15 THINGS TO EXPECT in THE NBA TODAY:
April 10th - 2 games left
1) Seeding Scenarios (East):
- A Boston win today locks them in the 2nd seed. The only way they can fall to 3rd is by losing each of their final two games paired with an NYK 2-0 close.
- Toronto has tiebreakers over all team's below them outside of PHI, meaning a win leaves them locked in a Top 6 seed.
- A Magic loss or TOR/ATL wins means they are locked in the Play-In.
Full East Seed Ranges:
1 - DET 🔒
2 - BOS (2, 3)
3 - NYK (2, 3, 4)
4 - CLE (3, 4)
5 - TOR (5, 6, 7, 8)
6 - ATL (5, 6, 7, 8)
7 - ORL (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
8 - PHI (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
9 - CHA (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
10 - MIA (8, 9, 10)
Tiebreakers:
ATL > PHI, ORL
TOR > ATL, CHA, ORL, MIA
PHI > TOR, CHA, ORL
ORL > MIA
CHA > ATL, ORL
MIA > ATL, PHI, CHA
2) Seeding Scenarios (West):
- A Nuggets win today locks them with home court in 1st Round, yet will need to win their finale vs SAS in Lakers also win. LAL has all tiebreakers.
- Clippers win today and they are locked in 8th, Portland locked in 9th.
Full West Seed Ranges:
1 - OKC 🔒
2 - SAS 🔒
3 - DEN (3, 4, 5)
4 - LAL (3, 4, 5)
5 - HOU (3, 4, 5)
6 - MIN 🔒
7 - PHX 🔒
8 - LAC (8, 9)
9 - POR (8, 9)
10 - GSW 🔒
Tiebreakers:
LAL > DEN, HOU, MIN
DEN > HOU, MIN
LAC > POR
3) Cleveland vs Atlanta is one of three games today where both teams are looking to improve playoff standing. Cleveland is without Mitchell, Merrill and both Centers of Allen/Bryant.
Mobley's last two games vs ATL has produced 14 & 19 rebounds.
4) Hornets facing a locked in DET team, yet Cade Cunningham is returning from a collapsed lung injury, so we'll still see action from starters.
In their L10 games, CHA is 8th in DRTG, 3rd in NETRTG, and allow the fewest OPP RPG/APG. Duren a fade candidate.
5) Raptors vs Knicks would mark our 2nd of three competitive games today, albeit likely more important for TOR who can fall all the way to the Play-In from their current 5th seed.
TOR used Barnes to guard Brunson last game, who shot just 3-9 on this matchup.
6) After Bam Adebayo scored 83 on Washington, they sent triples on him next meeting -- which is likely more a pride thing rather than an actual aim to win. Regardless, Adebayo produced 7 assists in just 24min of action.
7) Joel Embiid is undergoing surgery to get his appendix removed, which has a pretty short recovery timetable. Tonight, PHI will look to win without him against Indiana, and hopefully avoid The Play-In.
Maxey and George both ran limited minutes on the first leg of this back-to-back yesterday.
8) Pelicans shutting down their older core and letting Fears and Queen run huge minutes here to end off the season. Last game:
Fears: 40 Pts, 6 Ast off 29 FGA in 38min
Queen: 17-12-7, 37min
Poole: 34 Pts, 23 FGA, 32min
Peavy and Hawkins rounds this out. Issue is that NOP is facing a Boston team that wants to win and lock themselves in the 2nd seed. Tatum is out here on 2nd leg.
9) Wembanyama, despite The Spurs locking up the 2 seed, is looking to play today against Flagg and The Mavericks. Would expect 25 minutes here, regardless of blowout.
10) As I'm writing this, Lucas Williamson signed another 10 Day contract. Thus, The Grizzlies have, at best, 10 guys available tonight. That includes Prosper, who is doubtful, and the duo of Clayton Jr. and Small, who are both questionable.
Outside of Taj Gibson, Clayton Jr. is the only guy who is not on a 2-Way or 10-Day contract -- so not a lot of value here betting wise.
11) The Thunder also have 8 available, though I wouldn't expect Dort to get a lot of run here as a playoff rotational piece.
Wiggins and McCain are the targets. Wiggins ended last season in a similar spot, with 3 straight games of 16+ FGA
12) Timberwolves last game, after already locking in 6th seed, rolled out their 2nd unit with sub 25 minutes from the three playoff rotational guys of Reid, McDaniels and DiVincenzo.
Randle and Gobert are ruled out already, while Edwards we wait on. Ant hasn't played in a week, so if he is able I would expect one of the final two games featuring him.
13) The Rockets are still looking to compete here given the shot at a 3/4 seed that comes with homecourt advantage.
The glaring weakness of MIN currently is their rebounding, allowing the 3rd most OPP RPG in their L10 games.
This has been concentrated to frontcourt as well, with Duren, Clingan, Jabari, Sengun, Garza, Thompson, Embiid, Tatum and Bitadze all with 16+ chances in that span. Sengun should thrive.
14) Portland vs LAC is a big game in the west, as the two are fighting for the 8th seed -- avoiding the 9/10 game. LAC has the tiebreak, but will lose it if they lose by 13 or more (someone fact check this).
Brook Lopez has been a matchup issue for Clingan, firing up 14 and 8 3PA in the two meetings against that drop. If he can hit and Clingan is forced across multiple levels, LAC has a big edge.
15) Curry set to play today vs The Kings, but wouldn't expect a heavy dose here with GSW already locked in the 10th seed. Played just 25 last meeting and would expect similar here.
Bonus: Cap us off in LA, where PHX is already locked in the 6th seed, yet Lakers need to keep winning to prevent a fall to 5th seed.
Collin Gillespie should command minutes here, and has hit 3+ threes in 10 straight without Booker and with 25+ minutes.
If you read this far, toss a like!