NBA Western Conference Rankings: 2 Teams Lock Playoffs! The Rockets' 11-game winning streak is over, and the Lakers are basically stable
The 2023-24 NBA regular season has entered the final sprint stage, and a number of key games will be staged in turn on the latest game day. After the game, the situation in the west began to gradually become clearer. Congratulations to the Thunder and Nuggets for securing the playoffs ahead of schedule, but the battle for the top spot is still in suspense.
The Nuggets will start the game day with them hosting the Cavaliers. Before the game, the Nuggets were 51-23 and ranked third in the West, but there was still hope of hitting the top spot. In this game, the Nuggets began to establish an advantage from the first quarter, leading by as many as 29 points throughout the game. In the end, he defeated the Cavaliers 130-101 to end his two-game losing streak. In this game, Jokic cut a triple-double of 26 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, becoming the number one contributor to the team's victory.
The Lakers and Clippers games started at the same time, and the Lakers played the Nets away. With only eight games left in the regular season, the Lakers are 3.5 wins ahead of the Rockets, and the play-off ticket is basically secure. In this game against the Nets, the Lakers built a 20-point lead in the first quarter. After that, the Nets narrowed the gap for a while, but in the end they were unable to reverse the defeat and lost 104-116. James was in hot form in this game, scoring 40 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and single-handedly blocked the Nets' comeback.
The Clippers played against the Hornets on the road, except for the Hornets who led by 3 points in the first quarter, and the Clippers led the game since then, and the gap was 19 points at most. In the end, 130-118 defeated the opponent by 12 points, and won three consecutive victories. George scored 41 points in this game, setting a new season high in points. The Clippers have 8 games left in the regular season, currently 2 wins ahead of the Mavericks behind them, 4 wins ahead of the 7th-place Kings, and the ticket to the playoffs is basically stable, the only suspense is whether the 4th ranking can be guaranteed, because there is no hope of hitting a higher ranking.
The most watched game in this round is the Mavericks vs. Rockets, who are at home. The Rockets recently won an 11-game winning streak and continued to put pressure on the Warriors. But in the face of the Mavericks, who were in the same good form and won 7 consecutive victories, the Rockets were in a situation of chasing points from the beginning. After that, the Rockets tried to fight back, but Doncic and Irving stepped up again and again to extinguish the Rockets' offense, and finally won by 18 points at 125-107. Doncic performed quite bravely in this game, scoring 22 points in the first quarter and scoring 47 points in the game. After this loss, the Rockets' 11-game winning streak came to an abrupt end, and the hopes of hitting the play-off ticket were reduced. The Mavericks are two wins ahead of the Kings and sit in fifth place in the West.
The Warriors play against the Spurs. The Spurs took the lead in the first quarter, but suddenly collapsed in the third quarter, and the Warriors chased 16 points in a single quarter to complete the comeback. In the final quarter, the Spurs hoped to use the outside to chase points, but the Warriors' firepower remained strong. In the end, the Warriors narrowly won 117-113 and won a wave of four consecutive victories. After this game, the Warriors lead the Rockets by 2 games, and there are 8 games left in the regular season. To be honest, the hope of the Rockets overtaking is already low. But with the talent shown by the Rockets' recent winning streak, the new season is still very promising!
There are already four teams in the West that have confirmed that they will miss the playoffs: the Spurs, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Jazz. And can rockets work miracles? We'll see!