The Hawks, strong in their victory against Washington, and the Knicks, without playing but thanks to the loss of Boston in Cleveland, directly qualified for the NBA play-offs on Wednesday, the Celtics being forced to go through this phase that they wanted to avoid. Teams finishing between 1st and 6th place advance directly to the play-offs, while those finishing 7th to 10th place will play play-offs, for the last two tickets up for grabs in each conference. Two days after a first victory (125-124), overshadowed by the feat of Russell Westbrook who broke Oscar Robertson’s record for the number of triple-doubles (182), the Hawks put it back against Washington (120 -116), thus validating their ticket for their first play-offs since 2017. A hamstring tear has kept him away from the floors for the past five weeks, but it no longer seems to be a bad memory: James Harden was convincing (18 pts, 11 assists, 7 rebounds) for his recovery, for the victory of Brooklyn against San Antonio (128-116). The Beard (the bearded) started on the bench as a precaution, but his activity was also remarkable defensively (2 blocks, 2 interceptions). “Sixth man, I also master. I received a trophy for this role,” he recalled. Like him, seven other players scored between 12 and 21 points, Kevin Durant settling for 14 (7 rebounds, 7 assists). This success leaves little hope for the Nets (2nd in the East) to finish seed N.1, even if the lead of Philadelphia is substantial. For the Spurs (10th) of DeMar DeRozan (21 pts), this defeat is without great damage in their quest for the dams in the West, because New Orleans fell (125-107) in Dallas (6th), carried by Luka Doncic (33 pts, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) and who is only missing one victory to go to the play-offs. With the Pelicans out of the race, only Sacramento has little hope of upsetting San Antonio, who has two wins with three games to go.
Results of the night:
Dallas – New Orleans 125 – 107
Brooklyn – San Antonio 128 – 116
Cleveland – Boston 102 – 94
LA Lakers – Houston 124 – 122
Utah – Portland 98 – 105
Atlanta – Washington 120 – 116
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