In a slightly busier than usual NBA thursday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered another loss that pisses off LeBron James, the Oklahoma City Thunder keep on rolling, the Chicago Bulls get further away from a playoff spot and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers on a buzzer beater.
New Orleans Pelicans 84 Indiana Pacers 92: Every game against the Pelicans at this point is a gimme, although Paul George leaving in the third quarter with a bruised leg wasn’t exactly great news. Myles Turner celebrated his 20th birthday with 24 points and 16 rebounds to lead Indiana, who now have a two game lead over 9th place in the East.
Cleveland Cavaliers 95 Brooklyn Nets 104: Something simply isn’t working for the Cavaliers who keep finding ways to lose against pretty bad teams. LeBron James had 30 points on 13-of-16 from the field, but the others shot just 35% from the field, including an awful 6-for-22 from Kyrie Irving. Brook Lopez led the Nets with 22 points as they keep the race for the top spot in the East interesting.
Chicago Bulls 94 New York Knicks 106: The Bulls lose twice to the Knicks in two days. Derrick Rose scoring 30 points wasn’t enough with another horrible defensive performance, as another Pau Gasol knee injury kept him out. Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points and Kristaps Porzingis finished with 19 and 10 rebounds, as the Knicks move up to 30 wins in the most feel-good moment they’ve had in months. The Bulls now are 1.5 games behind 8th in the East.
Utah Jazz 91 Oklahoma City Thunder 113: After a nice run that put them in the playoff seed for one day, the Jazz crumble against the hottest team in the NBA right now, winning their sixth in a row. Kevin Durant scored 20 points, Russell Westbrook had 15 while the bench, with Dion Waiters scoring 17 (playing well recently) and Enes Kanter (against his former team) adding 16 in a comfortable win.
Portland Trail Blazers 94 Los Angeles Clippers 96: A fun, mistake-filled game ended with J.J. Redick scoring a buzzer beating jumper. Chris Paul had to inbound the ball with 1.1 seconds left, doing so between the legs of Mason Plumlee. Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford each had 25 for the Clippers, Damian Lillard led Portland with 18 but shot just 4-for-16 from the field.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 51 | 21 | .708 | – | 72 |
| 2 | Toronto Raptors | 48 | 22 | .686 | 2.0 | 70 |
| 3 | Atlanta Hawks | 42 | 30 | .583 | 9.0 | 72 |
| 4 | Boston Celtics | 42 | 30 | .583 | 9.0 | 72 |
| 5 | Miami Heat | 41 | 30 | .577 | 9.5 | 71 |
| 6 | Charlotte Hornets | 41 | 30 | .577 | 9.5 | 71 |
| 7 | Indiana Pacers | 38 | 33 | .535 | 12.5 | 71 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 38 | 34 | .528 | 13.0 | 72 |
| 9 | Chicago Bulls | 36 | 35 | .507 | 14.5 | 71 |
| 10 | Washington Wizards | 35 | 36 | .493 | 15.5 | 71 |
| 11 | Milwaukee Bucks | 30 | 42 | .417 | 21.0 | 72 |
| 12 | Orlando Magic | 29 | 42 | .408 | 21.5 | 71 |
| 13 | New York Knicks | 30 | 43 | .411 | 21.5 | 73 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 20 | 51 | .282 | 30.5 | 71 |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | 9 | 63 | .125 | 42.0 | 72 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 64 | 7 | .901 | – | 71 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 60 | 11 | .845 | 4.0 | 71 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 50 | 22 | .694 | 14.5 | 72 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 44 | 27 | .620 | 20.0 | 71 |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | 41 | 31 | .569 | 23.5 | 72 |
| 6 | Portland Trail Blazers | 37 | 36 | .507 | 28.0 | 73 |
| 7 | Dallas Mavericks | 35 | 36 | .493 | 29.0 | 71 |
| 8 | Houston Rockets | 35 | 37 | .486 | 29.5 | 72 |
| 9 | Utah Jazz | 35 | 37 | .486 | 29.5 | 72 |
| 10 | Denver Nuggets | 30 | 42 | .417 | 34.5 | 72 |
| 11 | Sacramento Kings | 27 | 44 | .380 | 37.0 | 71 |
| 12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 26 | 45 | .366 | 38.0 | 71 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 23 | 48 | .324 | 41.0 | 71 |
| 14 | Phoenix Suns | 20 | 51 | .282 | 44.0 | 71 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 15 | 56 | .211 | 49.0 | 71 |