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NBA In-Season Tournament scores, advance scenarios for group winners and wild card teams – CBS Sports
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Six nights down, one to go. Friday was the most important night of group play yet, and it did not disappoint. Almost every game featured significant tournament implications of some sort, and the majority of them were at least relatively competitive even if the night produced no buzzer-beaters.
Friday began with a statement win from the Orlando Magic over the Boston Celtics, who not only positioned themselves to potentially advance in the In-Season Tournament, but also proved that they could hang with the best teams in the NBA despite their youth. The Phoenix Suns followed that game up with a comfortable win over the Memphis Grizzlies that put them in the pole position for the Western Conference wild card spot. And then, the bulk of the night’s games took place.
Among them, we got a 21-point second-half comeback from the New York Knicks over the Miami Heat, a near-debacle for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Washington Wizards, a key win for the Sacramento Kings over the Minnesota Timberwolves and much, much more. So what do Friday’s results mean? Let’s set the stage for Tuesday with some takeaways from Night 6..
We entered Friday with two teams having clinched a spot in the knockout round. Those teams were the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers, both of whom had already won their respective groups. After Friday? We’re still technically at two, but a third team has all but punched its ticket to the knockout stage as well.
The Phoenix Suns finished group play with a 3-1 record and a plus-34 point-differential in group play. That has them ahead of every team in West Group A aside from the Lakers, who went undefeated. West Group B cannot produce a better wild card team. The Pelicans came one point short of the Suns when they defeated the Clippers on Friday, and if the Rockets win on Tuesday, they advance by virtue of their tiebreaker over the Pelicans.
That leaves West Group C. We have three teams fighting to advance there. The 3-0 Sacramento Kings have a plus-29 point-differential, but their fate has little bearing on Phoenix. If the Kings beat the Warriors on Tuesday, they will win their group. If they lose? Their point-differentially logically has to go down, so they won’t catch the Suns. The Timberwolves (minus-3) and Warriors (plus-5) are so far behind Phoenix that even if they do manage to tie the Suns in the standings, it would be extremely difficult for them to catch up in the point-differential tiebreaker.
So what does this mean? We almost certainly know one of the four matchups in the knockout stage. The Lakers, with a plus-74 point-differential, will almost certainly be the top seed in the West. The Suns, by virtue of their likely wildcard status, would be No. 4. That would set the two of them up for a game in Los Angeles that will determine who makes it to Las Vegas. This isn’t official yet, but in all likelihood, this will be one of the quarterfinal games we’ll get on Dec. 4 or 5.
We entered Friday with six teams eliminated from tournament contention. Those teams were mostly who you’d expect. The Grizzlies, Wizards, Pistons, Trail Blazers, Spurs and Jazz all bowed out early. Those are the six NBA teams that have won fewer than five games. Shocker: the worst teams in the league were the first to get knocked out.
But we doubled the eliminated pool on Friday, and unlike those first six teams, we actually lost some winners on Friday. The Toronto Raptors were knocked out earliest, as Orlando’s win over Boston sealed their fate. Ironically, they tried to run up the score in their win over the Bulls for tournament tiebreaker purposes, apparently not knowing they were eliminated, and drew the ire of DeMar DeRozan in the process. That Bulls loss also knocked Chicago out.
The Thunder, who needed a bunch of help to overcome their two losses, were knocked out thanks to the results at the top of West Group C. And then there’s star-studded West Group B. Coming into the season, this was viewed as arguably the best group in the tournament. Yet here we sit, six games into tournament play, and its three favorites are all out. The Mavericks were knocked out without even playing tonight. The Clippers picked up their third loss against the Pelicans. And then, finally, the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets bowed out after a brutal loss to the Houston Rockets.
So far, we’ve established that 12 teams are out and three teams are either in or probably in. That leaves 15 teams left fighting for the five remaining slots. Let’s go slot-by-slot to figure out what will get determined on Tuesday, and how:
We had two games in the late slot, both of which had significant tournament implications.
Zion Williamson just missed a runner in the lane… but then ripped the rebound away from James Harden and scored on the second try. That pushed the Pelicans lead to 112-106 with 34.1 seconds remaining. That will probably do it here in Los Angeles.
New Orleans is lucky Paul George missed that 3-pointer, because a turnover on an inbounds pass is inexcusable. The Pelicans are playing poor defense and settling for ugly looks right now, clinging to a 107-101 lead.
It wasn’t easy, but some clutch free-throw shooting in the closing seconds gave the Warriors a 118-112 win over the Spurs. Now the Warriors are very much alive in West Group C, especially with a game against the 3-0 Kings looming on Tuesday.
Some clutch 3-point shooting and stout defense have sent New Orleans on an 18-8 run to open the fourth quarter with a 103-91 lead. There’s still plenty of time for the Clippers to fight their way back into this thing, but right now, New Orleans is fully in control.
Leave it to Russell Westbrook to play overly aggressive in a way that hurts his team. The Pelicans are now in the bonus with almost 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter because Westbrook committed a completely unnecessary foul on Jose Alvarado.
The Pelicans are +9 in rebounds and +5 in free throw attempts. That’s the difference as we head into the fourth quarter. New Orleans is getting to the basket way too easily and dominating the entire paint.
The Spurs have already been eliminated from tournament play, but the Warriors still have plenty to play for. If Golden State wins, they will face their rival Kings on Tuesday with a chance to advance. The Kings would win West Group C by winning that game, but if the Warriors win, they would win the group with a Minnesota loss to Oklahoma City. If Minnesota, Golden State and Sacramento all finish 3-1, it comes down to tiebreaker. The Kings, at +29, have the advantage there right now.
Zion Williamson is up to 21 points now, but in this third quarter he’s completely dominated the Clippers inside. P.J. Tucker, normally so stout against even the biggest opponent, is really struggling to bother him when he attacks the basket.
The Spurs looked like they had a real chance to overcome their 10-game losing streak against the Spurs when they tied the game at 66 apiece. The Warriors have outscored them 18-6 since then and are now covering the 10.5-point spread.
The Spurs somehow managed to misspell Victor Wembanyama’s name on his jersey in the first half vs. the Warriors.
We’re tied at 66 in San Francisco, but this win would mean even more for the Spurs than it would for the Warriors. San Antonio hasn’t won in its last 10 tries and has the worst net rating the NBA has seen in over a decade. A road win against the Warriors could be exactly what this team needed to turn things around.
The Clippers have trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, but Daniel Theis just drilled a 3-pointer at the end of the second quarter to trim that lead down 56-55 at the half. It’s anyone’s game with 24 minutes to play.
The Clippers have 45 points right now. Of those 45, 32 have come from Paul George and Norm Powell. James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook are 3-of-13 from the field.
The Clippers entered this game on a three-game winning streak, but remember, two of those wins came against the hapless Spurs. They’re playing a winner again, and the Pelicans are having their way with thenm. It’s 49-36 midway through the second quarter.
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