There are six games left in the NBA regular season, and the competition for the Western Conference standings is quite fierce before the playoffs are just around the corner. Today, the Rockets lost to the Warriors at home 110 to 133, suffering three consecutive defeats and completely missing the play-off battle. The Mavericks beat the Hawks 109:95 to hold on to fifth place in the West and the Clippers to fourth place in the West. The Kings suffered a 32-point reversal from the Knicks at 109:120, and the eighth place in the West was in jeopardy, and the Knicks also indirectly helped the Lakers, who are expected to reach the top eight in the West. Here's a look at the latest Western Conference results and rankings today:
First, the Rockets lost to the Warriors at home 110:133 and suffered a three-game losing streak, while the Rockets lost 13 consecutive defeats against the Warriors in the past four seasons. After this game, the Rockets are in 11th place in the West with a 38-38 record, 3.5 wins away from the 42-34 Warriors of 10th place in the West. The Warriors, who have won six in a row, could essentially knock the Rockets out of the play-in tournament.
In this game, the Warriors' Splash Brothers once again played a key role, especially Thompson's outburst, shooting 11 of 15 from the field and hitting seven three-pointers, becoming the absolute hero of the victory. Klay shot 11-of-15 from the field, including 7-of-11 from three-point range, and finished with 29 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. It is worth mentioning that this is the 50th time in Thompson's career that he has hit at least seven three-pointers in a single game, which ranks second in NBA history behind his brother Curry's 133. In addition, Thompson played 17 minutes in the first half, shooting 8-of-11 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range, with an efficient 21 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, with a plus/minus of +18, and scored at least 5 three-pointers in the 70th half of his career, ranking second in NBA history and second only to his brother Curry's 143.
Curry was also quite efficient in this game, playing 30 minutes, shooting 9-of-14, 2-of-6 three-pointers, 9-of-9 free throws, and efficiently scoring 29 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, with a plus/minus of +29. Davis played dominantly on the inside, completely crushing Jabari Smith Jr., shooting 8-of-10 from the field and contributing 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Wiggins was also decent, with 4 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on 3-of-8 shooting, and on the bench, Paul made 3-of-9 shooting and had a poor hand, but still contributed 8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Overall. The Warriors were able to defeat the Rockets thanks to the Splash Brothers and the powerful offensive power of the inside.
In this game, Jalen Green collapsed again, and was hidden by the head coach in the fourth quarter, playing 29 minutes, only 4 of 12 shots, 3 of 8 three-point shots, and only scored 13 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. He also became the key to the Rockets' loss due to poor shooting. In the last three games, Jalen Green has played poorly, and the Rockets have also conceded one after another.
In addition, the two high-paid generals Van Jordan and Dillon are still relatively weak, and the Rockets' money is really not worth spending on them. Van Jordan shot 2-of-7 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range, scoring only 10 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists, and did a very poor job of attacking and organizing the team, not to mention Brooks made 3-of-9 shooting, scoring only 88 points. Without a rebound and an assist, it's simply a negative effect on the court, the offense can't work, the defense can't prevent Curry or Thompson on the opposite side, Brooks's role is almost zero, and he can be traded next season.
In this game, the Rockets were the only one who could perform on the offensive end, shooting 8 of 17 from the field, 4 of 10 from three-point range, and scoring 24 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Among them, in the second quarter of the game against the Warriors, Smith scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and he hit consecutive long-range shots, so that the Rockets were not pulled away too much. However, he was also criticized by head coach Udoka after the game, and was considered to have been blown up by the Warriors on the defensive end.
After the Rockets lost Shin Kyung and Yin Sen, the interior offense and forward defense have declined badly, and the 11-game winning streak may also be a return to the past before the end of the season. The previous opponent was indeed too weak, and the rocket lost all three key battles in a row, once again reflecting the shortcomings of insufficient strength. The Rockets only have to prepare for next season, and when Yin Sen and Shin Jing return, coupled with the return of interior center Adams from injury, the Rockets are expected to make big waves next season, and this season will be hasty.
Second, the Mavericks defeated the Hawks 109-95, with a record of 46 wins and 30 losses, closely following the Clippers and ranking fifth in the West. The Clippers narrowly defeated the Nuggets 102-100 today, two wins away from the Mavericks, with six games left, and the Clippers' fourth position in the West is quite stable, although the Mavericks' momentum has been too strong recently.
Doncic didn't feel good at shooting today. He shot 8-of-25 from the field, 6-of-15 from three-point range, scored 25 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, and barely scored in the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks still beat the Hawks under the leadership of Irving, showing strong strength.
Irving made 10-of-21 shooting, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and contributed 26 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist, and his inexplicable offensive ability was something the Hawks couldn't defend. Wastington shot 6-of-11 from the front line and 5-of-8 from three-point range, contributing 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. In an interview after the game, he also said that Doncic's passing made his job easier, just by throwing the ball in. Gafford didn't play today, only 6 points and 3 rebounds, and Hardaway off the bench had a bad hand, only 8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. If the other Mavericks players can open up, I believe their strength will go further.
The Hawks didn't have a good performance today, with only five players scoring in double figures and no one scoring more than 20, Morey shot 6-of-17 and felt sluggish, scoring only 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and Kapaira contributed 6 points and 13 rebounds. Bogdanovic had 17 points and seven rebounds, and the Hawks couldn't afford to compete with the Mavericks in this game.
Third, the Kings 109:120 suffered a reversal by the Knicks, with a record of 44 wins and 32 losses, ranking eighth in the West, but only 0.5 wins away from the Lakers 44-33 in the ninth place in the West. The Lakers could take their place in the top eight in the West at any time.
The Kings had a pretty bad game, leading by 21 points at one point before losing by 11 points. It is equivalent to a 32-point reversal by the Knicks.
Sabonis didn't perform well inside, scoring 17 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists on 7-of-13 shooting, but his plus/minus of -21 was also relatively low. Fox was a tiger, although he had 29 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the game, he shot 11 of 26 from the field and 6 of 13 from three-point range, and his performance in the second half was quite sluggish. Morey scored 18 points, Alice contributed 11 and three players off the bench scored in double figures.
Overall, the Knicks played more violently, and the three Jays of Villeneuve University became the key to winning the game, especially Brunson, after Randle announced the reimbursement of the season today, he did not lose his fighting spirit and led the team to play a furious offensive and defensive performance, he played 39 minutes in the whole game, 12 of 20 shots, 2 of 5 three-pointers, 9 of 10 free throws, 35 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 steals, plus or minus as high as +22, Brunson led the team to win a great credit.
The other two Jays of the Knicks' Villanueva University also played bravely, DiVincenzo played 38 minutes, shooting 6 of 13, 5 of 9 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, and the plus/minus of +27 is also quite outrageous. Guard Hart played 43 minutes, shooting 14 of 19 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free throw line, scoring 31 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, with a plus/minus of +22.
After this game, the Knicks are in fifth place in the East with a 45-31 record, but like the fourth Magic record in the East, the Knicks are expected to enter the top four in the East and have home-court advantage. The Knicks' reversal of the Kings in this game can be regarded as an indirect help to the Lakers, who are expected to quickly enter the top eight in the West with their powerful schedule and Lao Zhan's violent individual attacking ability, and have two lives in the play-offs.