The San Antonio Spurs surprised the Nuggets this Friday and caused a revolution in the balance of a Wild West, now led by the Oklahoma City Thunder ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver itself, with one day left in the regular season.
All 30 NBA franchises competed on Friday before taking a day off on Saturday and returning to the court on Sunday for the deciding day. The last day is reached with maximum balance also in the East, in which Joel Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers threaten to qualify directly for the playoffs.
Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets had just taken the sole lead in the West thanks to a victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they blew a 23-point lead and the defeat against the Spurs dropped them to third place, surpassed by the Wolves themselves and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wembanyama returned after resting in the defeat suffered at the Oklahoma City Thunder field and was dominant. He finished his game with 34 points, twelve rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
The Thunder and the Wolves reach Denver
The Thunder took advantage of the Bucks without the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard and knocked them down with 26 points from Shai Gilgeous Alexander and 23 points and nine rebounds from Chet Holmgren.
The Thunder, the great revelation of this season, took the lead in the West table, ahead of the Wolves, second.
The Wolves suffered more than expected at home against the Hawks already secure in tenth place in the East. On a night in which Anthony Edwards did not exceed 14 points, Frenchman Rudy Gobert dominated with a double double of 24 points and 19 rebounds. Dominican Karl Anthony Towns returned after 18 games out due to injury and contributed eleven points and eight assists in 27 minutes on the court.
LeBron James was the protagonist of an amazing performance on the Grizzlies’ field and led the Lakers’ 123-120 victory with 37 points and nine rebounds.
He was supported by Anthony Davis who had 36 points and fourteen rebounds after missing the game against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers put pressure on the Phoenix Suns for seventh place with one game left in the regular season.
Clippers vs Mavericks, in the first round of the playoffs
The Dallas Mavericks, without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, lost at home against the Detroit Pistons. With this setback, the Texans lost the opportunity to surpass the Los Angeles Clippers in the table, so they will face the Angelenos in the first round of the playoffs without having a home field advantage.
The 76ers only know how to win since the return of their leader Joel Embiid and they added their seventh consecutive victory against the Magic to reach the Florida team in the fight for sixth place, driven by a double double of 32 points and 13 rebounds from their star pivot.
At this time, the 76ers would compete in the ‘play-in’, while the Magic and the Indiana Pacers, also with the same balance of victories, would directly access the ‘playoffs’ as fifth and sixth seeds, respectively, according to the calculations of the NBA on its website.
Tyrese Maxey contributed 28 points in a momentous victory for the 76ers, who went from sinking into play-in positions to being one step away from directly accessing the playoffs.
Hours before the game, the 76ers unveiled the statue of their legend Allen Iverson in their training center.
2024-04-13 08:50:00
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