One hundred, sixty-seven regular-season days down … seven to go.

With no games tonight – and an eclipse to catch if you’re in the U.S. – today’s edition is designed to do 2 things:

1. Get you a breather before a BIG final week
2. Break down where the Playoff races stand, quick

(In case you still need to go pick up some eclipse shades)

THE LINEUP 🏀

What’s inside today’s edition? 

Must-Know: How did Sunday’s results impact a historic Playoff race?

Kyrie, Maxey Deliver: Huge nights from two of the league’s top guards power crucial OT wins

Roundup: Clippers come from 26 back, Wolves jump to No. 1 again

Paths Ahead: The Bucks have the toughest remaining strength of schedule. How about the other postseason-bound teams?

The Final Week: Circling games this week? Start here.

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Last night’s scores & what to watch

14-Game Tuesday: After a break today, the schedule resumes tomorrow with a TNT doubleheader & a monster night of hoops. See what’s coming in Section 5

NBA ID Member Days tip off today, with limited-time perks for NBA ID members all week long. Tap in to get yours or sign up

1. MONDAY MORNING MUST-KNOW

Two of the tightest postseason races in history just got even tighter, across both the East & the West.

Who Clinched? 🔒

• Milwaukee locked up a guaranteed Playoff spot
• Golden State became the West’s 10th and final team to clinch a spot in the Play-In or better
• All 20 postseason teams are set. But where exactly those 20 teams will end up? Far, far from it. Find more in Sections 4 & 5, with Playoff, Play-In, home court and matchups all decided this week 

Who Moved Up? ⬆️

• East: Magic to 3rd, Knicks to 4th, 76ers to 7th
• West: Wolves to 1st, Kings to 8th

Who Moved Down? ⬇️

• East: Cavs to 5th (from 3rd), Heat to 8th
• West: Nuggets to 2nd, Lakers to 9th
• The Rockets were officially eliminated, a week after a blistering run brought them within one game of the 10th seed

How Historic Are These Races? 💥

• 3 Teams Within 1: Just one game separates the West’s top 3 teams. That hasn’t happened in the season’s final week in either conference in 16 years.
• In Fact … it’s only happened eight times ever in NBA history, across the East or West
• Throwing It Back To ‘79: Just 1.5 games separate the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds in the East. That hasn’t happened after April 7 since 1979

Reminder: The top 6 teams in both conferences automatically reach the Playoffs, which start April 20. The next four play in the 2024 SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament, which starts April 16

2. KYRIE, MAXEY DELIVER WINS IN O-T

Sunday saw two of the game’s most electrifying guards rise up when their teams needed them the most, as Tyrese Maxey and Kyrie Irving put up career- and season-highs, respectively, to keep both squads hot heading into the postseason.

The rise of Tyrese Maxey added a new chapter Sunday, with the 76ers’ first-time All-Star going for a career-high 52 points – including a bucket to send the game to OT – to propel the shorthanded Sixers to a 133-126 double-OT win over the Spurs.

Victor Wembanymama (33 pts, 18 reb, 7 blks) ascended to give San Antonio the near-win with Joel Embiid sitting out the second game of a back-to-back. But the Sixers erased an 11-point 4Q deficit to force OT, then and win in the second extra frame. | Recap | Fantastic Finish

• Nic Batum 🗣️: “We needed that tonight. Tyrese has been amazing for us all year long. We could easily like “Aw, this is not our night. They’re playing good. Second night of a back-to-back. No, he didn’t give up. He led the way for us. He kept fighting for us.”
• 5 In A Row: Philly’s a perfect 4-0 since Embiid came back, with their five-game win streak tied for the longest active run in the NBA
• What Was At Stake? The Sixers still have a shot at the No. 6 seed, but would need to make up two games on the Pacers to do so, with Indy owning the tiebreaker
• Exclusive Club: Maxey’s third 50-point game this year (after breaking 40 just once in his first 3 years) made him the fourth Sixer to accomplish the feat, joining Embiid, Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain
• There’s More: No team has ever had two players score 50 thrice (thrice!) in a year, with Embiid also doing so earlier this season

Kyrie Creates Space: The Mavs headed into the day up a game on the Suns in 5th. Thanks to Kyrie Irving’s season-high 48 – along with 37 from Luka Doncic and a buzzer-beating, OT-forcing 3 from Dante Exum – they left Sunday up two games, after a 147-136 comeback win over Houston. | Recap | Watch The OT Ending | Kyrie & Luka

• Clutch Kyrie: Irving got 25 of his 48 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, as the Mavs stormed back from 22 points down
• 7th Time’s A Charm: Kyrie and Luka both scored 30+ in a game for the seventh time this year, third-most for a duo this season behind Giannis & Dame and Embiid & Maxey, who each have 8
• Kyrie 🗣️: “I’m depleted. Energetic, but I’m depleted. We kept battling and kept doing the little things and trusting one another.”
• The loss marked the fifth in a row for Houston, who had won 11 in a row before this stretch, tied for the longest win streak in the league in 2023-24

3. ROUNDUP: CLIPPERS RALLY, WOLVES LEAP

Clippers Complete 3rd Largest Comeback: Paul George (39 pts, 23 in the 4th) and the Clippers erased a 26-point lead to beat the Cavs, 120-118 – LA’s third-largest comeback of the play-by-play era. | Recap

• How It Started: Cleveland put up a season-high 80 pts in the first half, leading by 21 at the break. But LA outscored the Cavs 29-6 from the end of the 3rd Q into the 4th
• How It Finished: Terance Mann & Amir Coffey’s treys gave the Clippers their first lead since the 1st, at 118-115 with :47 left. After the Cavs tied it, PG hit a jumper with 7 seconds remaining and sealed the win with a block on the final possession | Watch the finish
• PG 🗣️: “These situations aren’t ideal, but it’s nice when posed with these challenges we come together. We really just dug down. That second half was special. Everyone was locked in defensively.”
• Different Directions: The win gave the Clippers their 8th win in their past 11 games, while the loss sent the Cavs to 3-8 over theirs

Wolves Beat Lakers, Draw Even With Denver: Naz Reid put up 31 pts and Anthony Edwards chipped in 26 more as the Timberwolves took down a Lakers team playing without LeBron (flu-like symptoms) and Anthony Davis (after AD took a blow to the face on a 1st Q putback). | Recap

OKC Returns To Winning Ways: Playing without SGA and Jalen Williams again, Josh Giddey’s 11th career triple-double and Isaiah Joe’s two late treys ended the Thunder’s losing streak at three games – their longest of the year – with a 121-118 win over the Hornets. | Recap | Fantastic Finish

• Chet Holmgren became the 8th rookie in NBA history to have 1300 pts and 600+ reb in a season – and the first Thunder rook since the franchise got to OKC

Brunson Drops 43, Bucks Streak Continues: Jalen Brunson’s 43 points and a second-half Knicks rally gave NY a 122-109 win over Milwaukee, whose losing streak extended to a season-long four games. Giannis had 28 pts, 15 reb & 8 ast. | Recap

• Middleton Exits: The Bucks’ trio of Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton played together for just the 4th time in 29 games, until Middleton had to leave after suffering a blow to the face in the second quarter

Pacers Set Assist Mark, Drop Heat: Myles Turner put up 22 pts & 13 reb, as Indy held off Jimmy Butler (27 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast) and the Heat, 117-115. The Pacers set a new franchise record for most assists in a season, with its 2,411 dimes passing 1991-92’s previous high of 2,398. | Recap

Pelicans, Suns Tied For 6th: New Orleans got a combined 60 from CJ McCollum (31) and Zion Williamson – along with a career-high five blocks from Zion – to beat the Suns, 113-105, and pull into a tie with Phoenix at 46-32. The Suns own the tiebreaker. | Recap

Klay Catches Fire, Dubs Beat Jazz: Playing without Steph Curry, fellow Splash Bro Klay Thompson poured in 32 points – his second-highest total of the season – on 6-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc to give Golden State a 118-110 win over Utah. | Recap

Sabonis’ Massive Double-Double Sparks W: Domantas Sabonis’ 18-pt, 20-reb performance – his 61st straight double-double, the seventh-longest in a season in NBA history – pushed the Kings to a 107-77 win over Brooklyn, snapping a two-game losing streak for Sacramento. | Recap

Banchero Joins T-Mac As Magic Win: Paolo Banchero’s 24-pt, 6-reb, 5-ast night paced the Magic to the 113-98 win over the Bulls, joining Tracy McGrady as the only players to tally 1700 pts, 500 reb and 400 ast in a season for the Magic. | Recap

Milestone For Brown In Celtics Win: Jaylen Brown’s 26 points sent him past 10,000 for his career, becoming the 19th Celtic to reach that mark, as the Cs beat the Blazers 124-107 to push their win streak to five games – tied for longest in the league. | Recap

IQ Paces Raptors Past Wiz: Immanuel Quickley’s season-high 31 pts led four Raptors with 20+, sending Toronto to the 130-122 win. | Recap

4. PLAYOFF RACES: STRENGTHS OF SCHEDULE

The Paths Ahead: All but four of the 20 postseason-bound teams have four games left to play, with the Cavs, Pacers, Sixers and Lakers set to play three more times.

Remaining Strength Of Schedule, from highest opponent win % to lowest

• Milwaukee, .663
• Phoenix, .638
• Orlando, .562
• New York, .534
• Sacramento, .532
• Atlanta, .514
• LA Clippers, .510
• Oklahoma City, .510
• Los Angeles Lakers, .496
• New Orleans, .492
• Minnesota, .482
• Indiana, .455
• Golden State, .450
• Miami, .429
• Denver, .413
• Dallas, .410
• Boston, .406
• Cleveland, .387
• Chicago, .383
• Philadelphia, .383

5. THE (FINAL) WEEK AHEAD

What’s ahead this week? Three nights with 14+ games. A Playoff Picture that may get a whole lot cloudier before it gets clearer. And stakes going up with every passing minute.

Here’s where to start:

Tuesday: 14 games

• Celtics-Bucks, (7:30 ET, TNT): Rivals, perennial powers and the top 2 teams in the East meet, with Boston winners of five straight and Milwaukee looking to win for the first time in five games
• Kings-Thunder, (8 ET, NBA App): Can OKC keep pace in the race for the West’s top spot? Can the Kings stay ahead of the surging Lakers?
• Warriors-Lakers, (10 ET, TNT): The 9th and 10th teams in the West stage a potential Play-In preview, with the Lakers 8-2 in their last 10 and the Dubs 7-3
• Clippers-Suns, (10 ET, NBA App): Locked in a battle for the last guaranteed spot, the streaking Suns meet another team on a run – with both squads 7-3 in their last 10 –  in their first of two straight matchups

Wednesday: 8 games

• Mavs-Heat, (7:30 ET, ESPN): Dallas has found its groove. At 6-4 in its last 10, Miami’s starting to heat up … with the stats speaking to a team that’s finding its form, too
• Magic-Bucks, (8 ET, NBA App): Depending on how Tuesday goes, this one could be a showdown for the No. 2 spot in the East.
• Timberwolves-Nuggets, (10 ET, ESPN): Champs vs. upstart contenders in a potential battle for the No. 1 seed
• Suns-Clippers, (10:30 ET, NBA App): Some of the greatest scorers & playmakers the game’s ever seen, sharing the floor for the second straight night, as a rare back-to-back, home-and-home moves to LA

Thursday: 5 games

• Knicks-Celtics, (7:30 ET, TNT): Two longtime rivals meet with the Celtics out to sweep the season series, and the Knicks out to stay top 4 (or better) in the standings
• Pelicans-Kings, (10 ET, TNT): The Pelicans look to sweep the rare five-game series with the Kings this year 

15 games each on Friday & Sunday

We’ll be back to unpack the weekend as the Playoff Picture comes together over the next 3 days