There are many plots after today's NBA games pitting some intriguing pairings of teams in the Eastern and Western Conference of the premier pro league.
One is the New York Knicks in the East and the OKC Thunder in the West peeling away from their closest rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers and the LA Clippers respectively by beating exactly the same teams In two of today's scheduled games.
The Knicks defeated the Sixers 110-96 right in their own home floor at Wells Fargo while the Thunder bested the Cappers 127-101 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
The win puts NY (34-21) two won games ahead of the Sixers (32-23) in the jockeying for the crucial 4th place in the East that will hold the advantage in the playoffs. The Sixers continued to struggle without their superstar big man Joel Embiid.
Meanwhile the Thunder (38-17) gets to hold the Clippers (36-18) at bay with 1.5 won games lead for the 2nd place in the West while boosting its bid for the Conference leadership currently held by the Minnesota Timberwolves (39-16).
The win also put the Thunder within two wins of equaling their win totals of 40 for the entirety of the 2022-2023 season.
Ironically, the Thunder gets this latest win against the Clippers with which its fortune seems to be interlocked since the 2019 trade that sent Paul George to LA and the now blossoming Shia Gilheous Alexander to OKC. Incidentally, Alexander led as usual the Thunder win with game high 31 points while George was limited to just 14.
Another plot is the Dallas Mavericks dragging the Phoenix Suns to a tie for the 6th spot in the West with a 123-113 victory at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Both the Mavs and the Suns tote a 33-23 win loss record, 7,5;won games behind the Timberwolves.
As usual, Luka Doncic topped the Mavs in scoring (41) and rebounds, coming just an assist short of a triple double. He got support from Kyrie Irving who fired 25. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant tried to equalize but the Mavs simply shoot better from the field especially the trifecta territory.
Getting the 6th spot is also crucial for the team which automatically gets a playoff spot.
Under the revised format, the 7th and 8th positions would enter the play-in tournament where they would be facing the 9th and 10th placed teams to determine the final 7th and 8th placed teams.
Holding the 9th and 10th currently are the LA Lakers and the Golden State Warriors who also played today with the Warriors winning 128-110 at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The Lakers are without Lebron James. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 32 markers.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
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