NBA Sunday round-up: Warriors win 53rd straight game at home, Clippers clinch 5th straight Playoff berth
Golden State Warriors 117-105 Philadelphia 76ers
Lot of records tumbled on Sunday night but courtesy of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green the Golden State Warriors’ home winning streak stayed alive. Thompson dropped 40 points for the second game in a row and Green had his 12th triple-double of the season.
Green ended up with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to help the Warriors extend their unbeaten streak at home to 53.
However, the result of this game should not have been such a head-scratcher, as heading into the contest between the Warriors (.903) and the 76ers (.123), the difference in win percentages was the largest in NBA history after 40 games.
The Warriors have scored 70 in a half for the 17th time this season.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 28, 2016
No other team has more than 4 70-point halves this year.
Reigning league MVP Stephen Curry came up with a valuable 20 points and 8 assists. Off the bench, Marreese Speights provided instant offense scoring 17 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists on 7 of 10 shooting in just 20 minutes on the floor.
For Philadelphia Ish Smith did his bit trying to keep the game competitive scoring 20 points and dishing out 10 assists. Robert Covington had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of playing time. The game had absolutely no impact whatsoever on the seedings and was a mere formality in order to complete the season series between the two teams.
With nine to ten games to go and the Spurs’ loss on Saturday, Golden State’s four and a half game lead seems safe enough to give them home court advantage all through the Playoffs.
Sacramento Kings 133-111 Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks dropped the season series to the Sacramento Kings 3-1, losing it for the first time since 2002-03. It’s a woeful time to be a Mavericks fan, their team has won just two games of their last twelve.
Dallas has allowed an average of 112.5 points through these past 12 games so it’s no surprise that they are only 2-10 in this stretch. This Kings loss will be a tough pill to swallow as it puts Dallas out of the Playoffs in the West for the first time this season.
DeMarcus Cousins had a huge game with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists while Rajan Rondo had 11 points and 11 assists. The Kings as a team shot 62.2% from the field as compared to 47.7% shooting by the Mavericks, they also assisted on 35 of their 51 field goals.
Rookie Willie Cauley-Stein had his second straight 20+ game off the bench, scoring 21 points and grabbing 7 rebounds on 8 of 11 shooting in just 28 minutes on the floor.
Despite the loss, not all hope should be given up by Mavericks faithful considering the slim lead the team trails by for the seventh and eighth seeds. Dallas still has one game left against the teams it is competing with for a Playoff spot in the West- the Utah Jazz (12 April) and the Houston Rockets (7 April).
Moreover, three of the next four games are favourable ones for the team with opponents like the New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Los Angeles Clippers 105-90 Denver Nuggets
The Los Angeles Clippers win on Sunday over the Denver Nuggets officially sealed a Playoff berth for the team, however, they already had that locked in a while back. So Sunday was highlighted with some other news coming in.
Former All-Star forward Blake Griffin had been cleared to play and had begun his four-game suspension from Sunday, which means he will return in uniform to play against the Washington Wizards next Monday.
Just one of many alley-oops Jordan flushed on the Nuggets:
DeAndre Jordan had a monster game with 16 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocked shots helping the Clippers avenge a tough loss they suffered at the hands of the Nuggets at home about a month back.
Chris Paul did a little bit of everything with his 14 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds. More importantly for the Clippers, their bench came through this game, with three players scoring double digits.
Indiana Pacers 104-101 Houston Rockets
James Harden had his usual big numbers of 34 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists but also made sure he turned the ball over five times as the Houston Rockets dropped a game against the Indiana Pacers, their fourth loss in the last five games.
No other player on the team had more than 14 points and the high volume three point shooting of the Rockets cost them on Sunday night as they only seven of their 33 attempts (21.2%).
Meanwhile, the Pacers shared the ball and assisted on 25 of their 41 field goals. Superstar Paul George had 25 points and 11 rebounds while center Ian Mahinmi had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists as Indiana held on to their slim lead for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference Playoff standings.
The win for the Pacers meant the official elimination from Playoff contention for the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic.
Without playing a game on Sunday, the Utah Jazz were the biggest winners. Houston and Dallas’ losses on Sunday meant that the Jazz jumped from the ninth seed to the seventh, however, the lead it holds for the spot is slim so there is no room to relax for either of these three teams battling for the final two spots in the West.
Washington Wizards 101-88 Los Angeles Lakers
John Wall (WAS): 22 pts, 13 asts
Marcin Gortat (WAS): 16 pts, 10 rebs