Starting 5, April 2: Booker drops 50+ on NOLA (again)
Tyrese Haliburton with a wink, a point and a win to begin the penultimate week of the regular season.
THE LINEUP
What’s inside today’s edition?
Book It: Devin Booker’s 3rd straight 50+ point game vs. NOLA lifted Phoenix to 7th in the West
Gaining Ground: The Magic, Pacers and Hawks earned key wins in their postseason races
Second Half: The Celtics and Grizzlies used big 2nd halves to secure wins on Monday
What’s At Stake? Four teams in the East postseason race look to improve their position
Streak vs. Streak, Pt 2: The Mavs (7) and Warriors (4) meet with the NBA’s longest active win streaks on the line
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Last night’s scores & what to watch today
Thunder-Sixers (7:30 ET, TNT): OKC is coming off a thrilling win in NY to stay atop the West. The second stop on their five-game road trip is in Philadelphia as they look to split the season series with the Sixers
Mavs-Warriors (10 ET, TNT): Dallas puts its league-leading seven-game win streak on the line against a Warriors squad that has won four straight with both teams looking to solidify their postseason position
1. BOOKER ERUPTS FOR 52 AS SUNS DROP PELICANS
In a crucial road victory against the New Orleans Pelicans, Devin Booker ignites the court with a 52-point performance.
Booker, Suns Roll In NOLA: Devin Booker scored 37 of his 52 points in the first half as the Suns built a commanding lead and held off a late Pelicans rally attempt to win 124-111. | Recap
Booker made a career-high eight 3-pointers and also dished out nine assists, while Kevin Durant added 20 points and Jusuf Nurkic put up a 19-19 game. Zion Williamson scored 30 to lead the Pelicans, who have lost three of their last four games.
- Can I Get An Encore? Booker has scored 50+ points against the Pelicans in three consecutive games: 58 on Dec. 17, 2022; 52 on Jan. 19, 2024 and 52 on Monday
- Since Wilt Stat: Booker joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to score 50+ against the same opponent at least three straight times. Wilt did it to 10 different opponents
- Playoff Race (NOP ↔️): The Pelicans remain sixth in the West – a half-game behind No. 5 Dallas – and have their lead over No. 7 Phoenix cut to one game
- Play-In Race (PHX ⬆️): The Suns rise from eighth to seventh in the West, one game back of No. 6 New Orleans (with Monday’s win also clinching the head-to-head tiebreaker for the Suns) and a half-game up on No. 8 Sacramento
- Playoff Race (MIN ☑️): The Wolves clinched a playoff berth with New Orleans’ loss
2. EAST RACES: MAGIC, PACERS, HAWKS GAIN GROUND
Magic Edge Out Blazers: Orlando squandered a 15-point third-quarter lead, with Portland using a 23-6 run to go up by two with 5:42 to play.
The Magic responded with a 15-4 burst to regain control and held on for the 104-103 win behind a balanced offense that saw all five starters score 14+ points. | Recap | Paolo with the drive, pump and slam
- Playoff Race (ORL ↔️): The Magic remain fifth in the East, a half-game back of No. 4 New York, one game back of No. 3 Cleveland and 1.5 games up on No. 6 Indy
Hali Leads Pacers Past Nets: Tyrese Haliburton (27 pts, 13 ast) scored 14 in the first quarter as the Pacers took control early and never looked back, cruising to a 133-111 win over Brooklyn. | Recap
- Pacers’ Offense Shines: The Pacers scored 120+ points for the 50th time this season, becoming only the eighth team to ever do that and the first since the 1983-84 Nuggets
- Playoff Race (IND ↔️): The Pacers remain sixth in the East, a game ahead of No. 7 Miami and 1.5 games back of No. 5 Orlando
Hawks Getting Closer: Bogdan Bogdanovic (20 points on 7 FGA, 4 reb, 6 ast) led six Hawks in double-figures to gain a key win over Chicago in the race for Play-In positioning. | Recap | Bogey From “T” In Logo | Vit Krejci 5th 3 Beats Buzzer
- Play-In Race (CHI and ATL ↔️): The Bulls and Hawks stay at ninth and 10th, respectively, in the East, but Atlanta trimmed Chicago’s lead to a half-game
- A Key Note: Chicago owns the tiebreaker, so the Hawks must finish ahead of the Bulls in order to pass them
- Play-In Race (CHI ☑️): The Bulls clinched their spot in the Play-In Tournament as they can finish no higher than seventh and no lower than 10th in the East
3. CELTICS, GRIZZLIES PULL AWAY IN 2ND HALF
Tatum & Hauser Show: Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser scored 25 points apiece to lead the Celtics to a 118-104 win over Charlotte. Hauser made seven of Boston’s 19 3-pointers with Tatum and Derrick White also splashing four apiece. | Recap | Tatum explodes to the basket
- Playoff Race (BOS ↔️): The Celtics can clinch the best record in the NBA with a win over OKC in their next game on Wednesday. A win would also give Boston its first 60-win season since 2008-09
JJJ, Grizzlies Rally Past Pistons: Jaren Jackson Jr. (40 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk) filled the stat sheet as he outdueled Cade Cunningham (36 pts, 8 ast, 4 reb, 2 stl) to lead Memphis to a 110-108 win.
Memphis trailed by 13 at the half, but won the third (41-33) and fourth (25-18) quarters to end a three-game slide. | Recap | JJJ vs. Cade Duel
4. WHAT’S AT STAKE IN THE EAST TONIGHT
While the top of the West has resembled a game of musical chairs with the Thunder, Nuggets and Wolves all within a game of each other and constantly trading top position, the No. 1 seed in the East has long belonged to the Celtics.
The teams below them, well that’s a different story.
The Bucks hold a 2.5-game lead for second place, but the next six teams, from 3rd to 8th …
- Are all just five games apart?
- Having less than two weeks left to play
- And with a reigning MVP reportedly close to a return after missing the last two months
Four of those teams are in play tonight – the No. 3 Cavs, No. 4 Knicks, No. 7 Heat and No. 8 Sixers. Let’s break down what’s at stake in each game tonight.
Thunder-Sixers (7:30 ET, TNT)
- Philly hosts West-leading OKC without Joel Embiid and potentially without Tyrese Maxey (questionable, hip). The Sixers dropped their first seven games without their two All-Stars, but have won their last two outings without the duo
- What’s At Stake? The No. 8 Sixers trail the No. 7 Heat by 1.5 games and the No. 6 Pacers by 2.5 games. A win tonight and a Heat loss to NY could pull Philly within a half-game of Miami and 1.5 games of Indy
- There is still time for the Sixers to climb out of the Play-In, and getting Embiid back (26-8 with him this season) could be a big boost to their chances
Knicks-Heat (7:30 ET, NBA App)
- The Knicks are coming off back-to-back tough losses to San Antonio (in overtime despite 61 from Jalen Brunson) and OKC (SGA hit the game-winner after Brunson put NY up with 4.1 seconds left). Can they avoid their first three-game slide since All-Star?
- What’s At Stake For New York? The Knicks enter tonight a half-game back of No. 3 Cleveland and a half-game up on No. 5 Orlando. A Knicks win and Cavs loss would bump NY up to No. 3, while a loss would drop NY down to No. 5 since Orlando owns the head-to-head tiebreaker
- What’s At Stake For Miami? The Heat are looking for their third-straight win as they try to climb out of the Play-In field and overtake Indiana for sixth place. A win would tie the Heat and the Pacers at 16.5 games behind Boston with a potential showdown set for Sunday to determine the head-to-head tiebreaker
Cavs-Jazz (9 ET, NBA App)
- The Cavs have dropped five of their last seven games, but remain third in the East by a half-game over No. 4 NY and one game over No. 5 Orlando with seven games to play. Donovan Mitchell is set for his third game since returning from a nasal fracture
- What’s At Stake? A win for the Cavs will help fend off the Knicks and Magic and pull them within 1.5 games of No. 2 Milwaukee. Keep in mind that New York (won season series 2-1) and Orlando (Division leader) currently hold tiebreakers over Cleveland should they come into play
5. STREAK VS. STREAK – THE SEQUEL
Tonight, for the second time in three days, the Mavs will be in a game between the two teams with the longest active win streaks in the NBA.
On Sunday, the Mavs extended their run to seven straight wins while snapping Houston’s league-high 11-game win streak. The win also pulled Dallas even with New Orleans at 45-29 and lifted the Mavs to fifth in the West due to tiebreaker (superior division record).
Now, the Mavs own the longest win streak and will face the team with the second-longest when they visit the Warriors (10 ET, TNT).
After a season-long three-game stretch scoring fewer than 30 points, Luka Doncic dropped 47 on the Rockets as the league’s leading scorer brought his average back up to 34 points.
- Why is that number significant? Luka would be only the 10th player in NBA history to average 34+ points for an entire season
- The others: Wilt Chamberlain (6x), Michael Jordan (2x), James Harden (2x), Elgin Baylor (2x), Kobe Bryant, Tiny Archibald, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry
Another Mavs streak: This seven-game run has also seen Dallas hold each of their last seven opponents to 107 points or less.
- That ties Boston and Houston for the longest streak in the league this season
- For perspective, the 30-team average this season is 114.4 ppg
Just as those footsteps from Houston were getting louder and louder as Golden State’s lead for the No. 10 spot got smaller and smaller, the Warriors found their way – running off four straight wins to fend off the Rockets (at least for now) in the race for the final spot in the Play-In.
- Timely Response: Houston pulled within a half-game of Golden State on March 25. The Warriors’ win streak began on March 26
- With Houston’s win streak snapped, the Warriors have a two-game lead on the Rockets, and own the head-to-head tiebreaker (leading season series 2-0 with one game to play on Thursday)
The Warriors enter tonight looking for their fifth straight win, which would give them four five-game win streaks this season. The only other teams with that many five-game win streak – conference leaders OKC (4) and Boston (6).
Can the Warriors claim the mantle of the hottest team in the league by snapping Dallas’ win streak? Or will Dallas push their win run to eight games, giving them their longest win streak since 2011?
