The NBA is heading into its ultimate two weeks of the rush to the post-season, with groups jostling for playoff berths and seeding. In some of the standout video games of the week, the Chicago Bulls took at the Los Angeles Lakers in famous person LeBron James’s go back from a 13-game harm absence. Despite James scoring 19 issues off the bench, the Bulls received 118–108 to tighten their grip at the ultimate Eastern Conference play-in spot. Zach LaVine had 32 issues for the Bulls, with DeMar DeRozan including 17 issues.
The Lakers slipped from 8th to 9th within the Western Conference, part a sport forward of Oklahoma City and part a sport in the back of New Orleans and Minnesota.
James overlooked 4 weeks throughout the Lakers’ run at a playoff berth because of proper foot soreness, and for best the second one time in his 20-year, 1,958-game NBA profession, James wasn’t a starter, coming in halfway throughout the first quarter. The Lakers are nonetheless with out D’Angelo Russell, who overlooked his moment immediately sport with a proper hip harm. They went 8-5 in James’ absence.
In different information, the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched their first playoff berth since 2018 with a 108-91 victory over the Houston Rockets. It’s the primary time Cleveland has made the playoffs with out James since 1998. Jarrett Allen had 24 issues and 14 rebounds, and Donovan Mitchell scored 22 for the Cavaliers, who’re last in on locking up the No. 4 spot within the Eastern Conference and home-court merit within the first spherical. They’ve received 9 out of eleven video games.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics stored the power on Milwaukee within the race for the highest seed within the East with a 137–93 domestic rout of the San Antonio Spurs, with Jaylen Brown scoring 41 issues and knocking down 13 rebounds. In Atlanta, Ja Morant returned to the Memphis beginning lineup after coming off the bench in his first two video games since suspension and scored 27 issues to steer the Grizzlies to a 123–119 victory over the Hawks, pushing Memphis’ profitable streak to 6 video games.
The Dallas Mavericks’ downward spiral endured with a 110–104 loss to the Hornets in Charlotte, the place Mavs celebrity Luka Doncic won his sixteenth technical foul of the season, which might cause an automated one-game suspension. After failing to make a basket within the first quarter, Doncic completed with 40 issues, however it wasn’t sufficient to stave off a moment loss in 3 days to the hapless Hornets, who’re second-to-last within the Eastern Conference.
In the overall sport of the day, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 99–96. The sport used to be made up our minds with 11 seconds left when Karl-Anthony Towns took good thing about Kyle Anderson’s thieve from Draymond Green to empty the profitable three-pointer.