Basketball
There weren’t as many last-minute decisions in the Western Conference as there were in the East, but things were exciting there too. The Oklahoma City Thunder secure first place, the Suns are also celebrating.
Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers moves to the basket. Photo: Gerald Herbert/AP/dpa
In the three-way battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves and defending champion Denver Nuggets, OKC’s 135:86 win against the Dallas Mavericks was enough to defend its top position and home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Mavericks rested all of their regular players around Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Maxi Kleber in the game. The team was already safely fifth and will face the Los Angeles Clippers led by Daniel Theis in the playoffs. The world champion had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the 105:116 win against the Houston Rockets.
Second place in the Western Conference went to the Nuggets around Nikola Jokic. The defending champions won 126:111 against the Memphis Grizzlies and climbed one place because the Timberwolves lost their home game against the Phoenix Suns 106:125. The Suns secured sixth place and direct participation in the playoffs at the last opportunity. There it will be against the Timberwolves again in a maximum of seven games. Because the New Orleans Pelicans lost 108:124 at home against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team slipped to seventh place and will have to compete again against the record champions around superstar LeBron James in the play-in on Tuesday.
In the play-in duel between the teams in ninth and tenth place, the Sacramento Kings defended their right to host the game on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors. The Kings won 121:82 against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Warriors’ 123:116 against the Utah Jazz was not enough for Steph Curry’s team to get past the Kings.
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Oklahoma first in the NBA West – Suns qualify for the playoffs (published on badische-zeitung.de)
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