With the NBA handing over Saturday to college basketball (Final Four), Sunday’s schedule was especially busy. Twenty-eight of the league’s 30 teams were in action, and in the aftermath the playoff picture is only slightly clearer than it was the day prior. Golden State locked up the top seed in the West with its win over the Clippers, and in the East both Brooklyn and Orlando clinched playoff berths with wins on the road.
There’s now just one playoff spot that has yet to be filled, with Detroit, Charlotte and Miami all in contention for the 8-seed in the East. Below is a look at all that happened Sunday, including some important injury notes for the Pistons (Blake Griffin), Pacers (Myles Turner) and Celtics (Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart).
Also, there are no games on the schedule for Monday.
Raptors 117, Heat 112 (OT)
Miami’s playoff chances took a significant hit Sunday afternoon, as the Heat lost in overtime to the Raptors. Erik Spoelstra’s team was without Josh Richardson (left hip strain), who has now missed five of the last six games. Goran Dragic, who moved back into the starting lineup to fill the spot left vacant by Richardson, played 39 minutes Sunday and accounted for nine points (4-of-12 FGs), six assists, five rebounds, one steal and one three-pointer. This effort was a step down from what he’d done in the five games prior, a stretch in which Dragic averaged 17.8 points, 8.0 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.4 three-pointers per outing. [[ad:athena]]
With three starters failing to score in double figures Miami’s bench stepped up, with Dwyane Wade putting up a line of 21 points, five assists, three rebounds and four 3-pointers, and James Johnson (18 points, five assists, four rebounds, one steal, one blocked shot and one three-pointer) and Hassan Whiteside (14 points, nine rebounds and one blocked shot) also doing their part.
Toronto finished the game with four players scoring at least 21 points, led by Pascal Siakam (23 points, ten rebounds, one assist and three 3-pointers) and Norman Powell (23 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and four 3-pointers). While Siakam, who’s on the short list for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, has made a habit of 20-point games this season the same can’t be said for Powell. This was just his fourth game of 20 points or more this season, and the first since March 26 for the fourth-year guard out of UCLA.
Kawhi Leonard added 22 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal and three 3-pointers, and Danny Green shot 5-of-9 from three as part of a 21-point, three-rebound, two-assist, two-blocks effort. Outside of Patrick McCaw no Raptors were listed on the injury report, but Jeremy Lin did not see any action after playing 11 and ten minutes in the two games prior.
Spurs 112, Cavaliers 90
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead five double-digit scorers as San Antonio rolled past Cleveland. DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Davis Bertans added 14 points apiece, and Bryn Forbes 13 to go along with six rebounds and four assists. DeRozan led the Spurs with nine assists, the most he’s had in a game since March 26 (11). From a rotation standpoint Marco Belinelli (left hip soreness) did not play in the first half before going scoreless in 14 second-half minutes. San Antonio doesn’t play again until Wednesday in its regular season finale, and the team’s playoff seeding has yet to be determined. Where the Spurs stand in that regard will likely impact Gregg Popovich’s rotation against the Mavericks, and it’s worth noting that San Antonio holds tiebreakers over both the Clippers and Thunder.
Playing in his final home game, Channing Frye started for the Cavaliers Sunday afternoon. He played 16 minutes, scoring five points with four rebounds, one assist and one three-pointer. To accommodate Frye in the starting lineup Kevin Love came off the bench, playing 13 first-half minutes and accounting for five points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one three-pointer. Prior to Sunday, Love had not appeared in a game since March 28, and it’s tough to see him logging heavy minutes in the Cavs’ regular season finale Tuesday night. Cleveland finished the game with five double-digit scorers, with Collin Sexton and Brandon Knight scoring 16 apiece to lead the way.
Thunder 132, Timberwolves 126
Paul George and Russell Westbrook scored 27 points apiece, with the latter also tallying 15 assists and ten rebounds, and Dennis Schroder added 21 points off the bench as the Thunder came back to beat Minnesota. With regards to the rotations there weren’t many changes for either team, with the Thunder using their usual nine-man rotation (Raymond Felton being the ninth) and the Timberwolves once again without Taj Gibson (left calf strain). Gibson’s absence has opened the door for rookie forward Keita Bates-Diop, who played 19 minutes Sunday and accounted for seven points, three rebounds, two steals, one assist and one three-pointer. Fellow rookie Jared Terrell played 13 minutes off the bench, finishing with four points, two assists and one rebound.
Karl-Anthony Towns led all scores with 35 points while also accumulating seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and one blocked shot, but he also had a game-high five turnovers. Towns has been a top-10 player in nine-category leagues throughout the season, but over the last month he’s slipped just outside of that line due in large part to the turnover count (4.0 tpg). Andrew Wiggins scored 24 points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals, but much of his damage was done in the first half as Towns and Dario Saric (23 points, five 3-pointers) led the way in the second half. Lastly Tyus Jones dished out 13 assists without committing a single turnover while also scoring ten points. Over the last month, he’s been a top-100 player in nine-category leagues.
Hornets 104, Pistons 91
In a pivotal matchup of teams looking to earn a playoff spot, Charlotte went into Detroit and beat the Pistons by 13. Kemba Walker (31 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, one steal and three 3-pointers) led the way for the Hornets, with Frank Kaminsky (24/5/2 with three 3-pointers) and Jeremy Lamb (17/6/3/2) providing some much-needed production off the bench. Kaminsky, who was out of the rotation earlier this season, has played his best basketball down the stretch. Over the last two weeks he’s been a top-100 player in nine-category leagues, joining Walker and Lamb at Hornets who can make that claim. Dwayne Bacon, starting for the tenth straight game, reached double figures for the first time in five games as he scored 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
The big story from this matchup is the health of Blake Griffin (knee), who did not look to be 100% but he managed to play 34 minutes. He wasn’t particularly productive, scoring 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting while also accounting for four rebounds, four assists and two 3-pointers, and with the loss the Pistons are in a position where they can’t afford to sit their star forward. Following the game Dwane Casey was quoted as saying that, according to the team medical staff, Griffin could not further injure his knee.
Detroit, which has a one-game lead on Charlotte with two to play (and the Hornets have the tiebreaker), has games Tuesday and Wednesday to close out the regular season. Given how Griffin looked Sunday, expecting him to log major minutes and post his usual numbers could be a tough ask in back-to-back games. Ish Smith scored 20 points with four rebounds, four assists and two 3-pointers off the bench, and Andre Drummond grabbed 23 rebounds while also scoring 15 points and blocking three shots.
Nets 108, Pacers 96
The Nets are headed back to the postseason for the first time since 2015, but the team’s seeding has yet to be determined. A win over Miami Wednesday night would mean the 6-seed and a matchup with Philadelphia, while a loss (combined with an Orlando win over Charlotte) would drop the Nets into the 7-seed with Toronto being the opposition. Given the stakes it’s likely that Brooklyn will run its full rotation Wednesday night, but DeMarre Carroll Sunday’s the game during the third quarter due to and undisclosed injury.
Should Carroll, who played 16 minutes, have to miss Wednesday’s game that would likely open up more minutes for Treveon Graham (nine points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal with three 3-pointers in 20 minutes). D’Angelo Russell led the way for Brooklyn with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and one blocked shot, with Caris LeVert adding 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one blocked shot in 28 minutes off the bench.
As for Indiana, the Pacers are now locked into the 5-seed but the bigger concern is the status of Myles Turner (right ankle). Turner injured his right ankle during third quarter, and while he did return to the team bench he did not re-enter the game. Domantas Sabonis’ figured more prominently in the Pacers’ rotation as a result of the Pacers’ starting center going down, and in 31 minutes he tallied 17 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three turnovers.
Darren Collison (sore groin) was able to play but he was largely ineffective, shooting 2-of-12 from the field and scoring four points with six assists, two rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes. Indiana finishes its regular season Wednesday vs. Atlanta, and with the team’s seeding and opponent (Boston) having been decided Nate McMillan could take the approach of resting some of his key players ahead of the playoffs.
Mavericks 129, Grizzlies 127 (OT)
Leave it to these two lottery-bound teams to play one of the more entertaining games of the day. Trey Burke (24 points, five assists, two rebounds, one steal and two 3-pointers) and Salah Mejri (19 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two 3-pointers) led the way for the Mavericks, who finished the game with seven double-digit scorers. No Luka Doncic (right thigh contusion) opened up minutes on the perimeter, with Burke being one of the players who benefitted. As for Mejri, he played 32 minutes with Maxi Kleber (right knee contusion) having been ruled out.
Memphis had eight player in double figures, with Justin Holiday scoring a career-high 30 points (16 in the fourth quarter and overtime) and Delon Wright (20 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists and one block) becoming the first player in franchise history to post a triple-double in back-to-back games. Mike Conley (left ankle soreness) being out of the lineup opened up a starting role for Wright, who made the most of his opportunity Sunday. Also, Bruno Caboclo scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds while also dishing out four assists and blocking a shot. In addition to Conley, Joakim Noah, who was originally listed as questionable due to right knee soreness, was eventually declared to be out. Tyler Zeller made his second appearance for the Grizzlies, scoring 15 points with five rebounds and one block in 26 minutes off the bench.
Rockets 149, Suns 114
Houston made history in its rout of the Suns, sinking an NBA-record 27 three-pointers with Eric Gordon (26 points) going 8-of-13 from beyond the arc. Three of the Rockets’ five starters made at least four, with James Harden shooting 5-of-6 on his way to a 30-point, 13-rebound, nine-assist, two-steal effort in just 29 minutes of action and PJ Tucker making four of his nine attempts. In total eight Rockets made at least one three-pointer, and of the 13 who played 12 managed to score. Among those was Clint Capela, who took advantage of the Suns’ undermanned front court to the tune of 22 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 25 minutes played.
Mike D’Antoni’s (who didn’t coach for the second straight game due to stomach flu) team trails Denver by just one-half game in the race for the 2-seed in the West (Denver has a game in hand), and where the Rockets stand in that regard heading into Tuesday’s regular season finale against Oklahoma City is likely to impact how much some of the key contributors play.
As for the Suns, Jamal Crawford scored 27 points in as many minutes off the bench, shooting 9-of-17 from the field while also accounting for six assists, four rebounds, one steal and four 3-pointers. Four of the team’s five starters managed to score in double figures, including Dragan Bender who accounted for 19 points, eight rebounds and one steal, but with Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and Richaun Holmes (all out with left ankle sprains) among those out of the lineup the Suns lacked the firepower needed to keep up with Houston.
Josh Jackson made his second consecutive start, playing 31 minutes and scoring 12 points, with nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and one three-pointer. Phoenix has just one game remaining, and due to depth issues players such as Bender and rookies Mikal Bridges (19 points, six rebounds, two assists and three 3-pointers) and De’Anthony Melton (12 points, six assists, four rebounds and one three-pointer) could be interesting DFS plays.
