Play-in guests and playoff qualifiers
The Los Angeles Clippers finished the year in fifth place and will face the fourth-place Phoenix Suns in a vibrant first round of the NBA playoffs on Sunday, after 82 regular season games.
The Clippers’ win over the Suns moved the Golden State Warriors to sixth place, so the defending champions will play the Sacramento Kings.
In the play-in, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz to finish seventh and will play at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who took eighth place from the New Orleans Pelicans.
SUNS 114-119 CLIPPERS
Norman Powell, with 29 points, and Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook, with 25 each, gave the Clippers the win in Phoenix and they will play the Suns, who finished fifth ahead of the Golden State Warriors, in the first round.
The Suns played the game without Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Devin Booker and avoided facing the Warriors, although a high-voltage first round awaits them against a very competitive Clippers, pending the recovery of Paul George.
BLAZERS 101-157 WARRIORS
The champions sent a message to the other contenders by securing their presence in the playoffs with a 56-point win over the Blazers with a scoring performance. They shot 60% (58 of 96) and hit 27 three-pointers.
Steph Curry signed 25 points, with five three-pointers, and Klay Thompson put in 20, with four three-pointers. He also sealed 25 points, with four three-pointers, coming off the bench.
The Warriors finished sixth and will play in the first round of the playoffs against the Kings.
LAKERS 128-117 JAZZ
LeBron James turned in a monumental performance with 36 points, six rebounds, six assists and eight three-pointers to help the Lakers finish seventh, which will give them home-court advantage against the Wolves.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who will play in the playoffs for the second time in three years after failing to qualify last season, will need a win against the Wolves to advance to the playoffs.
TIMBERWOLVES 113-108 PELICANS
The Wolves won the head-to-head matchup against the Pelicans and managed to finish eighth, which allows them, a priori, to avoid a play-in round.
The duel was marked by a fierce altercation between Wolves players in the first half. Frenchman Rudy Gobert punched teammate Kyle Anderson and was taken to the locker room by his team, without returning to the contest.
MAVERICKS 117-138 SPURS
After being officially eliminated from the postseason on Friday in a game in which management decided to leave out their stars, the Mavericks closed out a year to forget with a humiliation at home against the Spurs.
The Texans played without Luka Doncic, who did not appear before the media to comment on the Mavericks’ failed season. The Slovenian did speak this Sunday and assured after the game that he is “happy” in Dallas and put to rest rumors about his possible departure.
NUGGETS 109-95 KINGS
The Nuggets, already sure of the lead in the West, beat the Kings without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.
Bruce Brown, with 21 points, led a group of seven Nuggets players in double figures.
THUNDER 115-100 GRIZZLIES
Center Kenneth Lofton Jr. had a double-double of 42 points and 14 rebounds, but the Grizzlies, without Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson, fell to the Thunder in an inconsequential game for both franchises.
Tre Mann, with a triple double of 24 points, twelve rebounds and twelve assists was the best of the Thunder.
CELTICS 120-114 HAWKS
Neither the Celtics nor the Hawks, second and eighth respectively, wanted to risk their stars. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Marcus Smart were absent in Boston, while Atlanta played without Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and Clint Capela, among others.
In the face of those absences, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser starred in a three-point shooting fest. The former made nine and the latter eight for a total of 25 three-point shots as a team.
RAPTORS 121-105 BUCKS
Against a starless Bucks, the Raptors triumphed fueled by Gary Trent’s 23 points and four three-pointers in a game in which the Canadians rotated Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
Toronto is already looking ahead to Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls. The Bucks, the NBA’s best team (58-24), will face a playoff team.
BULLS 103-81 PISTONS
The Bulls were one of the few franchises that did not rotate their stars and, with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine starting, triumphed against the Pistons, bottom of the East.
LaVine scored 17 points and DeRozan 16 for the Bulls, who will play the Raptors on Wednesday.
NETS 105-134 76ERS
Mikal Bridges joined the small club of players who have played 83 games in an NBA regular season by starting for the Brooklyn Nets against the Philadelphia 76ers, with Joel Embiid and James Harden sitting out.
Only 42 players in NBA history have reached that mark, and Bridges did it after playing 56 games with the Phoenix Suns and 27 with the Nets, whom he joined in February in a trade that brought Kevin Durant to Arizona.
KNICKS 136-141 PACERS
Already out of postseason contention, the Pacers won at Madison Square Garden with 26 points from Bennedict Mathurin and a brilliant 19-of-54 three-point shooting (55.9%).
In the Knicks, the Cavaliers’ rivals in the first round of the play-in, the best was Obi Toppin, with 34 points and five three-pointers.
CAVALIERS 95-106 HORNETS
Spaniard Ricky Rubio started for the second consecutive game and contributed six points, five rebounds and seven assists in 26 minutes in the Cavaliers’ loss to the Hornets.
Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Caris LeVert did not play for the Cavs.
HEAT 123-110 MAGIC
The Heat honored Udonis Haslem, their flagship and three-time NBA champion, who is retiring at age 42 after 20 years with the franchise. The forward will remain on the team’s coaching staff.
Haslem treated himself to a 24-point afternoon, with three three-pointers and three rebounds. Jimmy Butler did not play and stars like Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo started, but played only a few minutes.
WIZARDS 109-114 ROCKETS
Jabari Smith led a group of seven players over 10 points with 20 points in the Rockets’ win at the Wizards.
