Lakers Notes: Rotation, Smart, Vanderbilt, Reaves, Season
The Lakers have been left searching for answers in the wake of multi-week injuries to star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, writes Benjamin Royer of The Southern California News Group. Head coach JJ Redick is trying to find a workable rotation with three regular season games remaining before the playoffs, but some of the players who seemed like locks for more minutes and touches have struggled.
Starting center Deandre Ayton, for instance, only had three points (on 1-of-4 shooting) and three rebounds in Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City. Redick said he’s been calling plenty of plays for the No. 1 overall pick, yet the Bahamian big man hasn’t been able to capitalize on those opportunities.
“He’s just had trouble catching the ball,” Redick said. “And I don’t know if that’s the passing or if it’s, you know, him trying to get position, he just, he hasn’t been able to catch the ball.”
Entering last week’s game against the Thunder, in which both Doncic and Reaves sustained their respective injuries, the Lakers had gone 16-2 over their last 18 games. They’ve now dropped three straight, with lingering uncertainty about what the rotation will look like in the postseason.
“Chemistry was high,” guard Luke Kennard said. “We were really close as a group, and it still is. I feel like this might have brought us even closer. Obviously, it’s a different look out there on the court and different voices, but it was definitely a shock and something we weren’t expecting this late in the year going into the playoffs.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at which players might be part of the playoff rotation, listing them in tiers based on their likelihood of receiving minutes. LeBron James is in his own tier as “the anchor,” followed by Kennard, Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes and Jake LaRavia, who are in the “rotation locks” tier. Smart will miss his ninth consecutive game Thursday at Golden State due to a right ankle contusion, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Redick continues to refer to Smart as day-to-day, according to Murray, though the second-year coach acknowledged the team thought the veteran guard would have returned from the injury by now.
- Redick downplayed a spat he had with Jarred Vanderbilt in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Redick called timeout just 16 seconds into the second quarter to remove Vanderbilt, though it wasn’t clear why, and the 27-year-old responded by verbally lashing out at his coach. Redick said a “confluence of things” led to the incident. “It’s nothing personal with him. Normal stuff from my end,” Redick said after the loss. “I think for all of us, being undermanned, we’ve got to scrap and claw, we’ve got to all be on the same page, we got to be great teammates, we got to all play hard. Called a timeout to get him out of the game. And he reacted. But again, normal interaction for me.” Vanderbilt, who didn’t play at all after the incident, finished with three points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in five minutes. The eighth-year forward left the arena before reporters were permitted into the locker room, McMenamin notes.
- Reaves is widely expected to decline his $14.9MM player option for next season to become a free agent this summer. How much money will he make in unrestricted free agency? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that question, writing that the 27-year-old will likely receive a multiyear deal with a starting salary somewhere between $30MM and $41.3MM (his max) in 2026/27.
- The Lakers aren’t going anywhere in the playoffs and the team should shut down Doncic and Reaves for the rest of the season so they don’t risk long-term damage by attempting to rush back from their injuries, argues Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times. Doncic traveled to Europe to try to expedite his recovery process from a Grade 2 hamstring strain, while Reaves is battling a strained oblique muscle.
Injury Notes: Curry, Brown, J. Green, Goodwin, Powell, Hall
The Warriors have ruled out star guard Stephen Curry for Thursday’s game against the Lakers, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
Curry returned earlier this week from a knee injury after sitting out for over two months, so Golden State is taking a cautious approach with its leading scorer and most valuable player. Slater had reported on Wednesday that the 38-year-old would likely be held out of one end of the team’s back-to-back set on Thursday and Friday. The fact that Curry is missing Thursday’s game means he should be back in action on Friday vs. Sacramento.
It also means that Curry and Lakers star LeBron James won’t face each other at all this season. James missed the first meeting between the two teams in the fall while dealing with sciatica and Curry missed the next two as a result of his knee injury.
We have more injury updates from around the NBA:
- The Celtics can clinch the No. 2 seed in the East with one more win, but they won’t be at full strength as they look to pick up that victory in New York on Thursday. Star wing Jaylen Brown will miss the game due to left Achilles tendinitis, the team announced (via Twitter). It’s the first game of a back-to-back set for Boston, though it remains to be seen whether Brown will be back in action on Friday vs. New Orleans.
- Jalen Green suffered a right leg injury early in the first quarter of Wednesday’s win over Dallas and did not return, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The former No. 2 overall pick wore a sleeve at halftime and warmed up to see how he was feeling prior to being ruled out. Fellow Suns guard Jordan Goodwin also exited Wednesday’s game due to a left ankle injury, which he suffered in the second quarter, Rankin adds.
- Although Heat wing Norman Powell said after shootaround on Thursday morning that he’s “feeling good” and will be active for tonight’s game in Toronto, he admitted his nagging right groin injury will likely linger until he gets an extended break for it to heal in the offseason, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “When you have muscle strains and things like that, you can rehab and everything. But it takes time,” Powell said. “You just need rest, and I just feel like I need rest. I need time to let the body do what it needs to do. But even though I can get it to a certain point where it feels good, there’s no pain and everything, it doesn’t mean that it’s 100% healed. So then over time, an accumulated amount of stress on that area, then it starts to flare back up.”
- Second-year big man PJ Hall underwent surgery to address his right ankle fracture, the Hornets announced in a press release. The former Clemson star, who suffered the injury in the first round of the G League playoffs with the Greensboro Swarm, will miss the rest of the 2025/26 season.
Rory Maher contributed to this story.
NBA Closes Investigation Into Kings
The NBA has closed its brief investigation into the Kings without fining the team or penalizing it in any other way, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
As we relayed on Wednesday, the NBA was taking a closer look at a play that occurred in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to Golden State. Leading 101-100 with 3:15 left in the game, Kings head coach Doug Christie instructed his team to intentionally foul sharpshooter Seth Curry off the ball, despite the fact that the Warriors were already in the bonus. The play gave Curry, an 86.4% career free throw shooter, two attempts at the line.
Warriors forward Draymond Green suggested in his post-game remarks that it was the behavior of a blatantly tanking team, but the Kings said it was simply a tactical mistake by Christie, who didn’t realize Golden State was already in the penalty. According to the Kings, Christie wanted the chance to call a timeout that he would have automatically lost once the clock ticked below the three-minute mark.
The NBA said its investigation confirmed Sacramento’s accounting of events. Its statement reads, in part:
“The league’s investigation determined that Christie mistakenly believed that the Warriors were not in the penalty and therefore instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and utilize one of the team’s remaining timeouts. The investigation found that Christie made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”
Curry made just one of the two free throws awarded to him as a result of the intentional foul, and the Kings retook the lead on the next possession but ultimately lost the game by a score of 110-105.
Magic Fined $25K For Injury Reporting Violation
The Magic have been fined $25K for a violation of the NBA’s injury reporting rules, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
The violation occurred on Monday as a result of Orlando initially listing guard Anthony Black as “out” due to a left lateral abdominal strain that had sidelined him for the previous 16 games.
The Magic, who played a back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday, put out their first injury report for Monday’s game at 12:45 pm. Black’s designation was changed from out to questionable in the 2:30 pm injury report, then he was upgraded again to probable at 3:15 pm before being listed as available at 5:00 pm.
Presumably, Orlando could’ve avoided a fine if Black was originally designated as doubtful to play rather than out. The NBA said in its press release that the team “failed to accurately disclose” his game availability status.
Draft Notes: Graves, Burries, Mara, Harris, Able, More
Santa Clara freshman forward Allen Graves is declaring for the 2026 NBA draft, he announced this week on social media (Twitter link).
Graves only started four of 35 games during his first college season, but he was a valuable reserve for the Broncos, averaging 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.8 assists in 22.6 minutes per contest. The 19-year-old also had a solid shooting line of .512/.413/.750 and won a pair of awards, having been named the WCC’s Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year.
Graves comes in at No. 32 overall in the newly updated big board from Jeremy Woo of ESPN, making him a candidate to be a first-round pick this spring if he has a strong pre-draft process.
Here’s more on the 2026 draft:
- Woo’s new top-100 list features BYU forward AJ Dybantsa taking over the No. 1 spot, with Illinois guard Keaton Wagler moving into the top five in place of Houston’s Kingston Flemings, who slips to No. 7. The biggest risers near the top of Woo’s board are Arizona’s Brayden Burries, who jumped from No. 17 to No. 10, and Michigan’s Aday Mara, who is up to No. 14 after previously ranking 32nd.
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has published an updated version of his mock draft, which features Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. coming off the board fifth overall and UConn’s Braylon Mullins moving up to No. 9.
- Wake Forest guard Juke Harris is entering the transfer portal while testing the draft waters, he confirmed on Instagram. Harris had a breakout year for the Demon Deacons as a sophomore in 2025/26, increasing his scoring average to 21.4 points per game and earning Most Improved Player honors in the ACC. He’s currently ranked 39th on ESPN’s big board.
- North Carolina State guard Matt Able, who averaged 8.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 1.2 APG as a reserve across 34 appearances as a freshman, has entered the transfer portal while also putting his name in the NBA draft pool, tweets Jeff Borzello of ESPN. Able is the No. 60 prospect on ESPN’s board.
- The following prospects are also entering the 2026 draft (players marked with an asterisk are entering the transfer portal too):
- Dai Dai Ames, G, California (junior) (Twitter link via Joe Tipton of On3) *
- Rowan Brumbaugh, G, Tulane (junior) (Twitter link via Tipton) *
- Dennis Parker, G, Radford (junior) (Twitter link via Travis Branham of 247 Sports) *
- Bryson Tucker, F, Washington (sophomore) (Twitter link)
- LeJuan Watts, F, Texas Tech (junior) (Twitter link via Borzello) *
Houston’s Chris Cenac Entering 2026 NBA Draft
Houston freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. has decided to enter the 2026 NBA draft, he confirmed today on Instagram. Although Cenac has the option of testing the draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, his announcement doesn’t say anything about taking that route, so it sounds like he’s committed to going pro.
Cenac had an impressive 2025/26 season for the Cougars, starting 36 of 37 games and averaging 9.5 points and 7.9 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per contest. The 6’11” forward/center also flashed the ability to stretch the floor, knocking down 30-of-90 three-point attempts (33.3%), and averaged a double-double (10.0 PPG, 12.3 RPG) in three NCAA tournament games.
According to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link), Cenac is viewed by many NBA executives as a probable top-20 pick in the 2026 draft.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has the 19-year-old ranked 18th overall in his latest big board update, writing that Cenac took some important steps forward as a freshman and has intriguing tools, but “remains a ways from being ready to add value in an NBA game.” Still, he did a good job handling physicality during his first college season and looks like one of the top bigs in this year’s draft class, Woo adds.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has Cenac coming off the board at No. 25 in his latest mock, suggesting that his draft slot may ultimately come down to a team’s belief in his potential as a shooter.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 4/9/2026
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Bulls' search for a new front office, Giannis Antetokounmpo's future, coaching changes for the summer, players who may retire after the playoffs and more!
What To Watch For In Season’s Final Days
The NBA’s 2025/26 regular season will wrap up on Sunday, which means we now have just four days remaining. Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on during those four days:
Playoff berths and seeding
Of the NBA’s 12 automatic playoff berths – the top six seeds in each conference – 10 have been claimed, including all six in the Western Conference. But in addition to those last couple top-six spots in the East, there are still plenty of seeding questions to be answered in the season’s final days.
Eastern Conference:
The Pistons have comfortably secured the No. 1 seed, but no other team in the East is locked in a specific seed (Twitter link via NBA).
The Celtics, who will play in New York on Thursday, need a single win or a single Knicks loss in the final three games of the season in order to claim the No. 2 seed. Assuming Boston finishes second overall, the Knicks will still need to hold off the Cavaliers for the No. 3 seed — they have a half-game lead and the tiebreaker edge over Cleveland.
The fifth through 10th seeds in the East are still a mess, with at least three teams in play for each of those slots. Here are the standings in that section of the conference entering Thursday:
- Atlanta Hawks (45-35)
- Toronto Raptors (44-35)
- Orlando Magic (44-36)
- Philadelphia 76ers (43-36)
- Charlotte Hornets (43-37)
- Miami Heat (41-38)
The No. 10 Heat, who still have to play three games, starting with one in Toronto on Thursday, will have a hard time moving up the standings, as will the No. 9 Hornets, whose final two contests are against Detroit and New York.
The Hawks, meanwhile, just need one more win to clinch a guaranteed playoff spot, but neither of their remaining games – vs. Cleveland on Friday and at Miami on Sunday – can be viewed as an easy win. It’ll be interesting to see how this race plays out in the coming days and which tiebreakers wind up being most relevant.
Western Conference:
Things are less chaotic in the West, where the Thunder (No. 1), Spurs (No. 2), Timberwolves (No. 6), Suns (No. 7), and Warriors (No. 10) are all locked into specific seeds. But the race for the third and fourth spots in the standings is an interesting one.
Currently, the Nuggets (52-28) are in the driver’s seat for No. 3, but they’ll wrap up their regular season schedule by hosting Oklahoma City on Friday and visiting San Antonio on Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Thunder sit some regulars on Friday, or at least play them fewer minutes — they have nothing left to play for until the postseason begins, and they’d probably prefer to keep the Nuggets in that No. 3 seed, on the opposite side of the playoff bracket.
The Lakers (50-29) and Rockets (50-29) are right behind Denver, and both teams have relatively favorable schedules to close out the year. Los Angeles will play in Golden State on Thursday before hosting the Suns on Friday and the Jazz on Sunday. Houston faces the Sixers on Thursday, then the Grizzlies on both Friday and Sunday, all at home. Given their injury woes, the Lakers appear most at risk of slipping to No. 5.
Further down the Western Conference standings, the Trail Blazers (40-40) are right on the 41-39 Clippers‘ heels for the No. 8 seed. Portland will need a victory over L.A. on Friday in order to gain control in that race — if they win on Friday, the Blazers would simply need to beat Sacramento on Sunday to line up a matchup with the Suns in the play-in tournament. Whichever team finishes at No. 9 would get a home play-in game, but would have to win a second one on the road to make the playoffs.
Traded draft picks and lottery odds
It’s probably safe to assume that the Jazz, who will send their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder if it’s not in the top eight, will be looking to extend their 10-game losing streak to 12 to close out the season. But even if they win a game and finish with the NBA’s fifth-worst record (or finish tied for the fourth-worst record and lose a coin flip), the odds of their pick landing outside the top eight would be minuscule (0.6%).
One more loss would lock the Pacers into a bottom-three finish, guaranteeing them the best possible lottery odds, including a 52.1% shot at a top-four pick. That’s important because their first-rounder will be sent to the Clippers if it lands outside the top four.
Interestingly, the Clippers are probably rooting for Indiana to lose out to finish the year — if the Pacers were to finish with the NBA’s worst record instead of the league’s second- or third-worst mark, that pick would have the exact same odds of falling outside the top four and being sent to L.A. (47.9%) but could fall no further than No. 5 rather than slipping to No. 6 or No. 7.
The Pelicans (26-54), Mavericks (25-55), and Grizzlies (25-55) are one group of teams worth keeping an eye on for lottery finishes. The worst team in that group could have top-four odds as high as 37.2%, while the best team could have odds as low as 26.2%. Of course, it’s worth noting that the Hawks control the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s first-rounders.
Speaking of the Bucks (31-49), they’re neck-and-neck with the Bulls (30-49) for lottery positioning, with the worst of those two teams getting the ninth-best lottery odds. It’s safe to assume plenty of fans in Chicago will be rooting hard against their team on Thursday vs. Washington and Sunday vs. Dallas.
Award races and the 65-game rule
While it’s rare for an award race to be decided by what happens in the final two or three games in the regular season, there aren’t many slam dunks this year, so it’s entirely possible that a voter could be swayed by a couple more big performances from a certain player in the season’s final days.
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg vs. Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year is one race that’s going down to the wire. There also doesn’t appear to be an overwhelming consensus for Sixth Man of the Year or Most Improved Player, among other awards.
Defensive Player of the Year is one award that looks like a lock, but frontrunner Victor Wembanyama will have to play at least 20 minutes in one of San Antonio’s final two games of the season in order to meet the 65-game minimum to qualify. The Spurs big man sat out on Wednesday due to a rib contusion, but the team is reportedly optimistic about his chances to return on Friday.
The 65-game rule figures to have a significant impact on voters’ decisions this spring, especially when it comes to All-NBA spots. Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards likely would’ve been All-NBA shoo-ins, but they’ll each fall short of the 65-game requirement. It sounds as if the agents for Cunningham and Doncic may both apply for “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions, but the CBA language defining that term is so vague that it’s hard to say whether or not they’ll be successful.
Suns guard Devin Booker is among the other stars who will fall just shy of the 65-game requirement — he could end up playing in 66 contests, but because he logged fewer than 10 minutes in two of them, those two won’t count toward the minimum.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will each have to play at least 15 minutes in one of their respective teams’ final two games in order to hit the 65-game threshold.
Potential roster moves
There are still a handful of teams with an open spot on their standard 15-man rosters, as our tracker shows. Those teams are as follows:
- Boston Celtics
- Chicago Bulls
- Utah Jazz
- Note: The Jazz technically have a full 15-man roster on Friday, but will open up a spot on Saturday following the expiration of Kennedy Chandler‘s 10-day contract.
It’s not unprecedented for a team to leave a roster spot open at the end of the season, but it’s somewhat rare — all 30 teams finished the season with full 15-man squads in each of the past three years.
Each of the three clubs listed above are good bets to make a roster move before their final games tip off on Sunday, even if it’s as simple as promoting a two-way player to a standard contract to make him postseason-eligible.
Of course, even teams with full 15-man standard rosters aren’t necessarily locked into their current groups. The Heat, for instance, are still considered likely to waive Terry Rozier at some point today or Friday in favor of a newcomer (or, more likely, a promoted two-way player).
Thursday would typically be the last day for a team to waive a player on an expiring contract, since he must clear waivers before each team plays its last regular season game. However, because a player clears waivers at 5:00 pm Eastern and none of Sunday’s games start before 6:00 pm ET, a player on an expiring contract – such as Rozier – could still be waived on Friday this season, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Coach and front office changes
While most head coaching and general manager changes are made after a team’s season ends, it’s certainly not unprecedented for it to happen during the final couple weeks of the regular season. The Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth during the last week of the 2024/25 season, while the Grizzlies dismissed coach Taylor Jenkins at the end of March 2025. Earlier this week, the Bulls parted ways with top executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley.
Most action on this front likely won’t happen until at least next week, but I also won’t be shocked if news of a change breaks on or before Sunday night.
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Risacher, Larsson, Magic
Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson, who was hired in March 2024, saw his team win just 19 games during his first full season on the job, but he remained confident in the work the front office was doing and isn’t shocked that Charlotte has taken a significant step forward in 2025/26, he told Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
“The thing that excites me the most or brings me the most joy is that we implemented the process when I first got here in multiple different facets of the organization, and we’ve been able to stick to those processes,” Peterson said. “That doesn’t mean that the result is always what we want it to be. But I sleep well knowing that we had a process going into the draft, and trade deadline and free agency, and we were able to execute what we wanted to execute.
“So, I’m not necessarily surprised that the team looks better this year. Not surprised because the process started when I first got here, but even this past summer. I’ve never been a part of a team where the entire team was here this summer working. And that was on their own.”
Currently the No. 9 seed, the Hornets still aren’t assured a playoff spot – or even a home play-in game – in a surprisingly competitive Eastern Conference. But after an 11-23 start, they’ve gone 32-14 since January 3, with young players like Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Moussa Diabate, Sion James, and Ryan Kalkbrenner emerging as key contributors. Will that internal improvement give Peterson the confidence to go out and seek another roster upgrade on the trade market this summer?
“I think there’s a lot of variables that go into that,” he told Boone. “I think sometimes people think trades are easy. They’re not. You’re dealing with another team, they have to want your player or want to trade that player that you may want. Salary’s got a match. There’s just a ton of variables at stake. So, it just kind of depends on which team you’re dealing with or what not, what the market is.
“I certainly don’t want to be in the business of overpaying for a player at this point. There could be a point where you have to do that. It’s not an exact science. You’re certainly going to get something wrong. But you’ve got to be pretty sure, the confidence interval has to be high if you’re going to put all your chips in and go get a player.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- After playing a career-low seven minutes on Monday, Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher received the first DNP-CD of his NBA career on Wednesday in Cleveland, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. The former No. 1 overall pick was a starter through the first half of the season, but has seen his playing time dip to 22.5 minutes per game through 65 total outings. Risacher, who was replaced in the rotation by Corey Kispert on Wednesday, has averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per night, with a .457/.373/.636 shooting line.
- It has been a disappointing regular season for the Heat, who are trending toward a 10th-place finish that will require them to win two road games in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs. But the development of Pelle Larsson has been a bright spot, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who notes that the second-year forward has become one of the club’s most reliable, consistent players. “Being an enhancer in every lineup, that’s just a credit to the way he plays,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He does all the effort things, he does all the intangibles, he does all the little things. That, of course, will work with any lineup. Every lineup needs energy, effort, and he provides that.”
- Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley is believed to be on the hot seat as the offseason nears, but center Goga Bitadze expressed appreciation on Wednesday for the job the coaching staff has done over the course of a challenging year, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (Twitter video link). “(The) coaches (have) done a great job staying positive,” Bitadze said. “You can’t get down on yourself and bring that negative energy, but they haven’t done that at all. You know, Mose has been nothing but positive all season.”
Thunder Secure West’s No. 1 Seed For Third Straight Season
The Spurs have been on an absolute heater since the start of February, winning 29 of 32 games during that stretch, but it won’t be enough to catch the Thunder in the regular season standings.
On Wednesday, shortly after San Antonio won its 61st game of the season, Oklahoma City picked up its 64th victory, beating the Clippers in L.A. by a score of 128-110. With only two games left in the regular season, the Thunder now can’t be caught for the No. 1 seed and will finish atop the Western Conference for a third straight year. They’ve also secured the NBA’s best record, which means they’ll have home court advantage in all of their playoff series this spring, including – potentially – the Finals.
The Thunder have won 19 of their past 20 games and have become just the third team in NBA history to compile at least 64 wins in back-to-back seasons, notes Brandon Rahbar of Daily Thunder (Twitter link). The only other two franchises to achieve that feat were the Bulls, who did it from 1995-97, and the Warriors, who won at least 67 games in three straight seasons from 2014-17.
“It’s impressive,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the team’s regular season success, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Obviously, none of it means anything if you don’t win in the end, and you know that. But teams that win in the end have some of the same characteristics and traits and check off the same boxes. So checking off those boxes is kind of just like knowing we’re headed in the right direction. Obviously, we’re far from the finish line of where we want to go, but like I said, it lets us know we’re heading right there.”
With the Thunder now locked into the No. 1 seed and the Spurs having clinched No. 2, they’ll face the two teams that come out of the play-in tournament in the first round of the playoffs.
Phoenix’s win over Dallas on Wednesday ensured that the Suns will enter the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed, meaning they’ll host the No. 7/8 game and would get a second home game against the No. 9/10 winner if they lose that first contest. The Warriors are locked into the No. 10 seed in the West and will have to win two road games to make the playoffs, while the Clippers and Trail Blazers continue to jockey for No. 8.
The Timberwolves‘ loss to Orlando on Wednesday also guaranteed that Minnesota will finish sixth in the Western Conference standings. The Nuggets are in the driver’s seat for No. 3, with a two-game lead over the Rockets and Lakers.
Over in the East, the Hawks could’ve clinched a playoff berth with a win in Cleveland on Wednesday, but their fourth-quarter comeback attempt came up short. Atlanta still currently holds the No. 5 seed in the East with two games left to play, but the Raptors, Magic, and Sixers – in that order – are all within 1.5 games, and the Hawks will face the Cavaliers again on Friday.