Kyrie has climbed the ranks to hit this Luka lob, helping their Mavs team move into playoff position on Thursday.
THE RANGE ????
What’s in today’s edition?
Cool Knicks Nuggets: MPJ and Joker combine for 61 to end New York’s four-game winning streak
The Mavs rise: Dallas comes out of the Play-In with a victory over Utah and the defeat of Sacramento
Magic, the Rockets stay hot: Orlando wins the 5th time in a row and moves up to 4th in the East; Houston wins 7th straight
30 against everyone: SGA needs 30+ points in their next two games (@TOR, @MIL) to be 4th to score 30+ points against each team
Share the load: Cleveland contributed up and down the list to occupy 3rd place in the East
BUT FIRST… ⏰
Last night’s scores and what to watch today
Cavs-Wolves (8 ET, NBA TV): The No. 3 seeds from each conference face each other for the second time in two weeks. Will this one need overtime like Cleveland’s victory on March 8?
Sixers-Lakers (10:30 a.m. ET, NBA TV): A matchup between two teams trying to get out of the Play-In in the final three weeks of the season.
1. NUGGETS, BUCKS SCORE WINS OVER NYC TEAMS
Nikola Jokic finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over the Knicks.
Denver refreshes New York: Michael Porter Jr. (31 pts) and Nikola Jokic (30 pts, 14 reb, 11 ast) combined for 61 points in Denver’s 113-100 victory, ending New York’s four-game winning streak and lifting the Nuggets to a league-best 13-2 record since All-Star. | to summarize
- Jokic’s HORSE plan: Good luck recreating this one. Tap to see Jokic uses the top of the backboard to knock down a fadeaway and-1 jumper on Isaiah Hartenstein
- MPJ for 3: Porter Jr. made three 3s to pass Dale Ellis (192 in 1996-97) for the most 3-pointers in a single season in Nuggets history (193 and counting)
- Playoff race (DEN ↔️): Denver remains second in the West, falling into a virtual tie with No. 1 OKC (separated by 0.006 in winning percentage) and up 1.5 games on No. 3 Minnesota.
- Playoff race (NYK ⬇️): New York’s loss combined with Orlando’s victory allows the two swap spots in the East race, with the Knicks falling from fourth to fifth place by a half-game.
Lillard and Antetokounmpo lead the Bucks: Damian Lillard (30 pts, 12 aces) signed his third consecutive match with more than 30 points, but it was his 14 points in the fourth quarter and two steals that helped the Bucks hold off the Nets 115-108. Giannis Antetokounmpo (21 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk) came back strong after two games of absence. | to summarize
- Lady ???? Splash Bros. Lillard had his ninth season with at least 200 triples, joining Steph Curry (11) and Klay Thompson (9) for the most in league history.
- Playoff race (MIL ↔️): Milwaukee remains second in the East, increasing its lead over idle Cleveland to 1.5 games
2. MAVS STAY HOT, COME OUT OF PLAY-IN
The Mavs are rising: Luka Doncic (34 pts, 9 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl) led the Mavs to their third straight victory (and seventh in their last eight games) with a 113-97 win over Utah. Daniel Gafford added 24 points for his highest scoring game since joining the Mavs at the deadline. | to summarize
- Luka in the first half: Doncic scored his 30th game this season with at least 20 points in the first half, one fewer than James Harden’s 31 in 2018-19, the most since tracking began in 1997-98.
- Playoff race (DAL ⬆️): With the victory and the defeat of Sacramento, Dallas climbs from seventh to sixth place in the West. The Mavs and Suns are tied 41-29, but Dallas holds the tiebreaker
The suns ignite: Devin Booker (30 pts, 6 3s), Eric Gordon (21 pts, 4 3s) and Kevin Durant (19 pts, 2 3s) combined for 70 points and 12 of Phoenix’s season-high 22 3s in a victory of 128-115 against the Falcons. | to summarize
- KD2K: Durant hit a 3 early in the second quarter to become the 16th player to reach 2,000 career 3s.
- Playoff race (PHX ⬆️): With the victory of Dallas and the defeat of Sacramento, Phoenix climbs to seventh place in the West. The Suns and Mavs are tied 41-29, but Dallas holds the tiebreaker
- Game racing (ATL ↔️): Atlanta remains 10th in the East, 3.5 games behind No. 9 Chicago and 4.5 ahead of No. 11 Brooklyn.
Wizards take 5-game skid: Kyle Kuzma (31 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) returned from a two-game absence to lead the Wizards to a 109-102 victory over the Kings. Deni Avdija added 17 points for Washington, while De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 25 points and six steals. | to summarize
- Sabonis 1 away: With his 52nd consecutive double-double (14 pts, 14 reb), Domantas Sabonis is one less than Kevin Love’s 53 games during the 2010-11 season, the longest streak of the 2000s.
- Playoff race (SAC ⬇️): With the loss and wins for Dallas and Phoenix, the Kings move from sixth to eighth in the West, a half-game behind the Mavs and Suns and three games ahead of the No. 9 Lakers.
3. ROUNDUP: MAGIC, ROCKETS EXTEND VICTORY STRYS
New Orleans has no answer for Paolo Banchero, who records his 2nd career triple-double during Orlando’s 5th straight victory.
Magic wins the 5th time in a row and reaches 4th place in the East: Behind that of Paolo Banchero second career triple-double (20 pts, 10 reb, 11 ast) and 22 points from Jalen Suggs, the Magic beat the Pelicans 121-106 in a battle of No. 5. | to summarize
- Playoff race (ORL ⬆️): Orlando’s victory coupled with New York’s defeat allows the Magic to move the Knicks from fifth to fourth place in the East, with a half-game lead over NY.
- Playoff race (NOP ↔️): New Orleans remains fifth in the West, 1.5 games behind the No. 4 Clippers and just 1.5 games ahead of Dallas and Phoenix.
Rockets stay hot: Jalen Green scored 26 points, Jock Landale added 17 and 12 rebounds off the bench to lead the Rockets to a 127-117 victory over the Bulls, extending their winning streak to seven. | to summarize
- Green for 3: Green became the second youngest player (22 years-41 days) in NBA history to reach 500 career 3-pointers (behind Anthony Edwards).
- DeRozan, Brooks evicted: With 6:02 left in the third quarter, a DeMar DeRozan foul on Green, followed by a melee involving DeRozan and Dillon Brooks, resulted in both players being ejected.
- Game racing (CHI ↔️): Chicago remains ninth in the East, 4.5 games behind Philadelphia and Miami, and 3.5 games ahead of No. 10 Atlanta.
- Play-In Race (HOU ↔️): Houston remains 11th in the West, 2.5 games behind No. 10 Golden State
4. SCORING SGA 30 AGAINST. EVERYONE
Check out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s approach to getting buckets and listen to opponents and teammates explain why he’s so difficult to guard.
On track to post a record 50 league appearances with 30+ points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been an even-opportunity scorer, scoring 30+ points on almost every team he has faced this season.
The checklist: 27 teams down, two teams to play.
The two exceptions: The Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks.
- Toronto: Shai had 23 points in OKC’s opener against the Raptors on February 4 and has his last chance tonight (7 ET, NBA app) in his hometown of Toronto
- Milwaukee: Shai and the Thunder have yet to face the Bucks this season. Their first meeting takes place on Sunday (7 ET, NBA TV) with another on April 12
On Wednesday, Shai joined Michael Jordan (1989-90 and 1990-91), Tracy McGrady (2002-03), Kobe Bryant (2005-06) and James Harden (2018-19), the only players in the last 35 years to play 50 games with at least 30 points.
By Sunday, Shai will be able to join Larry Bird (1984-85), Jordan (1986-87) and Harden (2018-19) are the only players to score 30+ points against every NBA team in a single season (min. 20 teams in the league).
With the Thunder locked in a three-team race for the No. 1 seed in the West, they’ll need every point Shai can give them as they sit two wins away from their first 50-win season since 2015-16.
5. CAVS SHARING THE BURDEN
The Cavaliers have overcome injury issues to become one of the best teams in the East. Are they ready for a playoff test?
Cleveland’s top two scorers – Donovan Mitchell (27.4 in 49 games) and Darius Garland (18.7 in 45 games) – rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in games played over Cleveland’s 69 so far this season.
The next man: With injuries hampering two of their stars, the Cavs held on to their third place in the East thanks to a collective effort from top to bottom of the roster.
Everyone involved: Over the past three months, the Cavs rank second in assist percentage, with 69.5% of their baskets coming off an assist.
To what extent did they share the rock? Ten different Cavs have led them in scoring this season (and all but one have led the team at least twice).
No other team ranked top five in either conference did that. Indy (13 players) is the only other team in a playoff position to do so.
Cleveland’s top scorers this season
- 32x: Donovan Mitchell
- 9x: Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland
- 5x: Caris LeVert
- 4x: Max Strus
- 3x: Sam Merrill
- 2x: Evan Mobley, Georges Niang and Dean Wade
- 1 time: Craig Porter Jr.
In the space of a week, the Cavs had the Max Strus game (February 27 vs. Dallas) and the Dean Wade game (March 5 vs. Boston) as both players caught fire on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to lead the Cavs to improbable victories.
While different players led the offense Throughout the season, one of the Cavs’ pillars has been the defense, which ranks fourth overall on the season (111.0), but has been even better over the past three months (109.3 , 2nd in the NBA).
Jarrett Allen’s presence was felt at both ends. He’s already racked up a career-high 34 double-doubles and defensively holds opponents below their expected shooting percentage near the basket (-7.5% inside six feet) and to the line 3 points (-3.3%).
With Mitchell (nasal fracture), Strus (knee), Wade (knee) and Mobley (ankle) are all out for tonight’s game against Minnesota (8 ET, NBA TV), this will be another approach by committee for the Cavs in this clash of No. 3.
