This week, the East and West playoff races heated up and Kyrie Irving went off for a career high. Let’s take a look back.
All the talk lately has been about the top seeds in the East and West and who could possibly challenge them for the conference crown. What has been somewhat overlooked to this point have been the playoff races developing at the other end of the standings.
In the West, the Spurs, Clippers and Mavs all sit 11 games back of the Warriors and occupy the 5-7 seeds. The Spurs have seen something of a resurgence from Tony Parker as of late and have won seven of their last ten.
Meanwhile the Mavs have have been a bit more up and down. They are 10-10 in their last 20 contests and were humiliated by the Cavs on Tuesday before turning around and hammering the Clippers in LA on Friday.
The Mavs and Spurs have two more meetings with each other in March that could provide some separation.
The Clippers are 9-10 since February 2nd. They have floundered a bit without the services of Blake Griffin, but they got the big man back on Sunday.
Though he looked rusty and had some bad turnovers on the 100-98 loss to the Rockets, Griffin will no doubt help this team as they come down the stretch. It doesn’t hurt LA that eight of their last 15 games will be against the Knicks, Sixers, Hornets, Kings, Nuggets, and Lakers.
The Thunder sit firmly in the eight spot, four and a half games behind those teams listed above. Westbrook, of course, has been playing out of his mind, but the Thunder are barely over five hundred during this amazing stretch of play from their star guard.
The good news for Thunder fans is that Kevin Durant is expected to make his return in about a week.
The New Orleans Pelicans are nipping at the heels of the Thunder and now sit a single game back of the final playoff spot. Anthony Davis returned after missing some time with a shoulder issue and has been on a tear of his own that has catapulted him into the MVP discussion.
The Pelicans are 9-3 in their last 12 games and just got an amazing performance from Davis on Sunday. AD put up 36 points, 14 rebounds, nine blocks and seven assists against the Nuggets, but it was not enough as the Pelicans fell to Denver in double-overtime.
The Pelicans have the toughest remaining schedule of any of these teams chasing playoff spots in the West. Nine of their final 15 games will be against playoff teams including two each against the Rockets and Warriors.
In the East, things are even tighter among the final four teams competing for two playoff spots. Indiana, Charlotte, Miami and Boston are separated by a single game with Indiana and Charlotte occupying the 7th and 8th seeds respectively.
Indiana just happens to be the hottest team in the East right now. The Pacers did just have their seven-game winning streak snapped by the Celtics on Saturday, but they are still 13-3 since February 4th.
Head coach Frank Vogel finally got his rotation right with Rodney Stuckey coming off the bench to provide a major scoring punch.
Couple their progression with the fact that Paul George seems to be edging closer to a return and the Pacer, of all teams, could be a tough first round opponent for some unlucky East power.
Boston has now ripped off four wins in a row and are 9-2 in their last 11. They may just go from lottery lock to a surprise playoff appearance. In their four-game streak, the Celtics didn’t just feed on the worst of the East. They beat Memphis in addition to the Pacers and Heat.
Isaiah Thomas has provided the scoring boost that Boston needed. Since coming over from the Suns, Thomas has averaged career highs in points and assists. Boston has also seen improved play from Tyler Zeller and Evan Turner in this stretch as well.
Eleven of their final 17 games will come against opponents who currently occupy a playoff spot so the Celtics will need to continue their recent form if they are to stay out of the lottery.
The Hornets are 7-7 in their last 14 games and while that not sound that great, a .500 record on the season would land them in firmly in the playoff picture in the LEASTern Conference. Kemba Walker returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing 18 games following knee surgery.
Al Jefferson got some good news after leaving Wednesday’s contest against the Kings in the third quarter with a calf injury. Jefferson’s MRI was negative and the big man is expected to return to action sooner than later.
The Hornets have been riddled by injury this season, but with Walker and Jefferson back healthy they should be in good shape to close out the season.
Without a doubt, the performance of the week belonged to Kyrie Irving for his 57-point explosion against the Spurs in their overtime thriller on Thursday.
The 57 points is a career-high for Kyrie and bests his 55-point performance against Portland in January. Irving is the first former Duke Blue Devil to score 50-plus in the NBA
Irving was out of his mind. He hit all 10 of his free throw attempts and nailed all seven of this three point attempts. The biggest threes were his last two in regulation which pulled the Cavs within three with 31 seconds remaining and the shot at the buzzer that sent things to overtime.
Irving had 46 points at the end of regulation and put on a show in the extra period. Kyrie had 11 points including two more threes to seal the 128-125 Cavs victory.
The game definitely had a playoff feel to it. Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker carried the Spurs and matched up well against Kyrie and LeBron through most of the game.
Kyrie was hitting shots with a hand or hands in his face all game long. 27 of his 32 field goal attempts were contested. Irving hit on 63 percent of those contested shots.
