The dust has settled on the Eastern standings
In the early morning of April 15, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in the much-anticipated finale. The Celtics topped the East standings with an impressive 63-18 record, showing their unmatched dominance. The Bucks and Knicks are close behind with the same 49-32 record, with the Bucks in second place. The Cavaliers are firmly in third place with a 48-33 record. All three teams have a chance to challenge for second place, and the competition is fierce. But today's game was a bit confusing, with the Bucks losing to the Magic by 25 points and the Cavaliers losing to the Hornets by 10 points.
In the end, the Celtics were first in the East, the Knicks were second, the Bucks were third, the Cavaliers were fourth, the Magic were fifth, the Pacers were sixth, the 76ers were seventh, the Heat were eighth, followed by the Bulls and Hawks. In this way, the two groups of play-offs in the East were also produced, with the 76ers taking the lead against the Heat at home and the Bulls hosting the Hawks. If nothing else, the 76ers will be seventh and the Heat will finish eighth. In addition, the Cavaliers and Magic officially met in the first round, although the Bucks avoided the 76ers and Heat in the first round, but the Pacers can also be called the Bucks' nemesis, they have met 5 times this season, and the Bucks are 1-4.
James had a showdown
Back to the Western Conference, the competition is more intense, in the last game day, because the Lakers and the Suns both win, so that the play-off rankings have changed, the Suns have won in a row, temporarily ranked seventh, but the gap with the Pelicans comes to a win, as long as the last game of the Suns beat the Timberwolves, then they will overtake the Pelicans by virtue of the head-to-head record, becoming sixth in the West, due to the Warriors, The Kings both lost, they ranked ninth and tenth in the West respectively, and the Lakers after the win only need to win the last game, they locked up the eighth place in the West with 47 wins, and got two lives!
In the game between the Pelicans and the Lakers, the Pelicans seemed to have exhausted their touch in the last game with the Warriors, coupled with Ingram's comeback, so that the balance that the team had just established was broken, and the Pelicans' offensive efficiency in the first half was not high, on the other hand, the Lakers showed their strength in the high-end game as always, James had a showdown, and in the first half of the first quarter, he connected with Zhan Mei several times, sent 8 assists, and achieved a regular season career assists of more than 11,000, rising to fourth in history! At the end of the half, the Lakers scored 70 points, allowing Hachimura to get 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, thick eyebrows scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, Reaves also scored 11 points, Russell got 8 points and 3 assists, Prince scored 9 points, James himself got 13 points and 6 boards, sent 13 assists and 4 steals, and played a top supergiant level. In the third quarter of the game, the Lakers still maintained a high offensive level, and the Pelicans were defeated!
The Suns Triumvirate is no longer pretending
The game between the Suns and the Timberwolves has also gone to the other extreme, the Timberwolves have long dominated the top position in the West this season, the team has Edwards, a young and powerful guard, plus the twin towers Gobert and Towns, one offense and one defense, the Timberwolves' defensive efficiency has always been among the top three in the league, on the other hand, the Suns have not played the real strength of the team due to the big three gathering and leaving. This game is a do-or-die battle for the Suns, and winning to avoid the play-offs and give Durant Beal a few days of rest is invaluable. At the beginning of the game, Durant didn't pretend, Booker didn't pretend, Beal had a showdown, and the Big Three played the sharpest offensive battle!
Won the Timberwolves by 22 points in the first quarter, and although the Timberwolves recovered 9 points in the second quarter, the Suns scored 66 points at the end of the half! Durant scored 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, Beal 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, Booker 12 points and 5 assists, Allen 12 points, Nurkic 4 points, 5 assists and 4 steals! In the third quarter of the game, although the Suns were not as strong as the first quarter, they basically stabilized the situation, losing to the Timberwolves 2 points 23-25, bringing a 9-point lead into the final quarter, and after three quarters of the game, the Suns Big Three have scored a total of 50 points! In the final quarter of the game, the Suns took advantage of the victory to chase after it, and launched a 13-6 attack wave at the beginning, completely shattering the idea of the Timberwolves turning the tables.
Matches from other games in the West
The Nuggets beat the Grizzlies, the Thunder beat the Mavericks, the Spurs beat the Pistons, the Warriors beat the Jazz, the Kings beat the Trail Blazers, and the Clippers lost to the Rockets! If the Warriors all fall into the play-in area, it will inevitably affect the spectacle of the playoffs, so that the league's income will be damaged, the Suns will rush to sixth, and if the Lakers take the lead in breaking through and advance to the playoffs as seventh in the West, even if the Warriors can't break through in the end, the league will minimize the loss.