NBA Weekly Recap: Mar. 13 - Mar. 19
The NBA playoffs are officially a month away and the race to the postseason in both conferences is heating up. With the end of the season looming, let’s take a dive into the past week of NBA action.
In the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers are making noise.
The Sixers have been one of the hottest teams in the league as of late, recording their eighth straight win as they passed the Boston Celtics for the No. 2 seed in the East.
Joel Embiid recorded his ninth consecutive game with at least 30 points, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain and Allen Iverson for the franchise record.
The Process’s big week helped propel him to the top of the KIA MVP Ladder, as the Sixers are now only two games behind Milwaukee for the No. 1 seed.
Staying in the East, Demar DeRozan’s season-high 49-point outing, alongside Zach LaVine’s 39 points lead the Chicago Bulls to a double overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Mar. 17.
The duo joined Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as the only duo of Bulls players to score 39 points or more in the same game.
With the win, Chicago jumped the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards to move into the final play-in spot at the No. 10 seed as the Bulls’ postseason hopes stayed alive.
Meanwhile, in the West, the Minnesota Timberwolves were met with some negative injury-related news. All-Star guard, Anthony Edwards, sprained his ankle in the aforementioned loss against the Chicago Bulls.
Luckily every cloud has a silver lining, as Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to return from his calf injury within the coming weeks. The star center will look to help rally the Wolves’ playoff push.
The No. 3 seed Sacramento Kings have clinched their first winning season since 2006 in a win over the Brooklyn Nets on March 16. Damantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox have led the Kings to their current hot streak in the month of March, ending what was the longest running playoff drought in NBA history.
In the coming week, the team will look to overtake the Grizzlies for the No. 2 seed in the West as the two teams are currently tied in winning percentage.
In other news, Maxi Kleber hit a buzzer-beater to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Los Angeles Lakers on March 17.
It was a crucial win for the Mavs and an unfortunate loss for the Lakers. With a win, the Lakers would have been the No. 8 seed in the West. Instead, they fall to the No. 11 seed, while the Mavericks have moved up to the No. 6 seed.
The Lakers will look to get back into the playoff picture and try to secure a spot in the play-in tournament while LeBron James’s injury keeps him sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Darian Capobianco is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dpc5734@psu.edu.
