Welcome to PBT’s roundup of yesterday’s NBA games. Or, what you missed while wondering what to do with five tons of Nutella…
Lakers 104, Hornets 96 ; & Thunder 90, Jazz 80: We combine these two because together they put the Lakers in as the eight seed in the West and in control of their own destiny. Kobe Bryant pulled the Lakers bacon out of the fire — Los Angeles played inconsistent defense all night but Kobe had 23 points in the third. Meanwhile Utah ran into a Thunder team looking to show it can play defense after a rough outing against the Knicks Sunday. They also ran into Russell Westbrook (25 points) and Kevin Durant 21). We broke these games down in more detail.
Knicks 120, Wizards 99: After running their win streak to 12 straight by beating the Thunder in OKC on Sunday, there was virtually no way that the Knicks would stumble at home against the dismal Wizards.
New York led by 15 at the half, and by as many as 31 points in the 4th before it was all said and done.
The win gave the Knicks their first division title since 1994, but the night ended on a bit of a sour note as Kenyon Martin sprained his left ankle with about 10:30 remaining, and with his team up by 25 points. X-rays were negative, but Mike Woodson said afterward that maybe he should have had Martin on the bench given the fact that the game was out of hand.
—Brett Pollakoff
Heat 94, Bucks 83: This could be the 1 vs. 8 matchup we see in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, but if this game was any indication, the prospects might be even more grim than expected for the Bucks.
The Heat won fairly easily on this night, and did so without both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, sitting this one out due to injury and illness, respectively. A 13-point third quarter doomed Milwaukee’s chances, and while Brandon Jennings scored a game-high 30 points, no other Bucks player finished in double figures.
Miami got its 61st win of the season, tying a franchise record that will undoubtedly be broken at some point over the team’s final five games.
—Brett Pollakoff
Raptors 101, Bulls 98: Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 28 points, but without Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Luol Deng, the Bulls’ defense betrayed them. Though Noah played 21 minutes in Chicago’s previous game, all three missed tonight’s contest, and – against Detroit and Toronto, no less – the Bulls have allowed 114.9 points per 100 possessions in their last two games.
Chicago leads Atlanta by just a half game for the No. 5 seed and a much more favorable matchup with the Nets rather than facing the Pacers. Unless the Bulls get healthy enough to play their trademark defense, their opponent won’t matter much, anyway.
—Dan Feldman
Pacers 99, Cavaliers 94: Cleveland actually led this one by 20 after three quarters, but the Pacers put together a furious rally and outscored the Cavs 35-10 in the fourth to come away with the victory.
A three-pointer from Paul George with 29 seconds remaining put the Pacers up for good. Indiana remains in third place in the East, two and a half games back of the Knicks for second with just four games remaining in the regular season.
—Brett Pollakoff
Grizzlies 94, Bobcats 75: Mike Conley was the only Memphis starter to play more minutes than his season average, and he used the time against the NBA’s worst team to pad his stats. In 36 minutes (season average: 35), Conley had 20 points, seven assists and two steals.
Considering Memphis has won 13 straight home game and Charlotte has lost 13 straight road games, the Grizzlies easily increased their lead for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Nets 104, Sixers 83: This was a destruction from the very first quarter, and a demoralizing one for a Philadelphia team that was helpless to stop the damage the Nets were doing inside.
Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans were both dominant, and Brooklyn finished with an insane rebounding edge of 64-37 for the game.
With the win, the Nets remain firmly in fourth in the Eastern Conference standings, on track to host either the Bulls or the Hawks in a first round playoff matchup.
—Brett Pollakoff
Rockets 101, Suns 98: You want to talk about the particulars of the game, or would you like instead to just fast forward to the final possession, where Jermaine O’Neal managed to get called for goaltending on James Harden’s three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Rockets the win?
I thought so.
—Brett Pollakoff
Warriors 105, Timberwolves 89: Golden State clinched its first playoff berth since 2006-07 and just the second time since 1993-94. Klay Thompson scored 25 of his 30 points in the game’s first 19 minutes, but he cooled in the second half. Three other Warriors – Stephen Curry (24 points and 10 assists), David Lee (15 points and 12 rebounds) and Harris Barnes (15 points and 10 rebounds) – had double-doubles.
—Dan Feldman