A handful of hours after the East, the Western conference also delivered its verdict on Sunday at the conclusion of the NBA regular season. The Oklahoma City Thunder, leader before the start of the matches, took first place, after their big victory at home against the Dallas Mavericks (135-86). The Texans played without their stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, spared.
Minnesota and Gobert beat Phoenix
French winger Ousmane Dieng scored 13 points for the Thunder, who rotated his squad. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was satisfied with 15 points. In the first round of the play-offs, the Oklahoma franchise will face a team from the play-in. The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets could also hope to finish first in the West, in the event of a setback by Oklahoma City.
But Minnesota was beaten by the Phoenix Suns (125-106). Thanks to this victory, they took the sixth and final direct ticket for the play-offs. Bradley Beal (36 pts) and Devin Booker (23) were the main architects of the Suns’ success. In the ranks of the Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert scored 21 points. For its part, Denver dominated the Memphis Grizzlies (126-111), with 15 points and 15 rebounds from Nikola Jokic, and finished second in the Western Conference.
New Orleans and the Lakers meet on Tuesday
The New Orleans Pelicans were also in the race for the playoffs. But, beaten by the Los Angeles Lakers (124-108) and LeBron James (28 points, 11 rebounds, 17 assists), they will have to go through the play-in, and will meet there on Tuesday at home…the Lakers. The winner will go to the play-offs, while the loser will play against the winner of the Sacramento – Golden State match.
The San Antonio Spurs, penultimate in the West and deprived of Victor Wembanyama, ended their season with a victory over the Detroit Pistons (123-95). Rayan Rupert scored 11 points with Portland (but the Blazers lost to the Sacramento Kings 121-82).
2024-04-15 02:08:26
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