At this point, we pretty much know (1) who’s gonna make the playoffs and (2) who’s already looking forward to next season. If you’re part of the first group, congrats! Best of luck to your team. If you’re part of the second group… hey, we hear Donovan Clingan is supposed to be really good.

Today’s Lineup

Full-Court Coverage

• The Nuggets retained sole possession of the Western Conference’s first seed with an important win over Minnesota—the Joker had 41 (his 20th 40-point game) and Jamal Murray had an efficient 20 in Denver’s nine-point W. The Wolves and the Thunder are now both exactly a game behind the Nuggets, but all three teams have two games left to play—anyone could finish on top. Speaking of, Jokic displayed a very similar attitude about the MVP race at a presser this week:

• Thanks to 39 points from DeMar DeRozan and highlight play after highlight play from Javonte Green, the Bulls clinched the ninth seed (and home court advantage in the first play-in game) with a 22-point win over Detroit last night. They’ll play Atlanta on Wednesday…

• Speaking of the Hawks, Trae Young’s return to the lineup after missing 20+ games was spoiled by a great Brandon Miller game (27 PTS) and a clutch block by Tre Mann. Charlotte got the 115-114 comeback win on Wednesday.

• 39 points and six threes? His fifth-straight 35+ point game? Just an average performance for the best player in the Eastern Conference, whose Knicks gave Boston a rare home loss last night. Even Larry David can’t believe it:

• We saw two 37-point performances in Wednesday night’s Suns-Clippers games—one from a usual suspect (Devin Booker) and one from a not-so-usual suspect (Bones Hyland). It was DBook and the Suns who got the 124-108 W, as Phoenix tries to claw their way out of the Play-In.

• 31 points from both Zion and CJ led the Pelicans over the Kings 135-123 in a crucial Western Conference seeding game. De’Aaron Fox had 33 & 8 in Sacramento’s loss—they now sit at eighth and project to fall further if the Warriors keep winning.

• And despite an incredible season-high 42-point performance from Fred VanVleet, the Rockets fell to the Jazz in a tight 124-121 game. Keyonte George (20 PTS) and Brice Sensabaugh (17 PTS, four 3PM) led the way offensively for Utah.

Playoff Preview: Clippers vs. Mavericks

The Clippers and Mavericks are locked into the fourth and fifth seeds in the Western Conference, so that means they’ll be facing off in the first round for the third time in just five years. We’d complain about the monotony of it all, but these teams have given us nothing but electric playoff basketball the last two times they’ve matched up.

Will Los Angeles complete the three-peat and beat Dallas again? Or will Luka finally get over the hump and put the Clippers away, this time with Kyrie at his side? Let’s get into it:

The Clippers will win because.. they have one of the best offenses in the league (3rd-best 118.3 ORTG) and because Kawhi Leonard is a certified Playoff Performer™️. The Klaw averaged 32.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG, and 2.3 SPG in the Clippers’ last two series against the Mavericks and he ALWAYS turns up come playoff time—over the past 15 years, Kawhi has an eighth-best 87 playoff wins. Add in PG13 and one of the best sixth men in the NBA, and it’s clear to see why the Clippers are an attractive pick in this matchup.

The Mavericks will win because… they have a cheat code. We know about Luka Doncic’s 0-2 record against the Clippers in the playoffs, but don’t forget that this man led Dallas to the conference finals in 2022. He can, in fact, perform in the playoffs. And against LA this time around, he has playoff veteran Kyrie Irving with him—who else has a highlight reel like this against the Clippers? Luka and Kyrie are a deadly duo that no team wants to see, even Los Angeles.

Three in the Key

Signing Off

What a week of basketball… and it only gets better from here! Thanks for spending time with us this week. Talk to you on Monday. 😎

-Austin Zeglis