A not so busy Saturday of NBA games featured just four, with the Golden State Warriors beating the Los Angeles Clippers standing a bit above the rest, while the New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks also got to taste victory.
Milwaukee Bucks 117 Atlanta Hawks 109: A double overtime win for the Bucks who ended up not changing anything before the trade deadline, and hope that maybe their fortunes and ability change in the final two months of the season. Jabari Parker scored 28 points in 51 minutes while Greg Monroe, now coming off the bench, finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, as the Hawks had Jeff Teague (hurt hand) available for just 18 minutes. Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 25 points and 10 assists.
Washington Wizards 94 Miami Heat 114: This season continues to fall apart for the Wizards, now four games below .500. The Heat carry on with the tradition of looking very good with both Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, led by 27 points from Luol Deng, 25 from Hassan Whiteside coming off the bench these days and 24 for Goran Dragic, who probably feels a lot better being the “main guy” in the backcourt for once. Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards.
New York Knicks 103 Minnesota Timberwolves 95: There was no great battle between rookies Kristaps Porzingis, who had foul trouble to hinder him all game long, and Karl-Anthony Towns, finishing with 24 points to co-lead the Timberwolves with Andrew Wiggins. Carmelo Anthony finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds, going past the 22,000 career points mark, getting plenty of help from Robin Lopez on 26 points and 16 rebounds.
Golden State Warriors 115 Los Angeles Clippers 112: The Warriors remain with five losses, not falling for a second time in a row after the weird night in Portland. The game wasn’t as close as the final scoreline suggests, with Stephen Curry scoring 23 on a bad shooting night while Klay Thompson, with 32 points, did most of the work. Draymond Green had himself another triple double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, only this time without the disastrous turnovers.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 39 | 14 | .736 | – | 53 |
| 2 | Toronto Raptors | 35 | 18 | .660 | 4.0 | 53 |
| 3 | Boston Celtics | 32 | 24 | .571 | 8.5 | 56 |
| 4 | Miami Heat | 31 | 24 | .564 | 9.0 | 55 |
| 5 | Atlanta Hawks | 31 | 26 | .544 | 10.0 | 57 |
| 6 | Indiana Pacers | 29 | 25 | .537 | 10.5 | 54 |
| 7 | Charlotte Hornets | 28 | 26 | .519 | 11.5 | 54 |
| 8 | Chicago Bulls | 28 | 26 | .519 | 11.5 | 54 |
| 9 | Detroit Pistons | 27 | 28 | .491 | 13.0 | 55 |
| 10 | Washington Wizards | 25 | 29 | .463 | 14.5 | 54 |
| 11 | Orlando Magic | 24 | 29 | .453 | 15.0 | 53 |
| 12 | New York Knicks | 24 | 33 | .421 | 17.0 | 57 |
| 13 | Milwaukee Bucks | 23 | 33 | .411 | 17.5 | 56 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 15 | 40 | .273 | 25.0 | 55 |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | 8 | 46 | .148 | 31.5 | 54 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 49 | 5 | .907 | – | 54 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 46 | 9 | .836 | 3.5 | 55 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 40 | 15 | .727 | 9.5 | 55 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 36 | 19 | .655 | 13.5 | 55 |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | 32 | 22 | .593 | 17.0 | 54 |
| 6 | Dallas Mavericks | 29 | 27 | .518 | 21.0 | 56 |
| 7 | Portland Trail Blazers | 28 | 27 | .509 | 21.5 | 55 |
| 8 | Houston Rockets | 28 | 28 | .500 | 22.0 | 56 |
| 9 | Utah Jazz | 27 | 27 | .500 | 22.0 | 54 |
| 10 | Sacramento Kings | 23 | 31 | .426 | 26.0 | 54 |
| 11 | Denver Nuggets | 22 | 33 | .400 | 27.5 | 55 |
| 12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 21 | 33 | .389 | 28.0 | 54 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 17 | 39 | .304 | 33.0 | 56 |
| 14 | Phoenix Suns | 14 | 41 | .255 | 35.5 | 55 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 11 | 45 | .196 | 39.0 | 56 |