The defending NBA champion did not give details for the final game of the regular season. The Golden State Warriors secured their place in the playoffs by winning well on Sunday, April 9, against the Portland Trail Blazers (157-101), setting a new NBA record with 55 points scored in the first quarter.
Star Stephen Curry scored 26 points, with a 5-of-10 3-point address. Three other players scored 20 or more points ? Klay Thompson (20), Jordan Poole (21) and 20-year-old Moses Moody (25) ? to allow the Californians to go straight to defend their title without going through the play-offs (“play-in”).
“It’s been an up and down season, but when you get to the playoffs, none of that matters,” Warriors player Draymond Green said.
In a particularly tight Western Conference, where five franchises were competing for places 5 to 9 for this last day of the regular season, the defending champions finished behind the Los Angeles Clippers, who confirmed their fifth place by beating the Phoenix Suns (119- 114), which they will also find in the first round of the playoffs.
Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook each scored 25 points, Norman Powell added 29, in a game also marked by a small altercation between teammates Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland, illustrating the tension experienced by the Clippers in this last game.
“Unacceptable” Behavior
But this victory forces the other Los Angeles club, the Lakers and their megastar LeBron James, to go through the play-offs to hope to play the playoffs, despite a final success against Utah Jazz (128-117). “Our team is very well organized,” said James, who scored 36 points. “We have a good balance. We did a good job putting together a team that is adjusting to AD [Anthony Davis] and myself after the break. We’re just trying to make it work on the pitch. »
The Lakers will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-offs, who beat the New Orleans Pelicans 113-108, in a game marked by a verbal and then physical altercation between Rudy Gobert and his teammate, Kyle Anderson. During a timeout in the second quarter, the Frenchman punched Anderson in the chest, before players separated them.
Gobert was sent home by his team as the Timberwolves lost 48-36, nearly four minutes from halftime. “We made the decision to send Rudy Gobert home after the incident in the second quarter. His behavior on the bench was unacceptable and we will continue to manage the situation internally,” Timberwolves general manager Tim Connelly said.
The loser of the Lakers-Timberwolves playoff will face the winner of the other game between the Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder for one last chance to make the playoffs.
A last day without major challenges in the East
All the NBA franchises played on Sunday, but in the East the matches had almost no stakes, with each team already assured of their place. The Sixers and the Nets, however, offered a taste of the series that awaits them in the first round of the playoffs. Without Joel Embiid and James Harden, who were rested, the Sixers beat the Nets 134-106.
Anecdotally, Mikal Bridges played a few seconds for the Nets to play his 83rd game of the season, playing one game more than the normal number in a regular season, due to his transfer from Phoenix in February.
The game between the Hawks and the Celtics, which could also be a playoff 1st round series depending on the play-off result, ended in a 120-114 victory for Boston, despite the absences of stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Already guaranteed to finish with the best record in the NBA (58 wins, 24 losses), the Milwaukee Bucks, without Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) and Khris Middleton (knee), lost their last game against the Raptors (121-105).
Now is the time in both conferences for the pressure and excitement of the playoffs. “The real season is starting,” Draymond Green said knowingly with his four championship rings, “and that’s what matters.”
