NBA has almost reached the end of the regular season, with only one matchday remaining, Sunday, April 12 (already Monday in European time), but all the play-off and play-in positions have been clinched already. The Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors were the last ones to secure a play-off spot, and now only the order for some post-season games (who gets home court advantage) is at stake.
Matches on Friday saw the Lakers beat Phoenix Suns 101-73, with LeBron James becoming the fourth player in NBA history to recover over 12,000 assists in his career, and with Victor Wembanyama scoring 40 points and 13 rebounds for the San Antonio Spurs against the Dallas Mavericks, winning 139-120 as he finally played 65 matches, the amount required to be eligible for MVP. Nikola Jokic missed Friday's match but will play Sunday's game with the Denver Nuggets against the Spurs for him to reached those controversial 65 matches...
NBA teams eliminated for post-season:
Western Conference: Pelicans, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Kings, Jazz
Eastern Conference: Bucks, Bulls, Nets, Pacers, Wizards
As of right now, these are the play-in duels that will be played between April 15 and 18, to decided the last two teams to be in the play-offs:
Western Conference:
- (7) Phoenix Suns vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers
- (9) LA Clippers vs. (10) Golden State Warriors
Eastern Conference:
- (7) Orlando Magic vs. (8) Philadelphia 76ers
- (9) Charlotte Hornets vs. (10) Miami Heat
And this is the current play-off bracket:
Western Conference:
- (1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) play-In winner
- (2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) play-In winner
- (3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Minnesota Timberwolves
- (4) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Houston Rockets
Eastern Conference:
- (1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) play-in winner
- (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) play-In winner
- (3) New York Knicks vs. (6) Toronto Raptors
- (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
