NBA scores 2015: Warriors knock off Clippers for 10th straight win

Everything was lined up for the Clippers on Tuesday night. They were taking on a Warriors team that had already clinched the No. 1 seed and had nothing to play for. Draymond Green, Golden State's best defensive player and the only chance the team had at slowing down Blake Griffin, was not going to play. And to top it off, the Clips were playing on their home court.

In the first half, the game went according to the script. Griffin, as expected, dominated the slow-footed David Lee down on the block and the Clippers led by 17 with five minutes left in the second quarter. It was looking like it was going to be all Los Angeles. Then Stephen Curry started doing Stephen Curry things (more on that below) and eventually Klay Thompson caught fire, too. That opened the floodgates.

For the Clippers, who are now 49-26 and in fifth place in the West, this had to be a demoralizing loss. The Warriors are clearly the class of the West. They're the team everyone else is going to have to go through. The Clippers, we can assume, fancy themselves a championship contender. And for good reason. They've won seven of their last 10 games and are playing their best basketball of the year. The problem? It just doesn't seem like they can beat the Warriors. If they couldn't on this night, one where they got 40 points, 12 rebounds and five assists from Griffin, and 27 points and nine assists from Chris Paul all while Golden State was without one of its best players.

The Spurs are ready for the playoffs. April is here and, once again, the Spurs are steamrolling teams. Their latest triumph? A 95-81 victory Tuesday night in Miami. It was San Antonio's fourth win in a row. The Spurs have now also won eight out of their last 10 and 14 of their last 17. At 48-26, they're in sixth place in the Western Conference, but stand just 2.5 games behind the second place Grizzlies. The Warriors are still the favorites to come out of the West, but it appears more likely they'll have to go through the defending champions. A month ago, that was not the case.

So, what's changed? You can point to a few reasons for these improvements, but the obvious ones would be the health of Tony Parker and, even more so, Kawhi Leonard, who has not missed a game since the All-Star break. With him on the floor, the Spurs morph back into the juggernaut they were last year. They score 107.7 points per 100 possessions and allow just 96.5. His net rating of 11.2 is the sixth highest in the league among players getting more than 30 minutes per game, per NBA.com. Against the Heat, Leonard had 22 points, on 8-of-13 shooting, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals. He also played 37 minutes, which is almost unheard of for a Spurs player. In fact, Leonard is the only one on the roster averaging more than 30 minutes per game (32). He's the most dynamic player on the Spurs. Oh, and check out what he did to Dwyane Wade when guarding him.

The Nets really want to make the playoffs. They won again Tuesday night, defeating the Pacers in Brooklyn, 111-106, for their fourth straight victory, and eighth in 10 games. The Nets now stand at 33-40 which, hilariously, means they are in sole possession of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot (and just a half-game behind Miami for the seven seed). Brook Lopez continued his hot shooting and went for 24 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday. He's averaging 23 points, on 60 percent shooting, and nine rebounds over the Nets' last 10 games. As a result, the Nets' offense has been scoring 106.5 points per 100 possessions over that stretch; previously that number was 100.3. Making the win Tuesday even bigger (if we're going to pretend that any of this matters and that whoever gets the eight seed has a chance of not getting swept in the first round by the Hawks) was that fact that it came against an Indiana team also fighting for that final playoff spot in the East. Speaking of the Pacers ...

... They're probably done. The Pacers now trail the Nets by a 1.5 games and Brooklyn also owns the tiebreaker between the two teams. A lot can happen over the next couple of weeks, and Indiana's next three games are against the Celtics, Hornets and Heat, all teams competing for the East's final two playoff spots. But, right now things don't look good for Indiana, which has lost eight of its last 10. Against the Nets, the team's lack of a primary scoring option was apparent down the stretch. A number of late-game possessions ended with the Pacers' offense looking confused and unsure of where to go with the ball. That Indiana has been able to hang around this long, without Paul George, is impressive. But, it's hard to make the playoff when you're looking for George Hill to carry your team at the end.

Pistons 105, Hawks 95 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Peach Tree Hoops recap)