NBA: Oklahoma City takes first place in the West, where the Lakers should make the playoffs

The surprise lasted until the end. After 82 games of the regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder players have managed to maintain their number one spot and therefore home court advantage for the NBA Western Conference playoffs, the North American Basketball Championship.

Although the suspension remained until the last meeting between the three teams, the Thunder destroyed the Dallas Mavericks (135-86) on Sunday, April 14, who rested two of their stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Thus, Oklahoma City ends up with the same record as the defending champions, the Denver Nuggets (57 wins and 25 losses), which they have surpassed this season thanks to three wins in four straight contests.

This first place confirms the reconstruction of the franchise – it was 14^e (of fifteen teams) in 2021, then in 2022 and 10^e In the West in 2023 – with a young group (average age under 25 years), led by Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The league’s third-leading scorer this season with an average of 30.1 points, “SGA” is one of three MVP favorites (Most Valuable Player, ” best player “) With Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.

LeBron James and Stephen Curry on the ropes

Jokic, with Memphis’ 126-111 win over Denver on Sunday, managed to lift his team to second place in the Western Conference on this final day, taking advantage of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss to Phoenix. (106-125). French center Wolves Rudy Gobert (21 points, 7 rebounds) will face Kevin Durant’s eventual sixth-seeded Suns in the first round of the playoffs on April 20. Los Angeles Clippers (4^e) and Dallas Mavericks (5^e) until this last day were assured of the final ranking and will compete in the first round.

To participate in the playoffs, stars LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) and Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) will have to go through the play-ins. Los Angeles Lakers (8^ebeat the New Orleans Pelicans (124-108) on Sunday, who they will face in Louisiana on Tuesday in a dry matchup with a first-round berth against Denver at stake.

The loser of that game will have one final chance to qualify — against Oklahoma — on Friday when they face the other playoff winner between Sacramento (9).^e) and Golden State (10^e), California’s northern neighbors. Four-time champions in the last ten years (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022), Stephen Curry’s Warriors have two games to try to salvage their season.

The Knicks are ahead of Milwaukee in the East

In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks staged a performance and suspension in their Madison Square Garden, defeating the Chicago Bulls only after overtime (120-119), thanks to the 40 points of the All-Star leader Jalen Brunson (8 rebounds, 7 assists). . Thus, they took second place in the conference at the expense of the Milwaukee Bucks, who were defeated in Orlando by the Magic (88-113), who took fifth place.

The Boston Celtics, who won their 64th title, have long since extinguished their concerns at the top of the rankings.^e season (18 losses) vs. Washington Wizards (132-122).

The Cleveland Cavaliers, once hopeful for second place, were swept by the Charlotte Hornets (110-120) and ended up in fourth place, finding Orlando in the first round of the playoffs.

The Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Atlanta Hawks (157-115), took sixth place and finally went directly to the playoffs, where they will face Milwaukee, which hopes to rely on its star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Miami Heat, the finalist in 2023 with Denver, eventually in eighth place, will have to go to the playoffs despite the success achieved against the Toronto Raptors (118-103). The Florida franchise heads to the 76th floor in Philadelphia on Wednesday.^{the nation}, which just days ago marked the return of center Joel Embiid for a playoff drought. The loser of that game will face the winner of Friday’s game between the Chicago Bulls (9^e) and the Atlanta Hawks (10^e) for the last ticket.