Sunday 4/7 NBA Game Thread

[bisme37]

It's a 13 game Sunday in which hella playoff related things will likely occur!

East #2-#5: All four teams play across three games...
(5) New York at (2) Milwaukee (7 ET, NBA TV)
(3) Cleveland at (4) LA Clippers (3:30 ET, NBA App)
(4) Orlando vs. (9) Chicago (6 ET, NBA App)
What’s At Stake?

Spoiler:

The Bucks will begin and end Sunday second in the East as they hold a 1.5-game lead over their closest challenger
The Cavs need a win to fend off the Magic and Knicks, who are both just a half-game back and both own tiebreakers over the Cavs
The Magic go for the season sweep of the Bulls, and can climb to third with a win and a Cavs loss
The Knicks can reach third with a win over the Bucks and losses by the Cavs and Magic. A Knicks win coupled with a Cavs loss and Magic win would lift the Knicks to fourth

East Playoff vs. Play-In: All three teams play, including a head-to-head showdown in Indy...
(7) Miami at (6) Indiana (5 ET, NBA App)
(8) Philadelphia at San Antonio (7 ET, NBA App)
What’s At Stake?

Spoiler:

For the Heat and Pacers, the stakes are simple, the winner takes hold of the coveted No. 6 seed and the head-to-head tiebreaker
The Sixers go for their fifth straight win and have a chance to move up to seventh (with a win and Heat loss). Philly does not hold a tiebreaker over either team, so a loss could be a crushing blow to their hopes of getting out of the Play-In

West Top 3: Two of the three teams play today...
(2) Wolves at (8) Lakers (10 ET, NBA TV)
(3) Thunder at Hornets (6 ET, NBA App)
What’s At Stake?

Spoiler:

The Wolves can reclaim first in the West with a win. They would tie Denver at 54-24 and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker (leading 2-1 with one game to play on April 10)
The Thunder can close the gap on the idle Nuggets and the Wolves (should Minnesota lose) but cannot climb higher than third Sunday as the Wolves hold the tiebreaker

West Playoff vs. Play-In: All five teams are in action, including a head-to-head showdown in Phoenix...
(5) Mavs vs. Rockets (3:30 ET, NBA TV)
(7) Pelicans at (6) Suns (6 ET, NBA App)
(8) Lakers vs. (2) Wolves (10 ET, NBA TV)
(9) Kings at Nets (7:30 ET NBA App)
What’s At Stake?

Spoiler:

The Mavs will remain fifth regardless of outcome as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Suns (the only team that can match their record today)
The Suns will remain sixth regardless of outcome as they already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Pelicans (leading 2-0 entering today’s matchup)
The Pelicans can drop to eighth with a loss and Lakers win; they can’t drop to ninth as they hold the tiebreaker with the Kings
The Lakers can climb to seventh with a win and a Pelicans loss, or drop back to ninth with a loss and Kings win
The Kings can climb to eighth with a win and a Lakers loss

Final West Play-In Spot: Both teams play today...
(10) Warriors vs. Jazz (8:30 ET, NBA App)
(11) Rockets at Mavs (3:30 ET, NBA TV)
What’s At Stake?

Spoiler:

The Warriors clinch the final West postseason berth with a win or a Rockets loss

[bisme37]

Here's what happened yesterday:

The Nuggets and Lakers made moves in the West, while the Sixers continue to inch closer to the Playoff vs. Play-In line.
⬆️ Denver: The Nuggets rise to first in the West, taking a half-game lead over No. 2 Minnesota and 1.5 games over No. 3 OKC
⬇️ Minnesota: The Wolves drop from first to second in the West with the Nuggets’ win
⬆️ L.A. Lakers: The Lakers break a tie with the Kings to climb from ninth to eighth in the West, taking a half-game lead on No. 9 Sacramento and moving a half-game back of No. 7 New Orleans and 1.5 games back of No. 6 Phoenix
⬇️ Sacramento: The Kings drop from eighth to ninth in the West with the Lakers’ win
↔️ Cleveland: The Cavs remain third in the East, 1.5 games back of No. 2 Milwaukee and just a half-game up on No. 4 Orlando and No. 5 New York
↔️ Philadelphia: The Sixers remain eighth in the East, moving within a half-game of No. 7 Miami and one game of No. 6 Indiana
↔️ Atlanta: The Hawks remain 10th in the East, dropping 1.5 games back of No. 9 Chicago

[California Gold]

Huge game for the Lakers on their quest to get that 6th seed. Equally huge for the Suns and Pelicans who are right with them. Suns have a tough schedule to finish the season. I think the Lakers will take that 6th seed if they win today.

[Homer38]

Huge game for the Lakers on their quest to get that 6th seed. Equally huge for the Suns and Pelicans who are right with them. Suns have a tough schedule to finish the season. I think the Lakers will take that 6th seed if they win today.

For the schedule of the suns,they have back to back game vs clippers,game vs kings and final game of the season vs MIN,likely the wolves will rest their starter and I don't think the clippers are really motivate to beat the suns at least once....I think the suns will finish 6th....The goal for LAL is to be 7 or 8...great if they are 6th but this is unlikely

[California Gold]

Huge game for the Lakers on their quest to get that 6th seed. Equally huge for the Suns and Pelicans who are right with them. Suns have a tough schedule to finish the season. I think the Lakers will take that 6th seed if they win today.

For the schedule of the suns,they have back to back game vs clippers,game vs kings and final game of the season vs MIN,likely the wolves will rest their starter and I don't think the clippers are really motivate to beat the suns at least once....I think the suns will finish 6th....The goal for LAL is to be 7 or 8...great if they are 6th but this is unlikely

Minnesota will likely rest their starters if they have a chance to get the 1 seed?

Too early to tell on that kind of stuff, I would doubt they rest starters though if they beat Denver head to head next week. Beating the same team twice back to back is tough, so I do see the Clippers taking one of those. The real question is where that 2nd loss will come from. Kings and Pelicans are both in the same race as the Suns and Lakers so I can imagine both games can go either way for the Suns. Minnesota can be as high as 1 and as low as 3. I think they're more likely to play their starters in that last game of the season with a lot on the line.

[Dirk]

If Luka is playing, Jock Landale is probably going to make a business decision and sit this one out.

[Mrakar]

I know you will not earn a lot of money betting on the Suns since they are the favourites against Pelicans tonight, but feel free to bet your house on the Suns. Again "must-win" game for the Pelicans to stay in upper bracket of the play-in tournament but there is 0% chance that Pels win this. Suns are smarter team, Booker is on fire against Pels since that Zion windmill and Vogel is by far better coach in the matchup. If they played 100 games in this situation, i wouldnt bet on Pels winning more then 2.

[Homer38]

I know you will not earn a lot of money betting on the Suns since they are the favourites against Pelicans tonight, but feel free to bet your house on the Suns. Again "must-win" game for the Pelicans to stay in upper bracket of the play-in tournament but there is 0% chance that Pels win this. Suns are smarter team, Booker is on fire against Pels since that Zion windmill and Vogel is by far better coach in the matchup. If they played 100 games in this situation, i wouldnt bet on Pels winning more then 2.

Maybe a trap game for the suns....They lost not too long ago against the spurs without Wemby!

I don't think the Suns are going to lose tonight but you never know in the NBA sometimes!

[Mrakar]

I know you will not earn a lot of money betting on the Suns since they are the favourites against Pelicans tonight, but feel free to bet your house on the Suns. Again "must-win" game for the Pelicans to stay in upper bracket of the play-in tournament but there is 0% chance that Pels win this. Suns are smarter team, Booker is on fire against Pels since that Zion windmill and Vogel is by far better coach in the matchup. If they played 100 games in this situation, i wouldnt bet on Pels winning more then 2.

Maybe a trap game for the suns....They lost not too long ago against the spurs without Wemby!

I don't think the Suns are going to lose tonight but you never know in the NBA sometimes!

They could lose to Wizards, to Pistons, to "Trust the Process" 76ers but not to "2024 must-win Pelicans".

[_jin]

Vassell, Sochan, Osman, Barlow out and Keldon questionable for Spurs. Embiid, Lowry, Covington out and Maxey and Harris questionable for 76ers. They should make the game a 3v3.

[Johnny Tomala]

Mavericks, Pacers, Suns, Bucks, Lakers.

[ChipotleWest]

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[ChipotleWest]

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[BigDan245]

Cavs lose today and buckle up...The East 2-8 seed race is gonna be wild.

[Archx]

Since the trade deadline, Mavs are 19-7. The only team with a better record is Boston with 22-4.

[Homer38]

Since the trade deadline, Mavs are 19-7. The only team with a better record is Boston with 22-4.

2 of those losses by the celtics was in back to back game against the hawks!

[Archx]

Since the trade deadline, Mavs are 19-7. The only team with a better record is Boston with 22-4.

2 of those losses by the celtics was in back to back game against the hawks!

I hope Celtics play Hawks in the 1st round so that Mavs could become NBA champs. Otherwise it's going to be tough.

[bisme37]

Bummer we won't get Embiid vs Wemby today. Lots of games but I was gonna check that out for sure. Joel is out to give his knee a rest.

[rockmanslim]

Luka forgot how to dribble all of a sudden

[bisme37]

Good start for the Rockets. I appreciate a young team still going for it even when they are basically already eliminated from the playoffs.