The Sixers accelerate in a final stretch of photo finish: the Heat (52-28) are almost tied for first place in the Eastern Conference, the strongest in many years, but they still have to tie it down. Behind, the mess is serious: Celtics, Bucks and Sixers, right now in that order, are second, third and fourth with the same balance (49-30). Like so many times in their history, the Sixers and Celtics fight for the atlantic and this time they are also fighting for home court advantage in a hypothetical second round. After all his sins, those of Doc Rivers (who carries his own) add three wins in a row and close against the Raptors, Pacers and Pistons. They can allow themselves flattering speculations with the playoffs only ten days away.
In Indiana, his rival last night and also next Friday, in his penultimate game, they won with 131 points and 23 triples (franchise record) with a brilliant 57% (23/40). The victory, still, was not exactly brilliant, not after a crushing first half (59-82). The Pacers, on the way to their eighth straight loss and the fifth worst team in the NBA in full embrace of tanking (25-55 now) reacted in a second half in which they turned a 61-87 lead into a 109-113 run with nine minutes remaining that forced the Sixers to make one last defensive effort that they probably didn’t even count on. But it was enough for them against a rival that right now falls under its own weight, who scored eleven triples less (12/40) and accumulated 16 turnovers. Tyrese Haliburton continues at a high level as an essential pillar for the future of the franchise: 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists.
against an opponent small and shallow in the zones, Joel Embiid played at will. He only pushed on defense when strictly necessary. And in attack he did what he wanted. When he defended only one rival, he scored without problems. When up to four players piled on top of him, he found shooters wide open. That easy. And 45 points with 13 rebounds and 18/30 shooting that have a double message: on the one hand, they help to put the final touches on his candidacy for MVP, which he is in charge of polishing without shame, ensuring that he doesn’t know what else he should do if you don’t win the award this year. For another, leads the scoring race again, now 30.4 per night with Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James (and his sprained ankle) tenth up, tenth down. Beware: Embiid has twelve games with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds. He may be the first center since Shaquille O’Neal with the Leading Scorer award…and the first center since merger NBA-ABA (1976) with more than 30 average points in a complete season. An atrocity.
James Harden had 11 points and 14 assists. His ability to move the ball is always remarkable but he will not provide his peak differential if he is not capable of physical revs for the playoffs and if he continues to not take advantage of the changes that leave him with interiors big in front of him. The actions that made him a lethal machine in the Rockets. In any case, life is much easier for the Sixers if the 3s come in: 5/6 and 17 points for Tobias Harris, increasingly comfortable in that role of receiving released and throwing, and 8/11 and 30 points for Tyrese Maxey, who had already made seven triples at halftime and who has essential value as plunger in a Sixers with a dangerous propensity to collapse but with a monumental axis on which everything revolves: their sun kingJoel Embid.
Miami has the lead in the pocket
After their horrendous defeats, the almost fight between Erik Spoelstra and Jimmy Butler and the feeling that things were falling apart at the worst time, the Heat have responded in an extraordinary way. They have been the Heat again: five consecutive wins and 52-28. They have two games left, at home against the Hawks and on the Magic track. If they win one, they will have the lead in the East assured and, with it, the field factor in all the qualifiers of their Conference. It’s not little.
The Hornets (40-39) are 10th now, in last place in a play in that they have insured but in which they see the eighth position in a match. That gives two bullets in the playoff with the second game at home. But they won’t get any higher with a defense that has given up 144 points in two straight games, against the Sixers and the Heat. with a feeling of light weight, the bones of those from Carolina creaked in the last quarter (42-18 towards the final 144-115) against a much tougher rival, without Kyle Lowry but with an optimal version of Jimmy Butler (27 points, 8 assists) and good by Bam Adebayo (22 and 9 rebounds). those of Florida scored 23 triples with almost 55% accuracy (23/42) with 17 added by their substitutes: 3/3 for Caleb Martin, 7/11 for a Duncan Robinson who broke his losing streak and 6/10 for Tyler Herro, who scored 35 points to polish off a Best Sixth Man award in his pocket. For the Hornets, Miles Bridges had 29 points and 6 rebounds and LaMelo Ball finished with 18 and 14 assists. He awaits you play in… but let’s see from what position.
Raptors are fifth, Bulls sixth
The third right now in the East is the Milwaukee Bucks. The champion remains (49-30) tied with the Celtics and Sixers, who are second and fourth. Of course, he secured his fourth title in a row in the Central Division after crushing the Bulls (106-127) who fell to sixth in a Conference in which they were at the top after the first part of the season. The Illinois ones they are now (45-34), one game behind the Raptors. And they are 2-20, tremendously significant, in their games against the top four East and West. Without Zach LaVine and for the entire season (confirmed) without Lonzo Ball, the Bulls were always in tow, away from a rival that is on another level. DeMar DeRozan scored 40 points and dished out 6 assists, all by himself. Especially bad was Nikola Vucevic, whose season has been disappointing and who finished this game with 7 points and 3/19 shots.
In the Bucks everything was good news, except that Giannis Antetokounmpo (18 + 9 + 7) got off the hook in his career for being the top scorer of the season. Without pressing from the start and on the bench at the end, the Greek enjoyed a placid day to some Bucks in which he wore the formula that they have not been able to have for almost the entire season: Brook Lopez at his best (28 points, 7 rebounds) and Bobby Portis and Grayson Allen (13 apiece) putting up much-needed points in the second unit.
In Toronto, the Raptors won a good game against the Hawks (118-108). They have 12 wins in the last 16 they have played and move up to fifth place in the East. The playoffs have been assured, without going through the play in, and right now they have a game advantage over the Bulls although the Chicago team has won the tiebreaker. The Hawks, meanwhile, drop to ninth but are tied with eighth (Nets) and still at risk of being 10th (Hornets are one game away).
The game was resolved thanks to the Raptors’ greatest final success, with a key triple by Fred VanVleet. Once again the contribution in defense and attack was key of the tremendous duo of forwards made up of Pascal Siakam (31 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists) and the spectacular rookie Scottie Barnes (19+14). For the Hawks, who lost their first game of the last six, Trae Young finished with 26 points and 15 assists, Huerter with 21+4 and Bogdanovic with 19 and 9 rebounds. Those from Georgia still have to play against Wizards, Heat and Rockets.
Kyrie gives the Nets a break
The Nets didn’t do anything out of this world, nor did they erase some doubts, but at least they beat the worst team in the NBA (Houston Rockets: now 20-60) and took advantage of the losses of the Hawks and Hornets to get eighth. They are one game away from being tenth … but one and a half from the seventh that some molten Cavs occupy. In that fight to position himself for the play in, they couldn’t afford to fail against the Rockets and they didn’t fail (118-115), but they did let a 21-point lead (90-69) be reduced to six (90-84) already in the last quarter and after conceding a partial from 0-15. Inexplicable. Kyrie Irving then scored eight straight points and secured the victory (41-38 Nets). The base added 17 points in the last quarter and 42 with 6 assists and 8/16 in triples in total. Kevin Durant had 18 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. In the Rockets, it follows the great end of the season of the couple Kevin Porter Jr (36 points, 13/26 shots) and the number 2 of the last draft, a Jalen Green who scored 30 points with a 12/23 and is finishing with very high note. Another rookie, Alperen Sengun, once again demonstrated that he is part of the hard core of the reconstruction (14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists) and Usman Garuba had 12 minutes this time (2+5+2).
The season is eternal for the Cavs
The Cavaliers are bottomless after an extraordinary season marked, on the other side of the coin, by terrible bad luck with injuries. Now without Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, their Twin Towers, their defense suffers so much that the Magic gave them 120 points (120-115) to break a streak of six straight losses. The second worst team in the NBA (21-59) shot much better than usual thanks to the disconnections, inappropriate a few weeks ago, of some Cavs in which Darius Garland, who played more than 41 minutes again, does what can visibly tired: 27 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists. Lauri Markkanen added 25 points with 6 triples and Kevin Love, 17 with 13 rebounds. The Cavs will no longer be able to directly access the playoffs, the punishment for eight losses in ten games. AND trying to secure seventh place: at 43-37, they are only a game and a half ahead of the Nets and Hawks, so they still have to take one last step to avoid even losing home court factor in the first play-off. For the Magic, 21 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks for Mo Bamba, 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter for Mo Wagner, 20 points for Brazdeikis and a starter for Markelle Fultz: 16 points and 6 assists.