Last day of regular season in the NBA and last verdicts. Golden State smashed New Orleans and secured third place in the West ahead of Dallas who won the Texan derby against San Antonio, but remained anxious about the conditions of Luka Doncic, who was released due to injury. In the East, Boston beats Memphis and secures second place, mocking the defending Milwaukee Bucks champions.
West: Golden State forward, Dallas anxious about Doncic
We start from the West where i Warriors (53-29) close the regular season behind Memphis and Phoenix. Still without Steph Curry, the Dubs beat the New Orleans Pelicans 128-107 (36-46) thanks to an extraordinary Klay Thompson, author of 41 points. In front of both i lose Suns (64-18), already focused on the playoffs and knockout 109-116 against the Sacramento Kings (30-52), and the reserves of Grizzlies (56-26) against a more motivated Boston (51-31). The Celtics win 139-110 and now in the first round they could find themselves against the Brooklyn Nets, the play-in favorite of the East. Bad news for Dallas who, despite easily winning the derby against Spurs (34-38) for 130-120, must deal with a Luka Doncic left the field prematurely with a problem in his left calf. The victory in the overtime of the gods is useless Los Angeles Lakers (33-49), already out of the play-in games for some time, who conquer the Denver Nuggets facility 146-141 (48-34). A failure that cost coach Vogel the bench.
East: Milwaukee falls to Cleveland, Boston second. Nets seventh
East, said of the success of Boston over Memphis which is worth the second place, by virtue of the defeat of Milwaukee (51-31) in Cleveland (44-38) for 133-115 without Antetokounmpo and Middleton, the victory of Atlanta (43-39) on the Houston Rockets parquet (20-62) for 130-114 despite Green’s 41 points, a success that is worth ninth place and the home factor from a play-in perspective. Among the Hawks, 28 points from Young and 26 from an excellent Danilo Gallinari, who in 32 minutes of use also collects 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Philadelphia (51-31) beats Detroit (23-59) 118-106, but remains in fourth place which will still guarantee the home factor in the playoffs against Toronto. Brooklyn (44-38) is likely to combine it big against Indiana. The Nets win 134-126, guaranteeing seventh position in the East, the best in a play-in key, but in the second half they squander an advantage of 16 points, before returning to press the accelerator and bring the Pacers (25-57) back to distance safety by securing the play-in against Cleveland. Thus the play-in race decided on the last day: Brooklyn 7th, Cleveland 8th, Atlanta 9th, Charlotte 10th.
Play-off e Play-in
Even before the play-off, with the first six of each Conference already qualified, the play-ins will be played which will see the first cross on Tuesday between 7th and 8th classified: the winner will become the 7th seeded of the Conference and will see it. at the play-off against number 2, the loser will host on Friday the winner of the match between 9th and 10th (scheduled for Wednesday) to become seeded number 8 and face off against number 1. The play-offs will start on Saturday 16 April.
PLAY-IN EASTERN CONFERENCE
Tuesday 12th April
(7) Brooklyn Nets vs (8) Cleveland Cavaliers
Wednesday April 13th
(9) Atlanta Hawks vs (10) Charlotte Hornets
Friday 15th April
Loser 7/8 vs Winner 9/10
PLAY-IN WESTERN CONFERENCE
Tuesday 12th April
(7) Minnesota Timberwolves vs (8) LA Clippers
Wednesday April 13th
(9) New Orleans Pelicans vs (10) San Antonio Spurs
Friday 15th April
Loser 7/8 vs Winner 9/10
PLAY-OFF EASTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Miami Heat vs (8) da definire
(2) Boston Celtics vs (7) Brooklyn/Cleveland
(3) Milwaukee Bucks vs (6) Chicago Bulls
(4) Philadelphia 76ers vs (5) Toronto Raptors
PLAY-OFF WESTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Phoenix Suns vs (8) da definire
(2) Memphis Grizzlies vs (7) Minnesota/Clippers
(3) Golden State Warriors vs (6) Denver Nuggets
(4) Dallas Mavericks vs (5) Utah Jazz
The results of the last day
New York Knicks-Toronto Raptors 105-94; Brooklyn Nets-Indiana Pacers 134-126; Charlotte Hornets-Washington Wizards 124-108; Cleveland Cavaliers-Milwaukee Bucks 133-115; Houston Rockets-Atlanta Hawks 114-130; Memphis Grizzlies-Boston Celtics 110-139; Orlando Magic-Miami Heat 125-111; Philadelphia 76ers-Detroit Pistons 118-106; Minnesota Timberwolves-Chicago Bulls 120-124; Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs 130-120; Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers 141-146 d1ts; Los Angeles Clippers-Oklahoma City Thunder 138-88; New Orleans Pelicans-Golden State Warriors 107-128; Phoenix Suns-Sacramento Kings 109-116; Portland Trail Blazers-Utah Jazz 80-111.
