NBA playoff picture after Sunday: Orlando, Brooklyn earn tickets to playoff party

By Kurt HelinApr 8, 2019, 2:57 AM EDT

Associated Press

Every night between now and the end of the 2018-19 NBA regular season, we will take an updated look at the NBA Playoff picture — what the standings look like, the potential matchups, who clinched, who moved up and down, all to set the stage for the NBA’s second season.

SUNDAY’S SCORES
Raptors 117, Heat 109
Spurs 112, Cavaliers 90
Thunder 132, Timberwolves 126
Hornets 104, Pistons 91
Nets 108, Pacers 96
Mavericks 129, Grizzlies 127
Rockets 149, Suns 113
Bucks 115, Hawks 107
Magic 116, Celtics 108
Knicks 113, Wizards 110
Warriors 131, Clippers 104
Trail Blazers 115, Nuggets 108
Pelicans 133, Kings 129
Lakers 113, Jazz 109

• The Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic are going to the playoffs. With their wins and the Miami Heat’s loss, Brooklyn and Orlando have punched their tickets for the postseason. Neither were projected as likely playoff teams before the season and it speaks to the turnaround in both organizations that we are here.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

X – Clinched Playoff Spot, Y – Clinched Division, Z – Clinched Conference

Sunday’s playoff movers and clinchers:

• The top five spots in the East are locked in place now: 1) Bucks, 2) Raptors, 3) Sixers, 4) Celtics, 5) Pacers.
• Boston and Indiana will face each other in the first round, starting in Boston.
• Brooklyn and Orlando have qualified for the playoffs. For both Brooklyn and Orlando, this represents a milestone in an effort to turn a floundering organization around and it should be celebrated. Coaches Kenny Atkinson and Steve Clifford did impressive work.
• Detroit, Charlotte, and Miami are in a fight for the final playoff spot, however, only Detroit controls its own destiny. If the Pistons win their final two games (Tuesday against the Grizzlies and Wednesday at the Knicks) they are in. The Hornets (who beat the Pistons Sunday to stay alive) and Heat need help, starting with the Pistons dropping at least one game.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

X – Clinched Playoff Spot, Y – Clinched Division, Z – Clinched Conference

Sunday’s playoff movers and clinchers

• The Warriors have secured the No. 1 seed, meaning for the final time the West playoffs will go through Oracle Arena.
• That is the only seed locked in place in the West. We have known who the eight playoff teams are for a while but every other seed could still change.
• Denver rested its three biggest stars and lost to Portland, combine that with Houston’s sixth win in a row and the Rockets are just half a game back of the Nuggets for the No. 2 seed.
• Portland’s win and Utah’s surprise loss to the Lakers means the Trail Blazers have a magic number of one (Portland win or Utah loss) to secure home court in the first round. Those two teams almost certainly will meet in the 4/5 series, but it is not a lock yet.
• Wins by the Spurs and Thunder saw them jumping the Clippers, who fell from the six to the eight seed on Sunday. The Spurs and Clippers are now tied at 47-43 with one game to play, but since San Antonio has the tiebreaker it is the seven seed. Both of those teams are just half a game back of the Thunder, who have one fewer loss but two games to play still.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY:
Detroit at Milwaukee
Orlando at Toronto
Brooklyn at Philadelphia
Indiana at Boston — series clinched

L.A. Clippers at Golden State
San Antonio at Denver
Oklahoma City at Houston
Utah at Portland

TUESDAY’S BIGGEST GAMES:

• The NBA is dark Monday so the NCAA can have the floor for its championship game. Here are the big games for next Tuesday.

• Memphis at Detroit (7 pm ET). The Pistons control their own destiny in the race for the eight seed in the East, but they need to win out to secure it. Memphis is trying to win (they owe Boston a first-round pick and want to convey it this year, which means the pick needs to land outside the top 8, the odds of that improve dramatically if the Grizzlies keep winning) and will not be a pushover.

• Philadelphia at Miami (7:30 pm ET). Miami has to win to keep any dream of a playoff berth alive (and they need help, but lose and it doesn’t matter). The Sixers are locked in as the three seed, without motivation they may rest key players.

• Denver at Utah (9 pm ET). The Nuggets are just half a game up on the Rockets for the two seed, after resting key players and losing on Sunday the Nuggets may want to go hard for the win on Tuesday. The Jazz almost certainly are the five seed, but their slim chance of the four seed is alive only if they win out.

• Houston at Oklahoma City (9:30 pm ET, TNT). This is a potential first-round matchup (it would be the matchup if the playoffs started today). With a win, Houston would lock up at least the three seed and keep alive their dreams of wresting the two seed away from Denver. OKC could finish anywhere from 5 to 8, but it doesn’t want to lose and end up eighth and facing the Warriors in the first round, a win helps with that.

Hart will be free agent this summer seeking new contract, ‘would love for it to be New York’

By Kurt HelinMar 21, 2023, 6:36 PM EDT

Josh Hart‘s play since coming to the Knicks has made him a lot of money.

Already a darling of many front offices, Hart has been a seamless fit in New York, averaging 11.1 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Tom Thibodeau, playing quality defense, and being the kind of plug-and-play wing every team can use. He’s quickly become a fan favorite in New York, but the Knicks will have to pay up to keep him. Hart has a player option for $12.9 million next season that he is widely expected to decline — there’s a lot more money and years available to him on the open market.

Hart told Marc Spears of ESPN’s Andscape he wants to find a home, and he hopes that it is in New York.

“I want bigger things for my wife and myself,” Hart said. “Just find a home somewhere where we are valued and really like living there. And I think that can be New York. I would love for it to be New York and hopefully the organization feels the same way. Coming up, this contract is hopefully my biggest one, one where I’m making sure my family’s fully taken care of. So, I’ve also got to take that into account, too.”

That is the polite way of saying, “I like it here but you’re not getting a discount.”

While Hart will have made a tidy $33 million in his career when this season ends, his next four-year contract will be worth more than double that amount — this is the deal that sets up generational wealth for Hart’s family. This is a business and he has to make the decision best for him, as much as he may love the Knicks.

Expect the Knicks to pay up, especially as long as Thibodeau is around. This is a deal that should come together.

But first, Hart and the Knicks are headed to the playoffs, and Madison Square Garden will be rocking. It’s going to be the kind of experience that makes a guy want to stay with a team.

Hall of Famer, Knicks legend Willis Reed dies at 80

By Kurt HelinMar 21, 2023, 5:08 PM EDT

Willis Reed, the legendary Knicks’ center whose dramatic entrance onto the Madison Square Garden floor minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals sparked the team to its first title, has died at the age of 80.

The National Basketball Retired Players Association announced Reed’s passing. While no cause of death was announced, it was known Reed had been in poor health for some time.

“Willis Reed was the ultimate team player and consummate leader,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “My earliest and fondest memories of NBA basketball are of watching Willis, who embodied the winning spirit that defined the New York Knicks’ championship teams in the early 1970s. He played the game with remarkable passion and determination, and his inspiring comeback in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals remains one of the most iconic moments in all of sports.

“As a league MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP and member of the NBA’s 50^th and 75^th Anniversary Teams, Willis was a decorated player who took great pride in his consistency. Following his playing career, Willis mentored the next generation as a coach, team executive and proud HBCU alumnus. We send our deepest condolences to Willis’ wife, Gail, his family, and many friends and fans.”

Reed had an amazing career — highlighted by the two NBA titles and two NBA Finals MVP awards, plus being a seven-time All-Star — but he is best remembered for a legendary 1969-70 season. That year he became the first player to sweep the regular season, All-Star Game and NBA Finals MVP awards.

However, it was him walking out on the court for Game 7 of the Finals in 1970 — after he suffered a thigh injury in Game 5 and had to miss Game 6 of the series, and the Knicks had no answer for the Lakers’ Wilt Chamberlain without him — that became the moment of legend. Reed scored four early points that game, and while he was limited the rest of the way he sparked the team to its first title (Walt Frazier’s 36 points and 19 assists had something to do with the win, too).

Our Captain. pic.twitter.com/2Bg1ro4y37

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 21, 2023

Reed was born in 1942 in Hico, Louisiana, and stayed in the state through college, leading Grambling State to the 1961 NAIA title. Considered an undersized center at 6’9 “, teams quickly learned he played much bigger than that as he went on to win the 1965 Rookie of the Year award.

Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds a season over the course of his career, and he had his No.19 retired by the Knicks. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982.

Reported optimism Towns, Edwards to return to Timberwolves Wednesday

By Kurt HelinMar 21, 2023, 1:42 PM EDT

The Timberwolves could finally get their roster whole this week — just in time for a final postseason push — with the return of both Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.

That could happen as soon as Wednesday, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

There is optimism that Minnesota Timberwolves stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards (ankle) could return as soon as Wednesday vs. Atlanta Hawks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Towns, sidelined since Nov. 28 with Grade 3 calf strain, is on the cusp of a major return.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 21, 2023

Facing the Hawks and their bottom-10 defense could be a soft landing spot to bring Towns and Edwards back.

Towns suffered a strained calf in November that was expected to keep him out for 4-6 weeks. However, he had a setback in January, reports Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic, and it has taken until now to get back. Towns averaged 21.4 points and 8.5 rebounds a game this season before the injury, but his efficiency was down (32.8% from 3), and his fit with Rudy Gobert and Edwards was clunky. The trio needed more time to sort everything out, but the injury robbed them of that.

Edwards rolled his ankle last week and it looked much more severe at the time, but he was listed as day-to-day and has bounced back quickly. Edwards is a player who prides himself on playing nightly and pushing through nagging injuries.

https://twitter.com/WolvesRadio/status/1637205927299526656

The return has come at a critical time for the Timberwolves, who sit as the No.8 seed as of this writing (tied for 8-10, officially) in a West where 1.5 games separate the No. 7 and 12 seeds. The Timberwolves need wins and getting their two best offensive players back should be a boost.

However, the fit of this Timberwolves roster — radically overhauled last offseason — was rough in the season’s opening month before Towns was injured. Now the players are being thrown back together for the first time since then. Having a real floor general and pass-first point guard in Mike Conley now should smooth the transition, but the Timberwolves don’t have a lot of season left to work out the kinks, and they need wins now to ensure they make the postseason (ideally as a No.7-8 seed to have an easier path out of the play-in).

Watch Dillon Brooks pick up 18th technical, will get suspended another game

By Kurt HelinMar 21, 2023, 10:55 AM EDT

Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Dillon Brooks sat out the Grizzlies’ March 5 loss to the Clippers after reaching 16 technical fouls this season — hit that number and the league gives a player an automatic one-game suspension. After that, with every two more technicals a player earns another suspension.

Brooks had gotten another and was up to 17 heading into a critical game Monday night against Dallas, when he did this:

Dillon Brooks received his 18TH TECH of the season for taunting Mavs bench after this dunk 😨

He could be suspended Wednesday if not rescinded pic.twitter.com/puo16oYPbp

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 21, 2023

Brooks will likely be suspended by the league Wednesday against Houston, the game where it appears Ja Morant will return to the court. Don’t look for the Grizzlies to appeal and try to get this technical rescinded, as coach Taylor Jenkins said, via Joe Varden of The Athletic.

“At this point, I don’t think we even try anymore,” Brooks said.

What was Brooks doing? Telling Theo Pinson he was a cheerleader.

I got some real estate I see..😂 https://t.co/V81QyWfxbf

— Theo pinson (@tpinsonn) March 21, 2023

Brooks’ rough night included him trying to do a jersey swap with Kyrie Irving after the game, but Irving not accepting Brook’s jersey (Brooks stepped on Irving’s foot during the game, aggravating an injury and had Irving leaving the building in a walking boot). After the game, Brooks admitted he needs to rein things in a little.

“I’ve got to tone it down and get back to my mindfulness practice and find ways to channel it better,” Brooks said.

Brooks needs to do this for the sake of his pocketbook — this is two game checks lost to suspension, and that doesn’t even include the $35,000 fine for shoving a cameraman.

Brooks plays with an edge, it’s part of what makes him effective — he’s the guy that gets under the other team’s skin. However, it’s one thing to walk the line and another to step over it constantly. Brooks needs to do better at knowing where that line is.

The good news for the Grizzlies and Brooks is the technical count gets wiped out for the playoffs and starts over (with suspensions starting at seven).

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