There were so many games last night (14) in the NBA, your fingers go calloused from switching the remote and your brain got scrambled by considering all the playoff possibilities.
Bottom line: There are still eight nights left of regular season basketball, a lot can happen over those eight days, and we need to find a way to give you a synopsis of what’s up.
To do that, we’ll focus today on the teams with 32-30 records.
There are three of them, they all played last night, and only one of them emerged from the night with a much-needed ‘W.’
That lone team was the Philadelphia 76ers, who met the challenge of playing the third game of a back-to-back-back set by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-87 to strengthen their grip on the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference as their closest pursuer, the Milwaukee Bucks, dropped a winnable game in Washington to fall 2 1/2 games behind the Sixers.
Those other two 32-30 teams, the Phoenix Suns and the Houston Rockets, were on the outside looking in by the end of the night after the Suns could not defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets got Dirked by the defending NBA champions to lose their fifth in a row, and the Utah Jazz (33-30) moved a half-game ahead of them by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers.
That’s the big picture in a nutshell.
So now let’s have a closer look, beginning with the Rockets’ fifth loss in a row, a 117-110 defeat in which Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter:
From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “For the Rockets, the path to the playoffs is clear. Clarity does come when you have your longest losing streak of the season down the stretch to fall from sixth to 10th. “It’s tough now,” Chandler Parsons said. “We basically have to win out. We do have to win out.” Unless they somehow go from a five-game losing streak to a four-game winning streak, they will have turned into the Boston Red Sox without the fried chicken and beer. If they do somehow pull off such a spectacular turnaround, they still might not get in. It is, however, easier to see them getting the help they need than the four wins. With the Suns and Jazz holding the tie-breakers against the Rockets, the Rockets’ only way in to the playoffs is to get past both in the standings. The Rockets have to win in New Orleans tonight, take care of the freefalling Warriors and somehow win in Miami, where the Heat have the league’s best home record and the Rockets will be playing their sixth game in eight days. Then, heading into the season finale against the Hornets, they need the Jazz and Suns to lose at least once each. That is possible. They play each other in Salt Lake City. If the Suns somehow beat the Jazz on the road, they could still drop a game at home to the Nuggets, Clippers or Spurs. That’s the Rockets’ way in.”
Next we turn to the Suns, whose second-half surge has put Alvin Gentry squarely in the Coach of the Year debate. What may make or break him is whether Phoenix can get in. And with the Suns allowing 40 points to James Harden of the Thunder in a 109-97 loss, getting in just got a step harder.
From Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic: “Wednesday night was a cold reminder of what might be in store for them if they get there. The Suns fell back out of the playoff picture, dropping to ninth place in the Western Conference with a 109-97 loss to Oklahoma City at US Airways Center. The loss allowed Utah to move into eighth place, a half-game ahead of Phoenix and Houston, and the Thunder completed a three-game season sweep. The Suns can move back into an eighth-place tie with Utah if they win at home against the Clippers tonight, when Grant Hill is expected to return after missing two games because of a sore right knee. With a week remaining in the season, Houston also could be in that tie with a win tonight at New Orleans, but the Suns hold the tiebreaker in either a two-way or three-way tie. Get through to the playoffs, and the Suns could wind up facing Oklahoma City (45-17), which is a half-game behind West leader San Antonio.”We’ve just got to go for broke now,” Suns point guard Steve Nash said. The Thunder guy who lit up the Suns for a second consecutive meeting is the type of scoring, playmaking young wing the Suns would like to grab in free agency, but they would have to wait another year. Former Arizona State star James Harden, the favorite to win the Sixth Man Award, set a career high of 30 points when he last played the Suns and made his only Valley visit of the season memorable Wednesday night with a new career high of 40 points. Only Kobe Bryant (48) and DeMarcus Cousins (41) have scored more on the Suns this season, but Harden did it off the bench to turn around an awful Thunder start.
As for the Jazz, Devin Harris made three of his six 3-pointers in the first quarter as Utah defeated Portland 112-91 in their final road game of the season.
From Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune: “Utah (33-30) will make the playoffs if it wins its final three games. All are at home, where the Jazz are 22-8 this season. Two are against teams — Portland, Orlando — missing big-name All-Stars. And a contest against Phoenix next Thursday is shaping up as the make-or-break matchup for the Jazz’s season. Minutes after downing the Blazers, Utah’s locker room was as proud and strong as it’s been all year. Al Jefferson sang. Paul Millsap laughed and teased. Gordon Hayward smiled and slapped a low-five. All the while, Harris quietly but confidently talked about his game. He discussed his mid-career resurgence. The improved 3-point shot he worked on throughout the lockout. A team that’s believed in itself since December, weathered injuries and losing streaks, and emerged to finally be within sight of the postseason. “I’ve got a better feel of when to be effective and how to be aggressive and when I kind of need to defer to the other guys, and I think we’re doing a great job of really doing that lately,” said Harris, who scored a game-high 27 points in just 29 minutes and 37 seconds.
Back in the East, Philadelphia’s victory and Milwaukee’s 121-112 loss at Washington created a 2 1/2 game separation in the standings. There remains a critical game between the two teams next Wednesday with a two-team tiebreaker at stake, but Milwaukee will need to make up ground in the meantime to make that game meaningful.
From Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “Wizards guard Jordan Crawford, playing despite a sprained right ankle, matched a season high with 32 points and hit a dagger three-pointer with 51.8 seconds left, giving Washington a 115-109 lead. And center Nene, who returned to action after missing 10 games with plantar fasciitis, contributed 14 points while playing just 18 minutes. It was a night to forget for the Bucks (29-32), who fell 2½ games behind Philadelphia (32-30) for the eighth playoff spot in the East when the 76ers won at Cleveland, 103-87. Milwaukee has just five games to play, including a road game against Indiana on Thursday night. The 76ers have four games left, all on the road, including a game at the Bradley Center next week. “This was a terrible loss, especially to a team that has been struggling all year,” Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings said. “To come in here and give one away is bad.”
From Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: “During halftime of Tuesday’s home loss to the Indiana Pacers, coach Doug Collins told forward Andre Iguodala he needed to stay aggressive in his approach, look to score and take the ball to the basket with more frequency. Tuesday, Iguodala responded with 23 points. Against the Cavs, Iguodala again showed positive aggression as he went for 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Jrue Holiday single-handedly powered the Sixers to the win, though, with a huge third quarter. The point guard scored 19 points in the period, helping the Sixers to a 31-17 scoring advantage and a lead that grew to as many as 22 points. Holiday drained all five of his three-point attempts and also dealt five assists. He finished with 24 points and five assists. Collins did a little lineup shuffling again Wednesday. After two turnovers and a foul in 2 minutes, 31 seconds to start the game, the coach benched starting center Nikola Vucevic, splitting the center time for most of the game between Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen.”
Elsewhere in the NBA last night:
- Matching their season high with 14 3-pointers, the L.A. Clippers won for the 13th time in 15 games, 104-98 at Denver. Despite 24 points from Ty Lawson, the Nuggets lost at home for the first time since March 19 and slipped into seventh place in the West, a half-game behind Dallas. The Nuggets have four games left, three on the road, as they try to secure their ninth straight trip to the playoffs. “We’re going to have to win a couple more games,” Denver coach George Karl said.
- Andrew Bynum had 31 points and nine rebounds, Pau Gasol had a triple-double of 2 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Lakers beat the undermanned Warriors 99-87 in what should be their last game without the injured Bryant. After sitting out the past seven games, Bryant (bruised shin) pronounced himself pain-free and likely to return Friday night at San Antonio. The Lakers hold a half-game lead over the Clippers in the Pacific and own the tiebreaker.
- The New York Knicks improved to 15-5 under interim coach Mike Woodson as Carmelo Anthony scored 21 of his 33 points in the first quarter of a 104-9 victory over the Nets. Anthony surpassed 30 points for the third straight game and the sixth time in nine games this month. He shot 11 of 21, going 5 of 7 on 3-pointers, and finished slightly ahead of the NBA-best 32.1 points he was averaging in April.
- Tim Duncan got another rest night on the tail end of a back-to-back-to-back, and he was not needed at Sacramento as the Spurs won 127-102. “Our best player (Duncan) doesn’t play and we still win by 20,” said Stephen Jackson, one of four reserves who scored in double figures. The Spurs were coming off 21-point victories at Golden State and the Lakers the previous two days and showed no signs of fatigue against the struggling Kings.
- One night after he scored 43 points, Paul Pierce had 29 points and a career-high 14 assists with Rajon Rondo sidelined by a sore lower back. His 16-footer from the right elbow with 7.6 seconds left gave the Celtics a 100-96 lead as the 24-second clock was about to expire, and Boston beat Orlando 102-98.
- Rudy Gay scored 26 points — his fourth straight 20-point game — and Mike Conley added 20 as the Grizzlies clinched a playoff spot with a 103-91 victory over New Orleans. Memphis appears to be all but locked into the No. 5 seed.
- LeBron James scored 28 points before taking the fourth quarter off, and the Miami Heat (who trail Chicago by 2 1/2 games for first place in the East heading into their meeting tonight), held Toronto to 23 second-half points in a 96-72 victory.
- Richard Hamilton made his first seven shots and scored 22 points in just 24 minutes as the Bulls gave Derick Rose and Luol Deng the night off and still trounced the Bobcats 100-68, bouncing back from their loss to the woeful Wizards.
- One night after winning by 39 against Cleveland, the Atlanta Hawks jumped out to a built a 37-point lead in the first half on the way to a 116-84 rout of the Pistons. It was the first of five straight home games to close the regular season as Atlanta (37-25) battles with Boston (37-26) and Orlando (36-26) to be the final Eastern Conference team with home-court advantage.