Lakers jump to No. 8
LeBron, Co. will rematch New Orleans in play-in
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are staying in New Orleans for a couple more days. Stephen Curry and Golden State will head back to Sacramento to face elimination again. And the Miami Heat are back in the play-in, which started their run to the NBA Finals last year.
The play-in field is set. On Tuesday, it’s the Lakers facing the Pelicans for a No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, then the Warriors and the Kings in an elimination game. On Wednesday, it’s the Heat going to Philadelphia to decide No. 7 in the Eastern Conference, followed by Atlanta at Chicago in a win-or-else matchup.
“Look, this is the best time of year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “These kind of environments, the games, the context ... you can’t expect it to be easy.”
Of the 20 postseason seeds, 15 were decided on Sunday.
The final order in the East: Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta. In the West, the order from No. 1 to No. 10 is Oklahoma City, Denver, Minnesota, the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas, Phoenix, New Orleans, the Lakers, Sacramento and Golden State.
The only first-round series that was set before Sunday was Clippers-Mavericks in the West. Added to the list now: Bucks- Pacers and Cavaliers-Magic in the East, along with TimberwolvesSuns in the West.
Sunday’s games
Lakers 124, Pelicans 108: LeBron James had 28 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds and five steals, and Los Angeles topped host New Orleans on Sunday. Anthony Davis had 30 points and 11 rebounds against the team that made him the first overall NBA draft choice in 2012, but Davis asked out of the game in the final minutes and walked gingerly back to the locker room.
Kings 121, Trail Blazers 82:
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points and host Sacramento assured themselves of at least one more home game by beating Portland.
Thunder 135, Mavericks 86:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in one half of action, and host Oklahoma City rolled past Dallas to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Oklahoma City finished with the same 57-25 record as the Denver Nuggets but own the tiebreaker.
Warriors 123, Jazz 116:
Klay Thompson scored 25 points with six 3-pointers, Andrew Wiggins added 19 points, and Golden State beat visiting Utah.
Pacers 157, Hawks 115:
Myles Turner had 31 points and Pascal Siakam scored 28 as Indiana beat visiting Atlanta and avoided falling into the play-in tournament.
Heat 118, Raptors 103: Thomas Bryant scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 points and Miami tuned up for a trip to the play-in tournament.
Suns 125, Timberwolves 106:
Bradley Beal scored 36 points on 6-for-6 shooting from 3-point range and Phoenix beat host Minnesota to stay out of the play-in tournament and set up a rematch in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Knicks 120, Bulls 119, OT:
Jalen Brunson capped one of the best regular seasons in franchise history with his 11th 40-point game, carrying host New York into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with an overtime victory against Chicago.
Hornets 120, Cavaliers 110:
Nick Smith Jr. scored a season-high 24 points and Steve Clifford won his coaching farewell as visiting Charlotte rallied to beat playoffbound Cleveland.
76ers 107, Nets 86:
After eight straight wins to end the regular season, Philadelphia is set for their first play-in tournament after a win against Brooklyn.
Magic 113, Bucks 88:
Paolo Banchero had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Jonathan Isaac had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in his second start of the season and host Orlando avoided a play-in spot with a win versus Milwaukee.
Nuggets 126, Grizzlies 111:
Jamal Murray scored 21 points, Nikola Jokic had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and defending champion Denver secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a victory versus host Memphis.
Rockets 116, Clippers 105:
Cam Whitmore scored 21 points and visiting Houston beat playoff-bound Los Angeles to salvage a .500 season.
Spurs 123, Pistons 95:
Sandro Mamukelashvili had 18 points and San Antonio routed visiting Detroit to close disappointing seasons for both franchises.
Celtics 132, Wizards 122:
Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 38 points and NBAbest Boston rested its entire starting lineup in a rout of visiting Washington.