“He reminds me of a young DWade and a young Kobe. He’s going to score, he’s going to get his every time.”

– Shaquille O’Neal on Anthony Edwards

THE LINEUP 🏀

📊 West race tightens again
🍀 Celtics increase East lead
🔙 Roundup: OG returns in NY W
🆚 West Play-In showdowns
📈 Here come the champs

📺 An ESPN doubleheader opens with a Finals rematch in Miami (7:30 ET, ESPN) before heading to Sacramento for No. 7 Kings vs. No. 9 Lakers (10 ET, ESPN) in one of two head-to-head battles between the four teams currently in the West Play-In.

📲 The other will be in Dallas as the No. 10 Warriors visit the No. 8 Mavs (8:30 ET, NBA App) … Plus, the Pelicans go for their fifth straight win when they host the Cavs (8 ET, NBA App) in a clash of top five teams in each conference.

1. WEST’S TOP 3 SEPARATED BY JUST A HALF-GAME

Edwards, Wolves rally past Clippers: The Wolves trailed by 22 (57-35) with 5:13 left in the first half. They outscored the Clippers 83-43 the rest of the way – including a 20-2 run late in the second quarter – to come away with a 118-100 win. Recap

• Edwards leads the way: Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 37 points as he, Nickeil Alexander-Walker (28 pts, 5 3s) and Mike Conley (23 pts, 5 3s) combined for 88 points and all 12 of Minnesota’s 3s
• Kawhi’s early exit: Kawhi Leonard left the game at the end of the first quarter due to back spasms and did not return. He finished with six points in 12 minutes, while Paul George scored a team-high 22

• Playoff Race (MIN ↔️): The Wolves remain third in the West, pulling within a half-game of both Denver and Oklahoma City, while also increasing their lead over the Clippers to three games
• Playoff Race (LAC ↔️): The Clippers remain fourth in the West, falling three games back of No. 3 Minnesota and two games ahead of No. 5 New Orleans 

Pacers cool down Thunder: Myles Turner had 24 points and four blocks, while Tyrese Haliburton (12 ast) and Pascal Siakam (11 reb) each posted 18-point double-doubles, to lead the Pacers past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast) and the Thunder 121-111, snapping OKC’s three-game win streak. Recap

• SGA makes history: Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his 48th 30+ point game of the season, setting a new Thunder/Sonics franchise record, passing Kevin Durant’s in 2009 (47)
• Shai: “Kev’s done amazing things here…to be in those types of conversations is an honor and blessing”
• Some Gonzaga ties: Former college teammates Chet Holmgren and Andrew Nembhard swapped jerseys postgame
• Playoff Race (IND ⬆️): Indy’s win combined with Philly’s loss vaulted the Pacers out of the Play-In field and into the Playoff field, sitting sixth in the East
• Playoff Race (OKC ↔️): OKC is now tied with Denver atop the West at 45-20. The Thunder remain in 1st as they own the head-to-head tiebreaker (3-1 season series win)

2. CELTICS INCREASE LEAD IN EAST

Tatum, Boston Roll: After the Jazz cut a 17-point lead down to two with 36 seconds left in the third quarter, the Celtics went on a 20-0 run to pull away as they won 123-107. Recap

• Jayson Tatum dropped 38 points before gifting his armband to a lucky fan postgame. Derrick White (24 pts, 7 3s) and Jrue Holiday (16 pts, 8 ast) added another 40 as Boston earned win No. 51
• Rookie Keyonte George led the Jazz with 26 points and five 3s, while Jordan Clarkson added 21 off the bench in the loss
• Playoff Race (BOS ↔️): The Celtics won their third straight to increase their lead in the East to 9.5 games

Kings snap losing streak to Bucks: The Kings got a combined 76 points from De’Aaron Fox (29 pts, 7 ast, 1 thunderous dunk), Malik Monk (25 pts, 5 ast off the bench) and Domantas Sabonis (22 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast, 1 poster) in a commanding 129-94 win over the Bucks. Recap

• First win in how long? The Kings beat the Bucks for the first time since Feb. 1, 2016, snapping a 15-game losing streak to Milwaukee
• Sabonis’ streak: Sabonis recorded his 47th consecutive double-double (he leads the NBA with 60 total this season) to set a Kings single-season double-double streak record, topping the 46 by Jerry Lucas in 1967-68
• Giannis had 30 to lead Milwaukee, including a pair of early dunks, but no other Buck scored more than 11 points as Milwaukee posted its second-lowest scoring game of the season
• Playoff Picture (MIL ↔️): The Bucks maintain second in the East, but see their lead over the Cavs cut to a half-game
• Play-In Picture (SAC ↔️): The Kings remain in the No. 7 spot in the Play-In, but move within a half-game of the Suns for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth out West

3. ROUNDUP: ANUNOBY RETURNS IN KNICKS WIN, PHILLY DROPS TO PLAY-IN

Knicks drop 76ers: Josh Hart (20 pts, 19 reb, 10 ast) posted his fourth triple-double of the season, while Jalen Brunson (20 pts, 9 ast) and a returning OG Anunoby (14 pts) helped the Knicks beat the Sixers 106-79 to split their two games over the past three days at MSG. Recap

• Playoff Race (NYK ↔️): The Knicks remain fourth in the East, with a full-game lead over No. 5 Orlando
• Play-In Race (PHI ⬇️): Philly drops from the Playoff to the Play-In field as they fall from sixth to seventh

Rockets win 3rd straight: Leading by nine with under three minutes left, the Rockets held off a late Spurs run to secure a 103-101 win behind a combined 37 points from Fred VanVleet (21 pts, 7 ast) and Jalen Green (16 pts, 7 reb). Victor Wembanyama posted his 35th double-double (13 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast, 2 blk) in the loss. Recap

Grizzlies never trail: Trey Jemison (24 pts, 11-13 FG) and GG Jackson (19 pts) led the Grizzlies to a 109-97 win over the Wizards. Memphis’ bench outscored the Wizards’ bench 50-20. Recap

4. WEST PLAY-IN SHOWDOWNS

If the postseason started today, the SoFi Play-In Tournament would feature teams led by the following stars: De’Aaron Fox, Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Steph Curry in the West; Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan and Trae Young in the East.

Six of those teams will be in action tonight – including all four in the West in two head-to-head matchups – giving us a taste of what we could see come April 16-19.

• (10) Warriors at (8) Mavs (8:30 ET, NBA App): Luka will go for his eighth straight triple-double tonight. He fell two boards shy of a triple-double in Dallas’ win over Golden State in December. The Warriors will be without Steph Curry, who has been cleared to return to practice, but remains out of the lineup
• (9) Lakers at (7) Kings (10 ET, ESPN): The Kings go for the season sweep against their SoCal rivals. Sacramento has won seven of the last eight meetings, while Domantas Sabonis is 9-0 in his career vs. Anthony Davis

Entering tonight’s matchups, the four teams in the West Play-In field are separated by just three games, which adds more meaning to these head-to-head matchups as they will impact positioning in the standings as well as potential tiebreakers.

7. Sacramento (37-27)

• 3-0 vs. LAL: Won series, 1 game to play (tonight)
• 2-0 vs. DAL: 2 games to play
• 2-2 vs. GSW: Tied series, complete

8. Dallas (37-28)

• 1-0 vs. GSW: 3 games to play (including tonight)
• 2-1 vs. LAL: Won series, complete
• 0-2 vs. SAC: 2 games to play

9. Los Angeles Lakers (36-30)

• 1-2 vs. DAL: Lost series, complete
• 0-3 vs. SAC: Lost series, 1 game to play (tonight)
• 1-1 vs. GSW: 2 games to play

10. Golden State (34-30)

• 2-2 vs. SAC: Tied series, complete
• 0-1 vs. DAL: 3 games to play (including tonight)
• 1-1 vs. LAL: 2 games to play

Of course, the goal for all four of these teams over the final month of the regular season is to climb out of the Play-In field and secure one of the six guaranteed playoff spots in the West.

The two biggest targets: The No. 5 Pelicans (2.0 games up on No. 7) and the No. 6 Suns (0.5 games up on No. 7)

Play-In Seeding: Even if these four teams are unable to get out of the Play-In, there is important seeding on the line within the tournament.

• The teams that finish at Nos. 7 and 8 have to win once (and have up to two games to do it) to secure a playoff berth
• The teams that finish Nos. 9 and 10 must win two games in order to advance

5. HERE COME THE CHAMPS

The best team in the NBA since the All-Star break? The 9-1 Nuggets.

The defending champs are reminding the rest of the league that the road to the title still runs through Denver.

After hovering in the top four in the West for much of the season, this post All-Star push has Denver tied with Oklahoma City for the best record in the West (45-20). The Thunder own the head-to-head tiebreaker (3-1 season series) to hold the No. 1 spot.

Tonight, the Nuggets are in Miami for a second Finals rematch with the Heat (7:30 ET, ESPN). During this 9-1 run, the Nuggets beat the Heat 103-97 in Denver on Feb. 29 to end the Heat’s five-game win streak, and also became the only team to win its season series (2-0) with league-leading Boston.

Hitting their stride: Since All-Star, the champs have been better on both sides of the ball.

• Offensively, they are averaging seven more points per game on four more assists per game. Their shooting percentages are up across the board – their 62% true shooting percentage ranks second among all teams during this stretch
• Defensively, steals and blocks are both up by nearly two per game, while opponent effective field goal percentage has improved from 53.5% allowed (sixth in NBA) to 51.1% (second)

Michael Malone: “I think we’re leading the NBA in clutch defense to this date and what’s great about our team is that we’ve been in so many big games over the years now that they never get rattled.

• “There’s a poise about our group and obviously, when you have Nikola [Jokic] and Jamal [Murray] running that two-man game and they’re the head of that, those guys never get rattled.
• “If you’re gonna be a team that is trying to repeat as a world champion, you have to be able to execute on both ends in crunch time and thankfully, our guys are doing that at a high level.”

The most telling stat that shows Denver has made its switch to playoff/title defense mode – minutes played by its stars.

Both Jokic and Murray are averaging nearly three more minutes per game (36.5 for Jokic, 34.2 for Murray) in the 10 games since All-Star compared to the 55 that preceded it.

With more Jokic and Murray, and an elevated sense of urgency with the playoffs on the horizon, the Nuggets look as dangerous as ever.