Tuesday was a big night for playoff chase games, so much so that the Wizards clinching the division title â their first since 1979 â or the bad night for the Pacers dropping them to seventh in the East didnât even make the cut here. Here are the three big takeaways from the night.
1) In a battle of elite offenses, Warriorsâ defense gets them key win in the race for the top seed. Wednesday night comes the game that will get a lot of media attention â Golden State heads into San Antonio in a battle of the two top teams in the NBA. The Spurs are 2.5 games back of the Warriors for the No. 1 seed in the West and all of basketball, any hope they have of catching Golden State requires a win tonight.
Except it may too late for the Spurs â with their win Tuesday night, the Warriors made it tough to catch them. Fivethirtyeight.com now has Golden State with a 93 percent chance to retain the top seed in the West.
Golden State held on to beat Houston on the road Tuesday, 113-106, in a battle of the NBAâs top two offenses. However, it was Golden Stateâs elite defense that was the difference â the Warriors held the Rockets to 38.8 percent shooting overall and 16.1 percent from three. The Warriors crowd Harden with multiple defenders, and while he still puts up numbers â he had a triple-double in this game â heâs not as efficient.
Not that there wasnât an offensive show, between Hardenâs triple-double and Stephen Curry dropping 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Those two put on a show.
Golden State raced out to a fast lead and pushed that margin up to 22 by getting stops (and the Rockets just missing looks, they were 2-of-16 from deep in the first 24 minutes), then turning their defensive stops into transition buckets. Credit the Rockets because they battled back, started getting to the line, grinding a little, and by halftime it was just an eight-point Golden State lead. The game stayed in single digits through most of the second half, but the Warriors always kept the lead, and with a little push late got the win.
Which brings us back to the showdown Wednesday with San Antonio. If the Spurs win, they will be 1.5 games behind the Warriors, one game back in the loss column, with seven to play. The Spurs will have the tie breaker, but San Antonio would still need to win out (and Gregg Popovich has said he will rest players) and hope Golden State loses again (they have now won eight in a row heading into San Antonio). Certainly not impossible, but also not likely. By at least getting a split in their Texas two-step, the Warriors have probably earned themselves the top seed in the West.
2) Portland beats Denver, essentially ending the Nuggetsâ playoff dreams. This wasnât a must-win game for Denver in the purest sense â the Nuggets are mathematically alive for the eighth seed, just one game back of the Trail Blazers.
However, in the practical world, Tuesday night was a must-win game for the Nuggets.
And the Trail Blazers beat them. Beat then because of the guy Denver traded them at the deadline â Jusuf Nurkic had a career-high 33 points plus pulled down 16 rebounds, six offensive. After the game, he wasnât shy telling his former team to enjoy their summer.
Going into the game Portland and Denver were tied for the eighth seed in the West, the final playoff spot. With the win, the Nuggets are one game up and have the tie-breaker, so it is, in essence, a two-game lead with eight to play. The challenge for Denver is six of their eight games are on the road, while Portland has just two of their eight away from home.
Fivethirtyeight.com now has the Blazers a 92 percent chance to make the postseason, the Nuggets get 8 percent. Thatâs not impossible, but itâs not likely.
3) Hassan Whitesideâs tip in keeps Heat in eighth seed, all but ends Detroitâs playoff hopes. This one play was the dagger shot to Detroitâs playoff chances. They had what amounted to a must-win game Tuesday against Miami, the Pistons needed one stop at the end, and this happened.
If Iâm Stan Van Gundy, what keeps me up is not even the Hassan Whiteside tip-in, itâs little Goran Dragic pulling down the first rebound in and amongst the trees. How do you let him get that?
It was a disappointing ending to a disappointing game that caps off a disappointing season in Detroit. This team should be better than this, but here we are. Â Detroit is now 2.5 games out of the playoffs with seven games to play. Thatâs too much. Fivethirtyeight.com has Detroitâs chances of making the playoffs at 1 percent.
Miami, on the other hand, has a 74 percent chance of making the postseason, according to the same site. The Heatâs biggest concern should be they are just one game ahead of Chicago for that last playoff spot, and the Bulls have a softer ending to the season (Miamiâs last four games are Toronto, Washington, Cleveland, and Washington, although those teams could be resting guys at that point).
