Around, over and through.Against another top-3 West squad, SGA and OKC showed there’s more than one way to rise to another level.
With 9 days left in the regular season, keep reading to catch up on the Playoff Picture as it stands heading into the weekend — and all the stories you gotta know.
5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Defensive Dominance: Shai’s Thunder stifle Lakers’ offense, steals & swats key to Pistons’ power
Sustaining Streaks: Spurs’ guard trio fills in for Wemby, Kon gets record as Charlotte’s shooters stay sharp
Roundup: Mitchell, Cavs clinch top-6 seed, Jrue Holiday’s vintage play helps Blazers climb
League Pass Spotlight: NAW’s rise fuels Hawks’ 17-2 surge, with Nets up next
What’s Next: What to know for the penultimate weekend of the regular season
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Nine games tip off tonight, including eight matchups on League Pass and Bulls-Knicks on NBA TV (7:30 ET | Tap to Watch).
Postseason Countdown: The SoFi Play-In Tournament is 11 days away. See the current Playoff Picture here.
New Era In Portland: The Blazers held a press conference yesterday for their new ownership group, led by Tom Dundon. Watch it here
1. DOMINATING DEFENSES: TOP-SEEDED THUNDER, PISTONS FLEX TWO-WAY POWER
In a showdown of the two of the West’s top 3 teams — and two of the league’s top-2 scorers — SGA’s Thunder fought fire with a fire extinguisher.
Thunder 139, Lakers 96: OKC jumped out to an 18-4 start on the way to a season-high 82-point 1st half, where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (7 reb, 7 ast) had 21 of his game-high 28 points, while the Thunder D held the Lakers under 100 points for the first time since Feb. 22, in their largest defeat of the season. | Recap
“Most importantly, we got stops defensively,” SGA said. “I think they had like 21 points in the 1st quarter and their offense had been really good, so that’s pretty impressive.”
Dort Darts Out: OKC won that quarter 44-21 on the strength of Luguentz Dort’s 5-for-5 start from the field (14 pts, 4-4 3FG, 2 stl)
“They were obviously playing really good basketball coming in here, but so were we,” Shai said. “We just wanted to put our best foot forward, and see where we stood.”
The Thunder continue to stand on the strength of their defense, leading the league in point differential again (+11.4) after last season’s record-setting +12.9.
Historical Context: OKC has won 23 games by 20+ points this season, tying the 2016-17 Warriors for 3rd-most in any season, trailing only the 1970-71 Bucks and 1995-96 Bulls
Shot Challengers: The Thunder (43.5 OppFG%) are on pace to join the 2019-20 Bucks and the 2007-08 Celtics as the only teams since 2000 to hold opponents at least 3.5% below the league average FG% (47%)
“It’s that time of year. Habits matter,” SGA said. “The most important games are about to come up pretty soon.”
“We wanna make sure all those habits are in a good place, and ready to go come – we call it ‘when the t-shirts are in the seats’ and the fans are going crazy.”
The reigning MVP’s (31.6 ppg, 2nd) duel with scoring leader Luka Dončić (33.5 ppg) was cut short when the Lakers star left the game midway through the 3rd.
Luka Update: Dončić (hamstring) will have an MRI on Friday, coach JJ Redick said postgame
AR & LBJ: Austin Reaves (15 pts) and LeBron James (13 pts, 6 reb) paced the Lakers
Pistons 113, Wolves 108: In another showcase of depth, Daniss Jenkins (26 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast) led Detroit while Jalen Duren (22 pts, 14 reb, 2 blk) battled Julius Randle (27 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) and the Pistons held the Wolves scoreless for nearly 3 minutes in the 4th quarter to pull away. | Recap
It was Detroit’s second win in a week over Minnesota, with both teams missing their All-Star guards.
Ant Edwards (knee, illness) was a late scratch on Thursday, while the Pistons announced Cade Cunningham (chest) will be re-evaluated next week.
Ausar Assists: Without Cade, Ausar Thompson (7 pts, 9 reb, 9 ast) stepped up with a career-high in dimes – and this long-distance lob finish
Ausar Assists: Without Cade, Ausar Thompson (7 pts, 9 reb, 9 ast) stepped up with a career-high in dimes – and this long-distance lob finish
Active Hands: The Pistons are on pace to be the first team in over 30 years to average 10 or more steals and six or more blocks per game
Rare Totals: With five games remaining, the Pistons’ 800 steals and 488 blocks have only been matched by one team, the 2021-22 Grizzlies, in the last 30 seasons
Detroit’s lead over 2nd-place Boston extends to 4.5 games, while 6th-place Minnesota falls a game behind Houston as the West’s only top-6 team still in search of a Playoff spot
2. STAYING HOT: GUARDS KEEP SPURS, HORNETS STREAKING
Take away Wemby’s otherworldly play and the Spurs still have a backcourt mix few teams have an answer for.
Spurs 118, Clippers 99: San Antonio’s guard trio of De’Aaron Fox (22 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), Stephon Castle (20 pts, 5 ast) and Dylan Harper (19 pts, 5 ast) propelled the Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs past Kawhi’s (24 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) Clippers for an 11th straight win. | Recap
Early Fox: De’Aaron netted 10 of his 22 in San Antonio’s 35-19 2nd-quarter liftoff, which Harper punctuated by tapping into his Kia Shooting Stars skills from All-Star weekend
Castle’s Closeout: After Bennedict Mathurin (18 pts, 7 reb) helped LA turn the tables with its own 34-19 3rd quarter, Castle clicked in the 4th (10 pts, 4-5 FG) to seal the win
The guard trio took turns going off for 61 combined points, as San Antonio surged to 27-2 in its last 29 games, the NBA’s best 29-game record since the 2017-18 Rockets.
More Than Wemby: During that stretch, the Spurs lead the league with 31.4 assists per game, with over half (18.5 apg) coming from Castle (7.6), Fox (6.4) and Harper (4.5)
The Key Is Key: Spurs’ guards have also found an edge in the paint, as the team ranks 3rd this season in FG% on drives and 6th in assists off drives
“Getting in the paint, kicking out… Once I kick out, the lane is open for me, for 1-on-1,” Harper said of his approach. “Once I get in the paint, I feel like I’m unguardable.”
The scorching Spurs stay within 2 games of top-seeded OKC with five games remaining.
Second only to San Antonio’s extended heat, the game’s next-best record since Jan. 22 belongs to Buzz City.
Hornets 127, Suns 107: Rookie Kon Knueppel (20 pts, 4 3s) set the Hornets’ franchise record for 3s in a season (261) and paired with Miles Bridges (25 pts) to outduel Jalen Green (25 pts, 7 ast) and Devin Booker (22 pts, 5 reb, 6 ast) for Charlotte’s seventh win in nine games. | Recap
Kon Passes Kemba: Knueppel’s 4th triple of the night, at the 8:25 mark of the 4th quarter, shot him past Kemba Walker (2018-19) for the franchise single-season record
“Especially with the team success, it’s been real fun to enjoy some of that individual success as well,” Knueppel said, after getting doused by his coach, Charles Lee
That 4th-quarter make also got Kon to the 20-point mark for the 35th time this season, joining Alonzo Mourning (45) and Larry Johnson (42) as the only Hornets to amass that many in a season
Similar Feat: Earlier, in the 2nd quarter, Phoenix’s Collin Gillespie passed Quentin Richardson (226) for most-ever 3s in a Suns season
Course Correct: Phoenix started fast with a 41-point 1st quarter, but Charlotte limited the Suns to 19 points in the 2nd to grab a halftime lead they’d never surrender
Postseason Impacts: 8th-place Charlotte pulls within 1.5 games of 7-seed Toronto, while in the West, the 7th-place Suns’ loss locks Houston into a top-6 Playoff spot
3. ROUNDUP: CAVS CLINCH PLAYOFFS, BLAZERS OVERTAKE CLIPS
Cavaliers 118, Warriors 111: Donovan Mitchell (25 pts, 6 reb) and Max Strus (24 pts, 5 reb, 6 3s) helped keep the Cavs ahead for their seventh win in nine games, desspite a late Warriors charge and 25 points apiece from Gui Santos (5 reb) and Brandin Podziemski. | Recap
Cleveland Clinched: The 4th-place Cavs earned a guaranteed, top-6 Playoff seed in the East with the win, and moved within a game of 3-seed New York
Blazers 118, Pelicans 106: Jrue Holiday (27 pts, 5 reb, 9 ast, 7 3s) was everywhere, especially in the final stretch to hold off Jeremiah Fears (21 pts) and the Pelicans for a third straight win, bumping Portland up past LA for 8th-place in the West. | Recap
A Couple Of Closers: With NOLA pulling within 5 points in the 4th quarter, Holiday (11 pts) and Deni Avdija (7 pts) ignited for 18 combined points over the final 7 minutes
Elite OG Group: Holiday joined Steph, LeBron, James Harden and KD as the only players age 35 or older to log 25+ pts, 5+ reb and 5+ 3s in back-to-back games
4. LEAGUE PASS SPOTLIGHT: NAW & HAWKS SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS
Six weeks ago, the Hawks suffered their largest loss of the season – a 31-point defeat on their home floor at the hands of the Heat.
It was Atlanta’s sixth loss in nine games, dropping to 27-31 and 9th in the East.
Forty-two days later, the Hawks are in 5th, eyeing their first top-6 Playoff berth in five years – fueled by a 17-2 run.
What clicked? Not just Jalen Johnson further elevating his All-Star season, but the emergence of a two-way problem – Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who found a new home in Atlanta and unlocked another level, writes NBA.com’s Jeff Zillgitt:
Hawks coach Quin Snyder envisioned a role for Nickeil Alexander-Walker that Alexander-Walker hadn’t considered.
“He saw a ceiling higher for myself than I did,” Alexander-Walker told NBA.com in a phone interview. “And that was really cool for me because I felt like in my career I’ve never had that before.”
What did Snyder see? A player who could average 20 points, contribute more as a playmaker and still provide strong defense.
What has Alexander-Walker done? After joining the Hawks in free agency last summer, Alexander-Walker is having the best season of his career. | Read More
Tonight on League Pass (7:30 ET), the Hawks can move to 18-2 in their last 20 – which would be their best 20-game stretch in 11 years – as they visit Brooklyn.
More Tonight: The Knicks host the Bulls on NBA TV (7:30 ET), while seven more games tip off on League Pass, including the Rockets seeking a fifth straight win against the Jazz (8 ET) and the Wolves visiting the Sixers (7 ET).
Pacers at Hornets (7 ET)
Raptors at Grizzlies (8 ET)
Celtics at Bucks (8 ET)
Magic at Mavericks (8:30 ET)
Pelicans at Kings (10 ET)
5. WHAT TO KNOW FOR THE PENULTIMATE WEEKEND OF THE REGULAR SEASON
The six-month regular season marathon is down to nine days, and it’s a sprint to the finish.
The 20-team postseason field is set, but not a single seed is locked in. That leaves homecourt advantage, Playoff positioning and Play-In seeding all in flux.
Before a pivotal weekend, let’s take a look at the current Playoff Picture and some key dates to know:
Sunday, April 12: Regular season ends (All 30 teams play)
Tuesday, April 14-17: SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
Saturday, April 18: NBA Playoffs begin
With the Playoff Picture still taking shape, this weekend’s national slate carries major weight, beginning with a monster Saturday showdown on Prime.
Spurs at Nuggets (3 ET, Prime): The league’s two longest active win streaks – and two of its hottest stars – collide as Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs (W11) visit Nikola Jokić’s Nuggets (W7).
Run It Back: San Antonio’s last loss came at the hands of Denver on March 12, behind Jokić’s monster triple-double (31 pts, 20 reb, 12 ast) – but Wemby (ankle) was out
The Stakes: Now the two stars face off for the first time this season, both on dominant runs, with Denver 1 GB of the 3rd-place Lakers and San Antonio 2 GB of 1st-place OKC
The Finale: The cherry on top? The Nuggets and Spurs meet again on the last day of the regular season
Pistons at 76ers (7 ET, NBA TV): Saturday closes with a key East showdown as Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and the Sixers – currently 6th via a tiebreaker – host the East-leading Pistons.
Right behind Philly? Toronto, which opens Sunday’s slate with another major East matchup, visiting Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and 2nd-place Boston (3:30 ET, NBA TV).
Lakers at Mavericks (7:30 ET, NBC): Then, NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball tips with the Lakers visiting Cooper Flagg and the Mavs.
Rockets at Warriors (10 ET, NBC): Last, Kevin Durant faces his former team as the streaking Rockets (W4) visit the Warriors, who could get a major boost as they look to improve their Play-In position.
Steph Eyeing Return: Sidelined since Jan. 30, Steph Curry (knee) fully participated in practice on Tuesday and reportedly hopes to play Sunday
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