The East playoff chase has suddenly turned from silly to serious. As the Hornets and Magic get out and the Pistons peter out, we have a legit 5-team race for the final three shots in the playoffs. Charlotte picked up another improbable win, beating the Spurs in overtime behind Kemba Walker’s heroics. The Hornets are still last among the five teams chasing the spots, but they are in the thick of it.
The Magic are back!
We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
More notable right now is that the muy caliente Orlando Magic have taken over the No. 8 seed in the East thanks to six straight wins including a crucial Tuesday victory over the Heat, who were displaced to the No. 9 spot. Two months ago, the Magic were 20-31. This season looked just like the last six. But something clicked on the defensive end -- Orlando has the league’s top defense since Feb. 1 by a decent margin -- and the Magic went on a tear. It doesn’t hurt that the bottom of the East playoff bracket was more easily caught than it would have been in the West, of course. (The Magic would be six games out in the West right now.)
The Magic already have their highest win total since Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy’s last season in Orlando, and their six-year playoff drought (tied for longest in the East with the Knicks) could be ending here. Now it seems like anything less than a playoff spot will be a disappointment, as it would be for all of the other teams involved. This should be fun to watch down the stretch and over the next couple of years.
(Would it be more fun if conferences were abolished and the 37-37 with their 12-season playoff drought Kings were also in the chase? 100%.)
Scores
Spurs 116, Hornets 125 (OT)
Celtics 116, Cavaliers 106
Magic 104, Heat 99
Bulls 103, Raptors 112
Rockets 94, Bucks 108
Clippers 122, Timberwolves 111
Hawks 130, Pelicans 120
Kings 125, Mavericks 121
Pistons 92, Nuggets 95
Wizards 106, Lakers 124
Schedule
All times Eastern. Games on League Pass unless otherwise noted.
Blazers at Bulls, 8
Warriors at Grizzlies, 8
Pacers at Thunder, 8, ESPN
Wizards at Suns, 10
Lakers at Jazz, 10:30, ESPN
Links
Paul Flannery wrote about the completely intractable MVP battle between Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden. The Bucks beat the Rockets handily on Tuesday, with both stars have relatively muted (for them) performances. Milwaukee kinda locked down Harden, actually. And the Bucks GOT ‘EM on Twitter.
The Clippers officially clinched a playoff spot and Doc Rivers wanted to let all the doubters know.
Why Jusuf Nurkic’s awful injury is anathema to a long Blazers playoff run.
Lance Stephenson stepped on Jeff Green’s foot on this crossover-stepback. HOWEVER, the bench reaction more than makes up for this minor detail. Beautiful scene.
Pure nasty can be found in the Chris Paul stepback that sent D.J. Wilson stumbling 20 feet and eventually off the camera and off the court. Mad impressive. CP3 still has it. Rockets bench has to do better, though.
Kris Humphries wants everyone to forget what made him famous and remember him as an athlete.
Andrew Sharp argues everyone should root for Zion Williamson to go to Atlanta.
The Rockets’ Gersson Rosas on getting more Latinos in the NBA.
Be excellent to each other.
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