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NBA playoff tracker: Lakers and Warriors set for play-in matchup

ryan young
Staff writer
·5 min read
52

Yahoo Sports will keep you updated nightly on the NBA playoff race during the last two weeks of the regular season. Check back daily for the latest movement in the standings, what to watch for and teams securing their 2020-21 playoff berths.

Sunday's final standings

Eastern Conference

1. Philadelphia 76ers (49-23)

2. Brooklyn Nets (48-24, 1 GB)

3. Milwaukee Bucks (46-26, 2 GB)

4. New York Knicks (40-31, 8 GB)

5. Atlanta Hawks (40-31, 8 GB)

6. Miami Heat (40-32, 9 GB)

Play-in tournament

7. Boston Celtics (36-36, 13 GB)

8. Washington Wizards (34-38, 15 GB)

9. Indiana Pacers (34-38, 15 GB)

10. Charlotte Hornets (33-39, 16 GB)

Western Conference

1. Utah Jazz (52-20)

2. Phoenix Suns (51-21, 1 GB)

3. Denver Nuggets (47-25, 5 GB)

4. Los Angeles Clippers (47-25, 5 GB)

5. Dallas Mavericks (42-30, 10 GB)

6. Portland Trail Blazers (43-30, 10 GB)

Play-in tournament

7. Los Angeles Lakers (42-30, 10 GB)

8. Golden State Warriors (39-33, 13 GB)

9. Memphis Grizzlies (38-34, 14 GB)

10. San Antonio Spurs (33-39, 19 GB)

Play-in tournament schedule

The NBA’s play-in tournament will kick off Tuesday and Wednesday, with each conference playing both of its games on their respective days. The final two games of the play-in will take place Thursday and Friday before the playoffs officially kick off Saturday.

Tuesday, May 18

Charlotte Hornets at Indiana Pacers | 6:30 p.m. ET | TNT

Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics | 9 p.m. ET | TNT

Wednesday, May 19

San Antonio Spurs at Memphis Grizzlies | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN

Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers | 10 p.m. | ESPN

Thursday, May 20

Winner of Hornets/Pacers at Loser of Wizards/Celtics | 8 p.m. | TNT

Friday, May 21

Winner of Spurs/Grizzlies at Loser of Warriors/Los Angeles Lakers | TBD | ESPN

Performance of the night: Steph Curry earns second NBA scoring title

Warriors star Stephen Curry officially claimed his second NBA scoring title Sunday, making him the oldest player since Michael Jordan to earn that honor.

Curry secured the title while dropping 46 points in their 113-101 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, which helped them reach the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and set up a play-in matchup with the Lakers on Wednesday night.

Curry averaged a career-high 31.8 points this season, narrowly beating out Wizards star Bradley Beal — who finished averaging 31.4 points per game. Curry, 33, is the oldest player to win the scoring title since Jordan did in the 1997-98 season, when he was 35.

He finished the night with 46 points, nine assists and seven rebounds while shooting a career-high 36 shots. 22 of those came from behind the arc, too, another career-best.

Game of the night: Knicks secure No. 4 seed with win over Celtics

They nearly blew it in the fourth quarter, but the New York Knicks clinched the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference on Sunday afternoon.

The Knicks held on to beat the Boston Celtics 96-92 at Madison Square Garden, and will now compete in their first playoff game since 2013.

The Knicks surged ahead to take a 16-point lead at halftime, and seemed to be in cruise control early in the second half as the Celtics just watched. Boston rested most of its best players — including Jayson Tatum, Evan Fournier, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and more — as they had already locked up a spot in the play-in tournament.

Yet midway through the fourth quarter, the Knicks offense went cold. They went nearly four full minutes without scoring, which allowed Boston to cut the game to just a single point. That, though, was as close as the Celtics got. The Knicks closed out the final 2:13 of the game without letting Boston score another bucket to claim the four-point win.

R.J. Barrett led the Knicks with 22 points while shooting 7-of-12 from the field, and Julius Randle added 20 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. That victory gave the Knicks home-court advantage in their first round series with the Atlanta Hawks, something they wouldn’t have had if they lost.

"We're fighting for something every single game and that's a good feeling," Barrett said, via The Associated Press. "We're a tough, resilient team. We've kind of made our name off that. So just really excited to go to the playoffs and fight hard and see what we can do."

One last thing: LeBron James ‘good to go’ after rolling ankle

While he provided a scare to Lakers fans, Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel said that LeBron James is “good to go” after rolling his ankle on Sunday night.

James, midway through the fourth quarter of their win against the Pelicans in New Orleans on Sunday, rolled his ankle coming down from a layup attempt and fell to the court. He stayed there briefly, clearly in pain, before he limped over to the locker room. James did not return to the game.

James had missed 22 of the teams’ last 26 games with an ankle injury, but finally returned to the court Saturday and looked like his old self.

The Lakers are set to take on the Warriors on Wednesday night at the Staples Center.

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