The Golden State Warriors pull another rabbit out of their bottomless hat to keep their incredible season going while the Miami Heat send the Chicago Bulls out of the playoff picture, the Portland Trail Blazers keep on scorching through their Eastern tour and the Los Angeles Lakers see just how good their rookie point guard can be.
Phoenix Suns 92 Charlotte Hornets 126: The Suns provide another team with a chance to boost their stats and record. The Hornets improved to 20-9 at home, led by Kemba Walker with 26 points. Al Jefferson added 19 from the bench, as the Hornets bounce back following two consecutive games with less than 100 points.
Chicago Bulls 111 Miami Heat 129: The Heat simply couldn’t miss, setting a new franchise record with 67.5% from the field and every single player shooting 50% or better. Hassan Whiteside continues to flourish off the bench with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, while Joe Johnson likes his new place with 24 points and Luol Deng helped out scoring 20. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 17 points.
Portland Trail Blazers 104 New York Knicks 85: The Blazers win for the third time in a row against a Knicks team sliding further down the standings. Damian Lillard scored 30 points while C.J. McCollum added 25 in their usual backcourt show. Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points for the Knicks, although what most people will remember is him missing a dunk off-play.
Orlando Magic 108 Dallas Mavericks 121: Unless the Magic sort out their defensive issues, the playoffs will continue to avoid them. Wesley Matthews led five players scoring 17 points or more with 21, helped out by Dirk Nowitzki with 19 and Chandler Parsons, Zaza Pachulia and J.J. Barea splitting 51 points. Ersan Ilyasova led the Magic with 22 off the bench.
Atlanta Hawks 105 Golden State Warriors 109: The Warriors played without Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala, which got them mixed up in the end, leading to overtime. In it, it was a crazy three pointer by Draymond Green that gave them the game, showing us there might be some divine intervention in their season. The Warriors improved to 25-0 at home this season, winning six in a row overall.
Brooklyn Nets 101 Los Angeles Lakers 107: The Lakers stop an 8-game losing streak, behind a career night from rookie D’Angelo Russell, scoring 39 points, while Kobe Bryant didn’t play (coincidence?). Byron Scott, as always, tried to make it seem like he had something to do with Russell playing so well.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 42 | 17 | .712 | – | 59 |
| 2 | Toronto Raptors | 39 | 19 | .672 | 2.5 | 58 |
| 3 | Boston Celtics | 36 | 25 | .590 | 7.0 | 61 |
| 4 | Miami Heat | 34 | 26 | .567 | 8.5 | 60 |
| 5 | Atlanta Hawks | 33 | 28 | .541 | 10.0 | 61 |
| 6 | Charlotte Hornets | 31 | 28 | .525 | 11.0 | 59 |
| 7 | Indiana Pacers | 31 | 29 | .517 | 11.5 | 60 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 31 | 29 | .517 | 11.5 | 60 |
| 9 | Chicago Bulls | 30 | 29 | .508 | 12.0 | 59 |
| 10 | Washington Wizards | 29 | 30 | .492 | 13.0 | 59 |
| 11 | Orlando Magic | 26 | 33 | .441 | 16.0 | 59 |
| 12 | Milwaukee Bucks | 25 | 35 | .417 | 17.5 | 60 |
| 13 | New York Knicks | 25 | 37 | .403 | 18.5 | 62 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 17 | 44 | .279 | 26.0 | 61 |
| 15 | o – Philadelphia 76ers | 8 | 52 | .133 | 34.5 | 60 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 54 | 5 | .915 | – | 59 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 50 | 9 | .847 | 4.0 | 59 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 42 | 18 | .700 | 12.5 | 60 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 39 | 20 | .661 | 15.0 | 59 |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | 35 | 24 | .593 | 19.0 | 59 |
| 6 | Dallas Mavericks | 33 | 28 | .541 | 22.0 | 61 |
| 7 | Portland Trail Blazers | 33 | 28 | .541 | 22.0 | 61 |
| 8 | Houston Rockets | 29 | 31 | .483 | 25.5 | 60 |
| 9 | Utah Jazz | 28 | 31 | .475 | 26.0 | 59 |
| 10 | Sacramento Kings | 24 | 34 | .414 | 29.5 | 58 |
| 11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 23 | 35 | .397 | 30.5 | 58 |
| 12 | Denver Nuggets | 23 | 37 | .383 | 31.5 | 60 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 19 | 41 | .317 | 35.5 | 60 |
| 14 | Phoenix Suns | 15 | 45 | .250 | 39.5 | 60 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 12 | 49 | .197 | 43.0 | 61 |