[OutsiderFan]

If I had any courage I would have made a substantial bet on the Clippers to beat the Lakers last night. Coming off eking out an OT win in Utah the night before, and their 3rd game in four nights, against a Clippers team that had 3 days off, it just didn’t seem possible the Lakers could win. Sure enough, the Clippers raced out to a 19 point halftime lead and hung on for the win, vaulting themselves into 5th, pushing Warriors to 6th, and dropping Lakers to 7th.

Given the Grizzlies lost in OT to Pelicans, the top 4 WC seeds are locked in. Only 6-10 are still being contested. How do the top 4 handle it? The Nuggets and Suns play tonight in a game that means absolutely nothing for either team and has zero impact on seedlings at all for anyone.

Then the Suns play at Lakers and host Clippers Sunday. They can avoid Lakers in first round and go a long way toward putting them in play-in by beating them Friday. The Warriors will have a must win game to avoid play-in in Portland on Sunday. The Warriors have a 74% chance of getting the 5 seed if they win in Sac and Portland, so they might not be too motivated to win both. But will be fascinating to see if the Warriors can in fact rise to the occasion to win what for them is a must win road game. The only other such game they won was in Dallas a couple weeks ago. If they win in Sac or Portland they will show they need to be taken seriously in playoffs. But even if they drop both, the return of Andrew Wiggins could make a sizable impact.

I’m really bummed Wiggins has been ruled out of last 2 games, but it is understandable why.

The Mavericks staved off elimination and get to play a Bulls team locked into 10th in East, and Spurs. I like their chances to get it and knock out OKC on Sunday.

[OutsiderFan]

If I had any courage I would have made a substantial bet on the Clippers to beat the Lakers last night. Coming off eking out an OT win in Utah the night before, and their 3rd game in four nights, against a Clippers team that had 3 days off, it just didn’t seem possible the Lakers could win. Sure enough, the Clippers raced out to a 19 point halftime lead and hung on for the win, vaulting themselves into 5th, pushing Warriors to 6th, and dropping Lakers to 7th.

Given the Grizzlies lost in OT to Pelicans, the top 4 WC seeds are locked in. Only 6-10 are still being contested. How do the top 4 handle it? The Nuggets and Suns play tonight in a game that means absolutely nothing for either team and has zero impact on seedlings at all for anyone.

Then the Suns play at Lakers and host Clippers Sunday. They can avoid Lakers in first round and go a long way toward putting them in play-in by beating them Friday. The Warriors will have a must win game to avoid play-in in Portland on Sunday. The Warriors have a 74% chance of getting the 5 seed if they win in Sac and Portland, so they might not be too motivated to win both. But will be fascinating to see if the Warriors can in fact rise to the occasion to win what for them is a must win road game. The only other such game they won was in Dallas a couple weeks ago. If they win in Sac or Portland they will show they need to be taken seriously in playoffs. But even if they drop both, the return of Andrew Wiggins could make a sizable impact.

I’m really bummed Wiggins has been ruled out of last 2 games, but it is understandable why.

The Mavericks staved off elimination and get to play a Bulls team locked into 10th in East, and Spurs. I like their chances to get it and knock out OKC on Sunday.