The Sacramento Kings have officially done it. After 16 seasons, the longest playoff drought in the NBA is over. The Kings officially clinched a playoff spot tonight by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-80. That playoff spot is their first since sneaking in as a No. 8 seed after the 2005-06 season. Since then, the Kings have become synonymous with disappointment in the NBA.
The Dallas Mavericks' poor run of form continued on Wednesday night with a 116-108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Losers of five of their last six and 14 of their last 20, the Mavs are now 37-40 on the season, and stuck in 11th place in the Western Conference after having mortgaged a good chunk of their future for Kyrie Irving less than two months ago.
Nearly seven weeks after he was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Durant finally made his home debut with his new team. He looked very much like a player who had only suited up three times since Jan. 8 due to various injuries, as he finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 5 of 18 from the field in the Suns' 107-100 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nearly seven weeks after he was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Durant finally made his home debut with his new team. He looked very much like a player who had only suited up three times since Jan. 8 due to various injuries, as he finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 5 of 18 from the field in the Suns' 107-100 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2023 is stacked. Recent NBA stars Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker are among the finalists who have been elected into the Hall of Fame. San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has also been elected, as has WNBA legend Becky Hammon, according to ESPN. An official announcement revealing the full class is expected to come this weekend during the NCAA Final Four.
Bronny James was the only player at the McDonald's All-American game that is uncommitted to a college. Every potential school on his list was drooling with the hope that he will choose them after his showing vs. the best high-school competition in the nation.
Technically speaking, Tuesday's game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans was not a must-win game for the Golden State Warriors. But it felt about as close as you can get to that with this virtually inseparable Western Conference playoff/play-in race steaming toward a photo finish.
The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up a vital victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night, 99-96. They did so thanks to a clutch 3-pointer in the closing seconds by Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds, but also thanks to a critical error by the referees.
The Minnesota Timberwolves scored a huge road win against the Warriors on Sunday. The Wolves are now tied in the loss column with the Warriors and currently own the tiebreaker by virtue of a better conference win percentage (though that is far from sealed; Minnesota leads by one game). Still, with seven games to play, the Wolves control their own destiny to win the No. 6 seed over Golden State.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of where things stand in the Eastern Conference playoff and play-in races entering play on Monday. This post will update daily throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are clinched.
When LeBron James went down with an injury in late February, it all but spelled disaster for a Los Angeles Lakers team that was 29-32 at the time. However, in James' absence, the Lakers have managed to go 8-5, and have reached the .500 mark for the first time this season following a 116-111 nail-biting win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder Friday night. That's a huge accomplishment for a team that started the season 2-10.
The Phoenix Suns jumped back into the No. 4 seed with a home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Phoenix is one game up in the loss column on the No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers with one matchup left, and an effective two up on No. 6 Golden State Warriors with the tiebreaker clinched.
Entering Thursday night's matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro hadn't made a 3-pointer in a little over a week, eight days to be exact. He's shooting a career-high 35.3% from downtown on the year, but the last couple games had been unkind to his shooting percentage. Well, that mini shooting slump ended Thursday night when Okoro not only went 3 of 4 from downtown, but knocked down the game-winning triple to stamp the Cavs' 116-114 comeback win on the road.
The Brooklyn Nets have picked a bad time to lose five straight. With their latest defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, the Nets fell below the play-in line to the No. 7 seed, replaced at No. 6 by the idle Miami Heat.
The Phoenix Suns have lost three straight to slip behind the Clippers and into the No. 5 seed, just one game up in the loss column on the No. 6 Warriors, who kicked off their home stand with a victory over Philadelphia on Friday.
The Memphis Grizzlies typically have all the answers at home, but the Houston Rockets are posing a tough problem. The Rockets currently hold a 2 to nothing lead.
There's an old saying in sports: "It only takes one." With a 127-125 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, the visitingGolden State Warriors might've gotten the one they so desperately needed to turn the corner toward a postseason run.
Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant met with media members for the first time on Tuesday following his eight-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league. While he was away from the team, Morant spent time at a counseling program in Florida in order to learn how to better manage stress, and even though he's set to get back to business on the court, he made it clear that his self-improvement journey is far from over.
Although the Oklahoma City Thunder were the underdogs at tipoff, they've since taken control of the game. They currently hold a 2 to nothing lead over the Los Angeles Clippers.
For a team that has been waiting all season to show its championship mettle, the Los Angeles Clippers have concerns about the status of one of their star players. Paul George appeared to injure his right leg late in the fourth quarter of a 101-100 loss to the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night. On Wednesday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that George would be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks with a sprained knee.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' thrilling 140-134 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night was one of the best showcases we've seen all season for the league's incredible depth of talent these days. Two teams not known for their offense -- though the Knicks are better than they get credit for -- combined for 274 points in regulation and shot a combined 99-of-168 from the field.
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving left the arena with a protective walking boot on his right foot after his team's 112-108 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. Irving said the boot is "precautionary," and he hopes to be ready for the team's next game on Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors.
The Philadelphia 76ers had their eight-game win streak snapped by the Chicago Bulls on Monday, but Joel Embiid managed to extend his streak of 30-point games to 10 with 37 and 16 rebounds.
The Denver Nuggets' win over the lowly Detroit Pistons on Thursday night did not, as it turned out, solve all their problems. The top team in the Western Conference returned to its losing ways on Saturday afternoon with a 116-110 defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The Memphis Grizzlies are "hopeful" that star guard Ja Morant will return to action on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets. Morant is now eligible to return to play after his suspension, but he is going through a return-to-play conditioning program after missing so much time.
Joel Embiid continued his MVP push on Saturday night with another dominant performance in the Philadelphia 76ers' 141-121 win over the Indiana Pacers. Despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter because the game was out of hand, Embiid finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on shooting 10 of 15 from the field.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks has been fined $35,000 for the "unsportsmanlike act of shoving a camera person" during the team's 138-119 loss to the Miami Heat on March 15, the league announced on Friday.
Another road game, another loss for the Golden State Warriors, who came up short against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, 127-119, despite Steph Curry putting up 31 points and six different players scoring in double figures.
Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards will be out indefinitely due to a sprained ankle, head coach Chris Finch said on Saturday. Edwards, who remains in a walking boot, was injured during the team's thrilling 139-131 double-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.
There is still no show in sports that quite measures up to Stephen Curry on a heater. At 35 years old, the Warriors' superstar is as electric as ever, and he was at it again on Wednesday with 50 points against the Clippers.
The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday to give a game back to Boston and Philadelphia in the race for the East's No. 1 seed. Milwaukee now leads the Celtics and Sixers by two in the loss column. It could get interesting with Boston and Milwaukee still having one matchup left, which will also decide the season tiebreaker.
The Denver Nuggets clinched at least a top-six seed with a win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, joining the Milwaukee Bucks as the first two teams to seal playoff spots.
On Nov. 11, the 2-10 Los Angeles Lakers had the worst record in the NBA. Less than a month later, on Dec. 7, the New Orleans Pelicans took over the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Both teams would move around the standings a fair bit even early on, but generally speaking, there was a sentiment for the first two months of the season that the Lakers were going to be among the NBA's worst teams when the season ended and that the Pelicans were going to be among its best.
With less than a month to go in the 2022-23 NBA regular season, there is still so much to be decided in the seeding races. But however it shakes out, I believe that a somewhat reliable championship picture, albeit a pretty vast one, is starting to develop.
The Philadelphia 76ers got 64 combined points from Joel Embiid and James Harden in defeating the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. The Sixers remain tied in the loss column with the No. 2 Celtics with 14 games to play.
Although the Sacramento Kings were the underdogs at tipoff, they've since taken control of the game. Either team is in a position to win, but they lead against the Milwaukee Bucks 3 to nothing.
You can hear the call of the playground kids when it's about to go down behind the gymnasium: Fight! The whole school goes running. Sadly, kind of hilariously, it's no different for adults. We see an NBA "fight" trending on Twitter, and we all go running.
When Stephen Curry was coming of age as an NBA All-Star, Chris Paul was something of a bully brother to him. He was stronger than Curry. More savvy. A supremely tough matchup for Curry as he was still building his own strength and figuring out how to apply it best, literally and figuratively.
The Los Angeles Lakers were certainly within reach of snatching a victory away from the New York Knicks Sunday night, as D'Angelo Russell tried to will his team to a win with 33 points on an efficient 13 of 19 from the field. Anthony Davis put up a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double, but it wasn't enough to match the Knicks' offensive firepower, which included RJ Barrett and Julius Randle combining for 63 points.
With Denver on a three-game losing streak, the Kings, who have won 10 of their last 13, are not out of the running for the No. 1 seed. They trail the Nuggets by four in the loss column with just about a month to play and one head-to-head matchup remaining.
It's a close one, but it looks like the Orlando Magic's home crowd might be making the difference. Either squad is in a position to win, but they lead against the Miami Heat 4-2.
Although the Atlanta Hawks were the underdogs at tipoff, they've since taken control of the game. Either squad is in a position to win, but they lead against the Boston Celtics 2 to nothing.
The experts predicted a victory for the Memphis Grizzlies, but it's no sure thing at this point. They currently hold a 2 to nothing lead over the Dallas Mavericks.
The chances of seeing Lonzo Ball play in an NBA game anytime soon just keep growing slimmer. The Bulls guard last played on Jan. 14, 2022 after suffering a right knee injury. He's since suffered several setbacks in his recovery process, and could need to have a third surgery on the same knee, per Adrian Wojnarowski. Ball first had arthroscopic surgery in January 2022 to address what at the time was called a small meniscus tear. Despite the hope that Ball would return last season, he didn't and instead had a second surgery on the same knee eight months later in September.
The Indiana Pacers will take on the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. ET Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana is 29-37 overall and 18-16 at home, while Houston is 15-50 overall and 6-27 on the road. The Pacers have won each of the last six meetings between these teams, including a 99-91 victory in November.
Although the Memphis Grizzlies were the underdogs at tipoff, they've since taken control of the game. Either team is in a position to win, but they lead against the Los Angeles Clippers 2 to nothing.
The New York Knicks might be announcing themselves as something more than a fun regular-season story. With a 133-131, double-overtime victory over the Celtics, on the road, without Jalen Brunson, on Sunday night, the Knicks' win streak has now reached nine games.
Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant will be away from the team for at least the next two games, the Grizzlies announced on Saturday. The decision came shortly after it was revealed that the NBA is investigating a post that was circulating on social media on Saturday in which Morant is seen appearing to brandish a gun at a club.
The experts predicted a victory for the Memphis Grizzlies, but it's no sure thing at this point. They currently hold a 2 to nothing lead over the Houston Rockets.
Everyone has been waiting on Kevin Durant's debut with the Phoenix Suns. It happened Wednesday night in Charlotte, and it didn't take long for Durant, who has been sidelined for nearly two months after spraining his MCL on January 8, to remind us all how awesome he is and how awesome he's going to be for the Suns.
P.J. Tucker signed a three-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers at the start of free agency last summer, but he would have preferred to remain with the Miami Heat, the team he played for last season.
LaMelo Ball is expected to miss the remainder of the season after fracturing his right ankle, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. Ball sustained the injury in the Hornets win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday, the Charlotte Hornetsannounced. The play came in the third quarter, with the Hornets leading by double digits. Ball was handling the basketball and attempted a behind-the-back dribble. He fell to the ground afterward in significant pain. He left the game and did not return.
Just about everything that could have gone wrong for the Boston Celtics wound up going wrong in a 109-94 defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks. Jaylen Brown missed the game for personal reasons, though he is expected to return on Wednesday. The Celtics shot a meager 9-of-42 from 3-point range. Their defeat handed the 43-17 Milwaukee Bucks, owners of an NBA-best 14-game winning streak, control of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James has never been one to rest on his laurels. Despite four championships, four MVPs, the all-time scoring record and more accolades than we could reasonably list, he's still gunning for more. It came as no surprise, therefore, when he pegged the next two months as some of the most important regular-season basketball he will ever play. "It's 23 of the most important games of my career, for the regular season," James said at All-Star weekend. "That's the type of mindset that I have and I hope the guys will have coming off the break."