NBA could have three players make 300 3-pointers in a season. Detroit’s Malik Beasley and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards each have 305 and Golden State’s Stephen Curry has 297. Edwards and Beasley are the fourth and fifth players with 300 3s in a season in NBA history. Curry has five seasons of 300 3s or more, James Harden has one and Klay Thompson has one.
— There have been four instances of teammates each having 250 3-pointers in a season: Curry and Thompson did it four times when they were the Warriors’ “Splash Brothers.” Boston could have three players reach that number this season: Derrick White is already there with 262, Jayson Tatum has 247 and Payton Pritchard has 246.
— The Thunder are on the brink of setting an NBA record for point differential. They’re winning by an average of 12.6 points per game; the record is 12.3 by the 1971-72 Lakers. Oklahoma City has outscored teams by 993 points so far; three teams — the 1971-72 Lakers (1,007), the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (1,005) and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (1,004) are the only teams to enjoy a 1,000-point differential over a full season.
Stat of the day
The Clippers, Denver, Golden State and Memphis are all 47-32. It’s the first time since 1978-79 that four teams from the same conference have the same record through 79 games.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba