STILL ALIVE
: The Thunder entered Monday's game against Portland tied with the Pelicans with two games remaining on the schedule. New Orleans held the tiebreaker, though, so it was possible that OKC's playoff dreams would be dead by the end of the evening. That is not what happened.
Russell Westbrook yet again played hero, finishing with 36 points (on 13-for-27 shooting), 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in the 101-90 win. I quite liked this wild finish off a lob from D.J. Augustin:
But my favorite Westbrook play of the game was his Dirk Nowitzki-style fadeaway. His reaction afterward was good, too.
OKC overcame Dion Waiters (4-21 FG), Augustin (1-5 FG) and Nick Collison (1-5 FG) having great difficulty putting the ball in the basket. Enes Kanter was huge with 27 points (13-20 FG) and 13 rebounds, but the Thunder also had some assistance from the Blazers' unfortunate health situation. LaMarcus Aldridge (foot) missed the game, and both Nicolas Batum (knee) and C.J. McCollum (ankle) had to leave the game early.
Batum's injury:
McCollum's:
Here's hoping the Blazers are something resembling healthy when the postseason starts. This is not cool whatsoever.
Shoutout to Meyers Leonard, who made five of his nine 3-point attempts and scored a team-high 24 points.
THE PELLIES CONTROL THEIR DESTINY: Anthony Davis just needs his team to beat the Spurs on Wednesday in order to clinch his first playoff appearance, as the Pelicans beat Minnesota 100-88. Beating the champs should be no problem, right?
Davis' line: 24 points (8-14 FG, 8-8 FT), 11 boards, five assists, two steals, six blocks. Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans added 22 points apiece on 14 field goals apiece.
Flip Saunders played rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine 44 and 45 minutes, respectively, in Game 81 of 82. Only eight Timberwolves were available to play.
DUNK OF THE NIGHT
: I don't have the proper words for this Wiggins dunk. Unless WHOAAAAAOMGHEKILLEDHIM!!!!($#)!*@$)(@ is a word. Is that a word? I hope that's a word.
The NBA's official YouTube channel has a super-duper-beautiful-slow-motion version. You should definitely watch this, even if you've already watched the original a million times:
NOT THE DUNK OF THE NIGHT
: Another Timberwolves rookie tried to dunk on a Pelican. It was an ambitious idea.
KASHIUS KLAY: I've never seen a hotter hand than Klay Thompson's. The Warriors guard scored 37 points in the first half against Memphis, 26 in the second quarter alone. I'd say it was unbelievable if we hadn't already seen him do something even better.
Thompson scored 42 points in 30 minutes. As you probably guessed, Grizzlies guard Tony Allen (hamstring) didn't suit up.
Golden State led by as many as 32, but wound up winning 111-107. With both teams playing their reserves, Memphis outscored the Warriors 41-18 in the final frame, allowing only two field goals. The Grizzlies aren't exactly going into the postseason with a ton of momentum, and they desperately need Mike Conley's foot injury to heal.
ALMOST
: Denver came close to upsetting the Clippers, and I guess we should have stopped being surprised by the Melvin Hunt Nuggets so far. They led by six points with three and a half minutes remaining, but the Clippers closed the game on a 20-7 run.
DeAndre Jordan had another 20-point, 21-rebound, four-block evening, but it was Chris Paul who controlled everything down the stretch. Wilson Chandler had 32 points for Denver. Los Angeles has won 13 of its last 14 games.
ALLEY-OOP OF THE NIGHT: Bryce Cotton is only 6 feet tall. This ... this should not be possible at all.
Cotton was generally great, and he had a career-high 21 points in the Jazz's 109-92 win over the Mavericks. He looked extremely comfortable for a guy playing in his 13th NBA game. Most of Dallas' rotation players were resting -- Raymond Felton started and played 37 minutes.
GREEK GAWD: Giannis Antetokounmpo had a pair of nasty dunks in the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers.
MCW'S REVENGE: Michael Carter Williams had 30 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals in Milwaukee's 107-97 victory over his former team. Now that's what you call a revenge game.
BLOCKS OF THE NIGHT: Bismack Biyombo can smack a shot or two away pretty easily. He is quite the defensive force.
The Rockets beat the Hornets, though, by a score of 100-90. Ugly game, but James Harden had his typical 29 points and 16 free throw attempts.
DERRICK ROSE DID THINGS: The Bulls blew out the Nets 113-86 -- this means the Celtics are in the playoffs, so congrats, Brad Stevens! -- and Derrick Rose did some stuff that you might want to see. For example, he got an extremely lucky bounce on a 3-pointer:
And he went on a little dribbling adventure before hitting a reverse layup, which was rather cool indeed:
Rose had 13 points and seven assists in 23 minutes, and his playmaking looked pretty good. Just one more tune-up game left before the playoffs.
Nikola Mirotic scored 26 points in 24 minutes off the bench, by the way.
TRIPLE DOUBLE ALERT: LeBron James had a 21-11-10 line against the Pistons in a 109-97 Cavs win. Ho-hum.
BARELY ALIVE
: Miami beat Orlando 100-93, getting 24 points and 13 rebounds from Hassan Whiteside. The Heat have not been eliminated from playoff contention yet, but they need the following things to happen in order to snag the eighth spot:
Washington has to beat Indiana on Tuesday.
Miami has to beat Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Orlando has to beat Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Memphis has to beat Indiana on Wednesday.
There's a chance!
THE KNICKS CAN'T TANK RIGHT: Langston Galloway (26 points, six assists), Tim Hardaway Jr. (23 points, five assists) and Jason Smith (20 points, nine rebounds, five assists) led the Knicks to an improbable, hilarious 112-108 win over the Hawks, who actually played four of their five regular starters. If you're a New York fan at the tanking standings, this is terrible news, as Minnesota has sole possession of the worst record in the league.
