A total of 14 games were played in the NBA today, with 9 of them played by Western teams, and the results were as follows:
⇘ 130-104 over the Hornets, Rockets 118-106 over Magic, Spurs 102-87 over Grizzlies;
The Timberwolves defeated the Wizards 130-121, the Thunder reversed the Kings 112-105, and the Nuggets beat the Jazz 111-95;
The Warriors beat the Lakers 134-120, the Clippers beat the Suns 105-92, and the Pelicans beat the Trail Blazers 110-100.
After today's game, there has been a big change in the pattern of the West, it can be said that the situation of 1-5 places is clear, but 6-10 places are very chaotic.
The top 3 in the West won together, and the top 3 have been confirmed. The top 3 in the West are the Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Thunder. Considering the difficulty of the schedule later, the Thunder is basically No. 3, and the next meeting between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves will determine who is the final No. 1 in the West and who is No. 2 in the West.
The Clippers won to lock in the playoffs, and the Clippers defeated the Suns, not only locking the top 6, but also locking the top 5 rankings, plus the Clippers can't catch up with the Thunder, the Clippers' final ranking is between 4-5.
After the Mavericks defeated the Hornets, they continued to open up the gap and chase the Clippers, but the Mavericks were 2 games behind the Clippers, 2 games ahead of the Pelicans, and there were 3 games left to catch up with the gap of 2 games, so it was only theoretically possible, and the Mavericks were probably 5th in the West.
The situation in the top 5 in the West is clear, the Thunder is 3rd, the Clippers are 4th, the Mavericks are 5th, and the Nuggets and Timberwolves are 1st who wins in the next game, and 2nd who loses.
But the 6-10 places in the West are very messy, especially today when the Suns and Kings both lose, and it is even more chaotic.
The current standings are 47-32 for the Pelicans, 46-33 for the Suns, 45-34 for the Kings, 45-35 for the Lakers, and 44-35 for the Warriors.
The Pelicans' next three opponents are the Kings, Lakers, and Warriors, and the schedule is very interesting, and if the Pelicans lose all, they may fall to 10th, which is the most cruel place in the 6-10th place in the West.
In addition, the Suns' opponents are the Clippers, Kings, and Timberwolves, and they are not weak. The Kings' opponents are the Pelicans, Suns, and Trail Blazers. The Lakers' opponents are the Grizzlies and Pelicans. The Warriors' opponents are the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, and Jazz.
That is, these 5 teams, there will be 4 infighting games in the future, which also makes the competition for the ranking more suspenseful.
Although the Pelicans have the advantage, they are still careless, and although the Warriors are in 10th place, they still have the possibility of rushing up.
On the one hand, the Lakers 0-4 Kings in the regular season, will be ranked behind the Kings when they have the same record. Today, the Lakers lost to the Warriors, the regular season was 2-2, but the Warriors have a better divisional record, if the record is the same, the Warriors are also in front, and if the Lakers, Kings, and Warriors have the same record, the Lakers are still in the bottom.
If the Pelicans win one more game, the advantage will be obvious, basically locking up the playoff qualification, and the play-offs will be the Suns, Lakers, Warriors, and Kings, which may be more attractive than the playoffs.