Draining double-digits in the final 5 minutes.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came through again as the champs claimed another showdown in the clutch.
With just 13 days til the end of the regular season, and packed races for postseason positioning in both conferences, keep reading for what to know to start your this week.
5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
MVPs Shine: SGA clicks in the clutch, Joker triggers closeout run on Sunday Night Basketball
Sunday’s Stars: Tatum’s 30-ball clinches, Sengun stuffs stats, Scottie Barnes assists in W
Roundup: Clippers win fifth straight, Blazers lock in, Pacers & Nets win
Peacock Tripleheader: 1st-place foes Thunder & Pistons, plus Wemby, Sixers all tonight
What’s Trending, What’s Next: East bubble, West’s tight shuffle, seeding battles on national slate
BUT FIRST … ⏰
The season enters its final two weeks Monday with an 8-game slate featuring Peacock’s tripleheader:
First, the Sixers visit the Heat (7 ET | Tap To Watch), followed by the Spurs hosting the Bulls (8 ET | Tap To Watch), and a clash of top-seeds between the Pistons and Thunder (9:30 ET | Tap To Watch).
1. SNB HEROES: SHAI CATCHES FIRE LATE, JOKER DRIVES DENVER’S RUN
Make that 160 points in the clutch this year for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The league-leader in clutch scoring added to his total Sunday, against the reigning Kia Clutch Player of the Year.
Thunder 111, Knicks 100: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30 pts) had 10 points and two assists in the final 5:12, keying a 14-5 Thunder closeout to outduel Jalen Brunson (32 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) and the Knicks in the clutch after trailing just once. | Recap
“You can feel when you’re in a better rhythm than other nights,” said Shai, who shot 5-15 FG before the 4th quarter. “Believe that every next play is the turning point, no matter what just happened.”
Jalen Williams added 22 points for top-seed OKC, which is 2.5 games ahead of San Antonio and can secure win No. 60 (and a 14-1 March record) when it hosts Detroit tonight
NY Milestone: Brunson logged his 100th 30+ point game for New York, joining Patrick Ewing (203) and Carmelo Anthony (108) as the only Knicks to do so
Knicks On Track: The No. 3-seeded Knicks slip 2.5 games behind the Celtics, but are two wins from a third straight 50+ win season
Caitlin Clark joined the Sunday Night Basketball desk for the story of her recent turn as a photographer for Lakers-Pacers and her best shot of The King
Nuggets 116, Warriors 93: Nikola Jokić (25 pts, 15 reb, 8 ast) and Jamal Murray (20 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast) led Denver to a sixth straight win, after the team closed the 3rd quarter with a 25-8 run to overcome 23 points apiece from Kristaps Porziņģis and Brandin Podziemski. | Recap
Unreal Run: Joker was two dimes shy of a fifth straight triple-double, and he’s averaging 24.7 ppg, 15 rpg and 13.2 apg during Denver’s win streak
Other Half: Murray is up to 29.7 ppg, 7.3 apg and 4.2 3pg in the streak, as the No. 4-seeded Nuggets have a 2-game lead on the Wolves and Rockets
The 10th-place Warriors are now locked in to the SoFi Play-In Tournament, with seeding still up for grabs. Steph Curry (knee) is set to be re-evaluated this week after missing the last 25 games
2. SUNDAY’S STARS: TATUM, SENGUN & SCOTTIE BARNES SHINE
Celtics 114, Hornets 99: Jayson Tatum (8 ast, 5 3s) scored 20 of his season-high 32 points in the 1st half, where Boston built a 19-point lead it never relinquished to cool off LaMelo Ball (19 pts) and Charlotte. Payton Pritchard (28 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) stepped up for Jaylen Brown (Achilles) again.
With the win, the 2nd-place Celtics clinch an East Playoff seed. | Recap
Postseason Perennial: Boston reaches the Playoffs for the 12th consecutive season, the longest-active streak of any team
To The Top? Officially in the running for banner No. 19, the C’s championship core has eight games left to make a run at the Pistons’ 4-game lead for the top seed
Distance Difference: Boston (14 3s, 3rd-ranked 15.2 3pg) held league-leading Charlotte (16.3 3pg) to just 12 makes from beyond the arc
Tenth-place Charlotte has dropped back-to-back home games for the first time since Feb. 19 & 20, but is still within 3 games of a top-6 seed and its first Playoff berth in 10 years
Rockets 134, Pelicans 102: Alperen Sengun (36 pts, 13 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk, 5 3s) went off on a stats spree, scoring 14 points in a 2nd quarter that Houston started with a game-deciding 23-3 run, topping Dejounte Murray (19 pts, 6 ast) and NOLA. | Recap
Joining The Beard: Sengun joined James Harden as the only players in franchise history to record 35+ pts, 10+ reb, 5+ ast and 5+ 3s in multiple regular season games
This was Sengun’s 20th career game with 30+ pts and 10+ reb, joining Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and Elvin Hayes as the only Rockets with 20+ such games before turning 24
Two-Way Company: Sengun joined Olajuwon (18), Harden (4), Ralph Sampson (2) and Malone as the only Rockets with 35+ pts, 3+ stl and 3+ blk in a regular season game
KD Soaring: In a season of scoring feats, Kevin Durant (20 pts, 6 ast) reached the 20+ point mark for a sixth consecutive game (27.3 ppg, 4 wins), helping Houston pull even with 5th-place Minnesota
Raptors 139, Magic 87: Scottie Barnes (23 pts) dished a career-high 15 assists and combined with RJ Barrett (24 pts) for 47 points, as the 5th-place Raptors iced the Magic with a record-setting 31-0 1st-half run and cruised to their largest win of the season. | Recap
Silenced: From the 5:30 mark in the 1st quarter to 9:42 to go in the 2nd, Toronto unleashed the largest unanswered run of the play-by-play era (1997-98), topping Dallas’ 30-0 run from 2023 by a point
Holding On: Orlando’s lowest scoring marked its seventh loss in its last eight games, but it remains No. 8 in the East after Miami and Charlotte lost Sunday
3. ROUNDUP: CLIPS CRUISE, BLAZERS LOCK IN, PACERS & NETS WIN
Clippers 127, Bucks 113: Bennedict Mathurin (28 pts, 6 reb) paced LA and Kawhi Leonard (20 pts, 8 reb) logged his 51st straight 20+ point game as the Clips won their fifth in a row despite season-highs in points (36) and 3s (9) for Gary Trent Jr. | Recap
Climb Continues: Three games over .500, the Clips’ historic turnaround has them 1.5 games up in 8th place, fueled by a career-high 28.3 ppg from Kawhi and 25.0 ppg during the win streak for Darius Garland
Blazers 123, Wizards 88: Portland’s 20+ point trio of Toumani Camara (23 pts, 7 reb, 3 stl), Scoot Henderson (21 pts, 7 ast) and Deni Avdija (20 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast) overpowered Will Riley (14 pts) and Washington. | Recap
Portland To Play-In: The 9th-place Blazers join the Warriors as locks for the SoFi Play-In Tournament, with a 1.5-game gap over 10-seed Golden State
Defensive Turn-Up: Portland has won six of its last eight games and has held opponents to 100 points or less in four straight games (3-1)
Pacers 135, Heat 118: Pascal Siakam (11 reb, 6 ast) led seven Pacers in double figures, scoring 10 of his 30 points in a 4th quarter where Indy held Miami to just 11 points, pulling away for its second win over a postseason team this week. | Recap
Weathering The Storm: Tyler Herro (31 pts) and 9th-place Miami have dropped seven of eight but hold a tiebreak edge over 10-seed Charlotte, and sit just a half-game behind Orlando
Nets 116, Kings 99: Ochai Agbaji (18 pts) led Brooklyn, who never trailed after Sacramento’s opening make to snap a 10-game skid. Devin Carter (20 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast) led the Kings. | Recap
4. ON PEACOCK: TOP SEEDS MEET, WEMBY & SIXERS ALL IN ACTION TONIGHT
Tonight, with just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the top teams in both conferences meet.
A clash of 1st-place teams will be waged (9:30 ET, Peacock) when the Pistons visit the Thunder. It’s just the 6th time in the last 20 years that 1st-place teams will face each other after 70+ games.
Major Mainstays: Detroit and Oklahoma City have spent no shortage of time at the top. They’ve been 1st since Nov. 8, accumulating a combined record of 97-33 since
Strength vs. Strength: The bread and butter for both of them has been defense, as the Thunder rank 1st league-wide with a 106.3 defensive rating and the Pistons (108.7) are 2nd
Rare Restrictors: OKC would be the first team to have the top DefRtg over consecutive seasons since the Bucks in 2018-19 & 19-20. Meanwhile, Detroit looks to be the first in over 30 years to average 10+ stl and 6+ blk per game
The tripleheader on Peacock begins with a matchup of teams in a tight Play-In race, making late-season pushes toward the postseason. The 7th-place 76ers clash with the 9th-place Heat (7 ET).
All Together Again: Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid all started Saturday for the first time since Jan. 29, accounting for 68.6% of the team’s points on 48.2% shooting
Favorable History: Five of the last six matchups have gone in the Heat’s favor, with a 13.8-point average margin of victory in those wins
Sandwiched between the evening’s two marquee matchups, another West power will take the stage. That would be the 2nd-place Spurs, set to welcome the Bulls into town (8 ET).
And San Antonio is on quite the run.
Early Spring: Following their undefeated February, the Spurs look to finish March with just two losses. They lead the league in record (24-2), scoring (123.8 ppg) and assists (31.4 apg) over those two months
W’s for Wemby: Victor Wembanyama has averaged 24.2 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 3.1 bpg this season, and since Jan. 1, the team is 31-7 with him in the lineup
Massive March: He’s been even better this month, putting up 25.8 ppg, 11.7 rpg and 3.8 bpg as San Antonio has gone 13-1 with him
5. WHAT’S TRENDING, WHAT’S NEXT: SEEDING BATTLES ON NATIONAL SLATE
A two-week sprint is all that’s left of the regular season, with all 20 seedings across both conferences still to be determined.
Monday On League Pass: With Atlanta fighting to join Boston as a top-6 seed in the East Playoffs, the Hawks and C’s meet tonight (7:30 ET) for the second time in four days.
Up To Speed: Tatum and Pritchard combined for 62 points in that Friday win, with JT averaging 25.7 ppg in his last three outings as he’s just 11 games into his return
Fifth Straight 50: Boston got win No. 50 Sunday night, its fifth consecutive 50+ win season, which is the NBA’s longest active streak
Two-Way Play: The Hawks are 16-3 since the All-Star break, with career-highs from Jalen Johnson (22.9 ppg) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (20.5 ppg) leading the way offensively. Atlanta has also dialed in defensively, with the 3rd-best DefRtg post All-Star (108.1)
Elsewhere On LP: Slotting in between Boston and Atlanta is 4th-place Cleveland. The Cavs have won 12 of 17 games so far in the Donovan Mitchell-James Harden era, and go for 13 tonight in Utah (9 ET, LP)
It’s still a nightly shuffle in the thick of a tight West race, with seeds No. 3-6 separated by just 3 games.
Luka-Led W’s: The 3rd-place Lakers have been lifted by the historic scoring of Luka Dončić, averaging a fraction under 40 (39.7 ppg) over his last 12 games (11-1)
Open Spotlight: Luka will be sidelined Monday vs. Washington (10 ET, LP), tasking Austin Reaves and LeBron with continuing the offensive momentum
Speaking of stepping up, Julius Randle and recent addition Ayo Dosunmu have led the Wolves to a 4-2 record without Anthony Edwards (knee), both averaging 19 points in those six games. Minnesota looks to climb higher tonight in Dallas (8:30 ET, LP)
A tiebreaker is all that separates Minnesota and Houston in 5th and 6th, respectively, as Houston’s 20+ ppg scorers Durant (25.9 ppg) and Sengun (20.7) fuel the offense
Play-In Pressure: The race for seeds No. 7-10 has also been tight out West. Devin Booker, Jalen Green and the 7th-place Suns try to maintain their 2.5-game lead over 8th-place LA as they visit the Grizzlies tonight (8 ET, LP)
What’s Next: Stay close to the action as postseason seeding battles continue down to the wire, with at least one national game to tune in to each day this week:
Tuesday On NBC: NBA Coast 2 Coast brings us Brunson and the Knicks visiting KD and the Rockets (8 ET) before the Clippers try to add to their 1.5-game cushion over the 9-seed Blazers (8 PT)
Wednesday On ESPN: April tips off with an ESPN doubleheader, featuring East rivals Boston and Miami (7:30 ET), ahead of Wemby and the Spurs visiting the Warriors (10 ET)
Thursday On Prime: Five days after Detroit took round one, the Pistons host the TWolves in a rematch (7 ET), followed by a showdown of the league’s top-2 scorers as Shai and the Thunder welcome Luka and the Lakers (9:30 ET)
Friday On NBA TV: Brunson and the Knicks return home, hosting the Bulls (7:30 ET)
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