The Oklahoma City Thunder are first in the West, eleven years after their last time. The Phoenix Suns enter directly into the playoffs. In the East the New York Knicks are second behind the steamroller Boston, overtaking the Milwaukee Bucks Danilo Gallinari right on the last day. At play in the first round it will be an electrifying Philadelphia against Miami, whoever wins will face the New Yorkers in the main draw. The NBA regular season ends with these (and other) verdicts. The Los Angeles Lakers conquer New Orleans by beating the Pelicans who they will meet again in a few days in the first round of the play-ins. Triple double from a wild guy LeBron James (28 points, 11 rebounds and 17 assists) with 30 points and 11 rebounds from Anthony Davis.
Regular season statistics
For the “king” it is the 21st consecutive season closed with 25+ points scored and 15+ rebounds taken in the regular season. As for the statistical leaders of 2023/24, Luka Doncic is the top scorer with 33.9 points average (first title as top scorer in his career), Domantas Sabonis the best rebounder with 13.7 (for him also 61 consecutive double doubles, a record in the modern era and 77 out of 82 games played), Tyrese Haliburton is the best assist man with 10.9 (and his Indiana Pacers are the best team in terms of assists, 30.6 per game and the best attack in the League with 123.9 points scored). Steph Curry he is the player who has scored the most triples in the season, 357, and it is the eighth time he has scored more triples than anyone in the NBA. However, the best three-point shooting percentage belongs to Grayson Allen of the Phoenix Suns with 46.1 percent.
It deserves a separate chapter Victor Wembanyama. The rookie from San Antonio finished with 3.6 blocks on average, the first title of best NBA blocker of his career and the first rookie to win the list of blockers in history. It is the highest blocked average in the US League since 2015-16 (Hassan Whiteside with 3.68 in Miami) and he is the sixth rookie ever to close the season with more than 250 blocks (254).
He finished his first season with 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals.
Pairings and dates
Play Ins start on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. The play offs start on April 20th, the Conference semifinals are scheduled for May 6-7th and the finals no earlier than May 21st. Game 1 of the “Finals” will be on June 6th. Once the championship is over, Team USA will concentrate on the Olympics with the super team that will present itself in Paris. Two friendly matches in London on 21 and 23 July will provide a rich appetizer, then it will be show time in search of Olympic gold to forget the disappointments of the last two editions of the World Cup.
– PLAYOFFS WESTERN CONFERENCE:
(1) OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER – Winning second team Play-In (8)
(4) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS – DALLAS MAVERICKS (5)
(3) MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES – PHOENIX SUNS (6)
(2) DENVER NUGGETS – Winning first team Play-In (7)
– PLAY-IN WESTERN CONFERENCE:
(7) NEW ORLEANS PELICANS – LOS ANGELES LAKERS (8) Winner in seventh place, loser will face the winner of the other Play-In for eighth place.
(9) SACRAMENTO KINGS – GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (10) Winner will face the loser of the other Play-In for eighth place. Loser out.
– PLAYOFFS EASTERN CONFERENCE:
(1) BOSTON CELTICS – Winning second team Play-In (8)
(4) CLEVELAND CAVALIERS – ORLANDO MAGIC (5)
(3) MILWAUKEE BUCKS – INDIANA PACERS (6)
(2) NEW YORK KNICKS – Winning first team Play-In (7)
– PLAY-IN EASTERN CONFERENCE:
(7) PHILADELPHIA 76ERS – MIAMI HEAT (8() Winner in seventh place, loser will face the winner of the other Play-In for eighth place.
(9) CHICAGO BULLS – ATLANTA HAWKS (10) The winner will face the loser of the other Play-In for eighth place. Loser out.
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1970-01-01 00:00:00
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