It’s Monday, we will all use a excessive 5 to begin the week off proper. Jimmy’s obtained you coated…
THE LINEUP 🏀
West races tighten up: Three groups separated by a sport for first; two groups separated by a half-game for fourth
Lakers put up 150: The Lakers beat the Pacers with their most factors in 37 years
Sabonis’ streak: A double-double tonight provides Domantas Sabonis the longest streak because the merger
Rewind & preview: Trying again at the very best of the weekend, and setting the weekly planner for what’s coming
Photographs of the Week: A few of our favourite flicks from Week 22
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Final night time’s scores & what to look at right now.
Celtics-Hawks (7:30 ET, NBA TV): Boston goes for its second double-digit win streak of the season.
Sixers-Kings (10 ET, NBA TV): Each groups are locked in a three-team race for one assured playoff berth of their respective conferences.
1. WEST RACES GET CLOSER
- Sunday started with the Thunder narrowly in first place over the Nuggets, with the Wolves 1.5 video games again of each groups
- Sunday ended with a brand new group on prime and only one sport separating all three groups
Bucks lock down Thunder: Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 pts, season-high 19 reb) and Khris Middleton (2nd profession triple-double – 11 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) led the Bucks to a 118-93 win over the Thunder, holding OKC to its lowest level complete of the season. | Recap
- Bucks’ trio: Sunday’s win marked the primary time since Feb. 3 that the Bucks had Giannis, Middleton and Dame on the ground collectively
- Giannis: “Now we’re all right here. There’s no extra excuses.”
- Giannis 2K x3: Antetokounmpo reached a career-best 2,023 factors for the season, becoming a member of Kareem as the one Bucks in franchise historical past with a minimum of three 2K level seasons
- Playoff Race (MIL ↔️): The Bucks stay second within the East, rising their lead over No. 3 Cleveland to 3 video games
- Playoff Race (OKC ⬇️): OKC drops from first to second within the West, trailing Denver by a half-game and main Minnesota by a half-game
Wolves slim the hole: Behind Anthony Edwards’ 23 factors, double-doubles from Naz Reid (20 pts, 12 reb) and Rudy Gobert (17 pts, 12 reb), and a season-high-tying 21 3s, the Wolves outlasted the Warriors 114-110. | Recap
- Playoff Race (MIN ↔️): The Wolves stay third within the West, however narrowed their deficit to at least one sport again from No. 1 Denver and a half-game again from No. 2 OKC
- Play-In Race (GSW ↔️): The Warriors stay tenth within the West, however see their lead for the ultimate Play-In spot drop to at least one sport over the red-hot No. 11 Rockets
Not solely is the race for the No. 1 spot heating up, so is the battle for the ultimate top-four seed within the West.
Zion near-perfect: Zion Williamson tied his season-high 36 factors, whereas capturing 13-14 (92.9%) from the ground, and including seven boards and 6 assists to guide NOLA to a 114-101 win over Detroit. | Recap
- Legendary firm: Zion joined Wilt (4x), George Gervin (2x) and Nikola Jokic (2x) as the one gamers with a number of video games scoring 35+ factors whereas capturing 90+ p.c
- Playoff Race (NOP ↔️): The Pelicans stay fifth within the West, however their win mixed with the Clippers’ loss trims LA’s lead for the No. 4 seed to a half-game
Sixers by no means path in LA: Philly obtained 24 factors every from Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris and a season-high 23 from Cam Payne in a 121-107 win over the Clippers, a group they face once more in two days in Philly. | Recap
- PG-11: Together with his third of 4 3s on the night time, Paul George handed Jamal Crawford for eleventh place on the all-time 3-pointers made record
- Playoff Race (LAC ↔️): The Clippers stay fourth within the West, however their lead has shrunk to a half-game over the No. 5 Pelicans
- Play-In Race (PHI ↔️): The Sixers stay eighth within the East, tied with No. 7 Miami (which owns tiebreaker), with each groups a half-game again of No. 6 Indiana
2. LAKERS OUTLAST PACERS, EAST RACE TIGHTENS
Lakers halt Pacers: The Lakers have been held beneath 116 factors 35 instances this season. On Sunday, that they had 116 by means of three quarters, taking a 17-point lead into the fourth. However the Pacers saved coming, slicing L.A.’s result in three earlier than the Lakers prevailed 150-145. | Recap
- 4 x 25+ PTS: The Lakers had 4 gamers rating 25+ factors in the identical sport for the primary time in 53 years (Jan. 24, 1971) with Anthony Davis (36), Spencer Dinwiddie (26), LeBron (26) and Austin Reaves (25) combining for 113 of L.A.’s 150 factors
- Most factors since when? The Lakers reached 150 factors for the primary time since Jan. 2, 1987
- Playoff Race (IND ↔️): The Pacers stay sixth within the East, however see their lead over each No. 7 Miami and No. 8 Philadelphia trimmed to a half-game
- Play-In Race (LAL ↔️): The Lakers stay ninth within the West, rising their lead over No. 10 Golden State to 2.5 video games and are actually 2.5 video games again of No. 8 Dallas and No. 7 Sacramento
Warmth deal with Cavs: Bam Adebayo (15 pts, 16 reb, season-high 5 stl, 3 ast) stuffed the stat sheet to guide seven Warmth gamers in double figures (in comparison with only one for the Cavs) as Miami obtained the 121-84 win. | Recap
- Playoff Race (CLE ↔️): Cleveland stays third within the East, falling three video games again of No. 2 Milwaukee and having its lead over No. 4 New York trimmed to a half-game
- Play-In Race (MIA ↔️): Miami stays seventh within the East (through tiebreaker over Philly) with each groups a half-game again of Indy
3. SABONIS’ STREAK AMID PLAYOFF PUSH
With one other double-double tonight towards Philly (10 ET, NBA TV), Domantas Sabonis can stand alone with the longest streak of double-doubles because the NBA/ABA merger in 1976-77.
No present NBA participant was alive the final time a participant had a double-double streak longer than Sabonis, who matched Kevin Love’s 53-game run from 2010-11 through the Kings’ win over the Magic on Saturday.
Only 4 gamers in NBA historical past have an extended streak than Sabonis: Wilt Chamberlain (7x), Elvin Hayes (2x), Elgin Baylor, Walt Bellamy.
Sabonis, who has performed in all 70 of Sacramento’s video games getting into tonight, can max out this streak at 65 video games, which might give him the ninth-longest run of all time, trailing solely Wilt, Bellamy and Baylor.
The numbers: Sabonis is averaging 20.0 ppg, 13.7 rpg, 8.3 apg for the season – on tempo to affix Wilt (1967-68) as the one gamers to common 20/13/8 for a complete season.
- The numbers have been higher through the streak at 20.4 ppg, 14.4 rpg, 8.7 apg and 23 triple-doubles over the previous 53 video games
The stakes: Whereas Sabonis is closing in on this report, the Kings are in a battle for the ultimate playoff spot within the West because the No. 6 Suns, No. 7 Kings and No. 8 Mavs are separated by only a half-game.
Marquee matchups: Eight of the Kings’ remaining 12 video games are at residence. Nevertheless, they face 9 opponents over .500 and have two key video games on the second night time of a back-to-back.
- Tuesday vs. Dallas (10 ET, TNT): The primary of a two-game set over 4 days in Sacramento, the Kings must win one of many two to clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker
- April 12 vs. Phoenix: The Kings and Suns meet for the fifth time this season, with this sport deciding the head-to-head tiebreaker
With a tricky schedule to shut out the common season, the Kings will want extra double-doubles from Sabonis down the stretch as they appear to start a streak of their very own with back-to-back playoff appearances.
4. WEEKEND REWIND & WEEKLY PLANNER
Weekend Rewind:
- Celtics, Rockets on hearth: The Celtics personal the longest win streak within the league (9 in a row), however the Rockets are proper on their heels with eight straight wins as they make a run on the Play-In
- Franchise information fall: D’Angelo Russell (187) has made extra 3s in a season than anybody in Lakers historical past. On the opposite finish of the courtroom, Myles Turner (1,248) handed Jermaine O’Neal for essentially the most blocks in Pacers historical past
- Knicks win ‘Nova reunion: Donte DiVincenzo (31 pts) was the highest Wildcat in a Knicks-Nets matchup that featured 4 former faculty teammates
- Nuggets again atop West: The three-team race for first within the West has Denver, OKC and Minnesota separated by one sport. In the meantime, solely a half-game separates No. 4 LA and No. 5 NOLA. And the race for the ultimate assured playoff berth has Phoenix, Sacramento and Dallas all inside a half-game of one another
- Within the East: Just one sport separates Nos. 3-5 within the East – Cleveland, NY and Orlando. The race for the No. 6 spot is even nearer with No. 6 Indy attempting to struggle off Miami and Philly, who’re only a half-game again
With the races as tight as ever, listed below are a number of must-see video games to circle for this week.
- Monday: The Rockets go for his or her ninth straight win after they host Portland (8 ET, NBA App), however might be with out Jabari Smith Jr., who was suspended for one sport after an altercation in Saturday’s sport towards Utah
- Tuesday: The No. 9 Lakers go to the Bucks (7:30 ET, TNT) attempting to inch nearer to the groups above them. The No. 10 Warriors go to the Warmth (7:30 ET, NBA App) needing wins to carry off the Rockets
- Wednesday: These No. 11 Rockets go to OKC (8 ET, NBA App) with OKC battling for the No. 1 spot within the West. Denver, which opens the week on prime by a razor’s edge, hosts Phoenix (10 ET, ESPN)
- Friday: One other In-Season Event championship rematch sees the Pacers internet hosting the Lakers (7 ET, NBA TV). Plus, Denver hosts Minnesota (9 ET, NBA App) with the winner taking a 2-1 collection lead with one sport to play in April
- Sunday: When Dallas visits Houston on Sunday (7 ET, NBA App), will the Rockets have crashed the Play-In get together and have their win streak nonetheless intact earlier than attempting to take the season collection lead?
5. PHOTOS OF THE WEEK