Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Tuesday night in the NBA was full of playoff implications and atmospheres to match.
This is the kind of night in the NBA that I personally love. Three of the six games on Tuesday’s slate promised playoff-esque atmospheres, if not playoff-esque results. The three others? Not much to write home about from a matchup perspective, but who doesn’t love some lower-tier League Pass action on the early side?
To the scores we go.
Thunder lock up Clippers, eke out tight win, 101-100
And we begin with Tuesday’s best game, a thriller that saw the lead change hands 11 times and ended with a phenomenal defensive stand from the victors. After Nicolas Batum nailed a jumper to bring the Clippers within one, OKC’s Isaiah Joe missed a three as the shot clock expired, giving L.A. a shot to win it. But Luguentz Dort was up to the task.
Kawhi Leonard would finish with 21 points, one bucket shy of enough for the Clippers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for OKC with 31 points, and Jalen Williams added 20 points for the West’s current seventh seed. They’ve won eight of their last 10; not bad for a late-season surge.
But the biggest story to come out of this game is also the most unfortunate. Paul George went down hard in the fourth quarter after rising for a contested rebound; he remained on his back for a few minutes before being helped to his feet and off the court for the remainder of the game.
After the game, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said George was being evaluated and that there was no immediate update on his status.
Cavs blow big lead, still outlast Nets, 115-109
Despite the fact that the Nets came back and attempted to make things interesting late, I’m pretty certain that the game was over after this:
The Cavs led by as many as 24 on their way to a seventh win out of 10 tries during this crucial end-of-season stretch, as they aim to stay clear of the New York Knicks for fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings. Though Brooklyn fueled a late comeback, Donovan Mitchell’s 31 points, aided by 17 apiece from Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, pushed Cleveland to victory with relative ease. Jarrett Allen added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, while Day’Ron Sharpe was the Nets’ top contributor in defeat, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Wizards continue to struggle as Magic eke out 122-112 win in Orlando
Normally, you can rely on three things in this world: Death, taxes, and the barely .500 Washington Wizards sneaking their way into the playoffs by season’s end. But if their recent patterns are any indication, Wes Unseld Jr.’s squad won’t be anywhere near the postseason. They entered Tuesday’s tilt with the Magic losers of five of their last six games and exited it with a horrendous fourth-quarter performance and a sixth loss out of seven. The Wizards lost the final frame by 11 after entering it with a 88-87 lead. Kristaps Porzingis was electric, scoring 30 points on 12-of-22 shooting, but the 250-million-dollar man, Bradley Beal, was a paltry four-for-15, only totaling 16 points in the loss because of his eight free throws.
To make matters worse? This loss pushed Washington two games back from the final play-in spot, were the season to end today. Orlando’s season is all but over, but there’s nothing wrong with playing spoiler. Gary Harris led the Magic with 22 points, shooting 70 percent from the field. Franz Wagner (20), Paolo Banchero (18), Markelle Fultz (17), Cole Anthony (16), Moritz Wagner (15), and Wendell Cart Jr. (14) all finished in double-figures.
Hawks soar past Pistons, 129-107
The Pistons never led by more than three. They lost every quarter, and were throttled by 14 points in the third. And they were swept by the Hawks in the regular season for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
I suppose that Marvin Bagley III scoring a season-high 31 points could serve as a worthy consolation prize in this drubbing. But given that it’s Detroit’s fourth straight loss and their 15th loss out of 16 games in a pathetic season, consolations aren’t exactly all that encouraging. Trae Young had 30 points and 12 assists for the Hawks, who currently find themselves slotted eighth in the Eastern Conference, while the newly extended Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18 to put a positive spin on a 1-3 stretch for Atlanta.
Pelicans pummel Spurs, 119-84
The last time the San Antonio Spurs took the floor, they erased a 24-point deficit en route to a 126-118 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On Tuesday, they lost by 35 and only ever led by as many as two points.
As much as the up-and-often-down nature of this Spurs’ season has been a laughing matter, this game actually meant something to the Pelicans, who still somehow have a puncher’s chance to work their way into the play-in tournament. As a matter of fact, making the playoffs isn’t entirely out of the question at this point. New Orleans is currently just half a game back from 10th in the West, a single game back from seventh, and a game and a half from sixth — which would see them fully clear the play-in entirely. They’ll need Brandon Ingram to continue his stellar play to do so; he scored 32 in this one, and is averaging 27.8 per game over his last four.
Celtics trounce Kings, 132-109
That’s more like it. In desperate need of a convincing win, everyone showed up for the Celtics — and then some — in a convincing victory over the Kings, hardly a slouch of an opponent to crush. Jayson Tatum went off for 36 points on 14-for-25 shooting to lead all scorers; Jaylen Brown added 27 points and Derrick White scored 20 to help Boston win their fourth of six games.
Despite Domantas Sabonis recording yet another triple-double — 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists — Boston held De’Aaron Fox to just 18 points on the night and served Sacramento a second-straight loss, their first losing streak of any kind since early February. As a team, the Celtics shot 53.3% from the field and turned the ball over only five times. How’s that for convincing?
