FULL NBA Review From May 14, 2021

There are only two days left in the NBA regular season, and the entire postseason field is set. Washington’s win over Cleveland behind Russell Westbrook’s triple-double claimed them the final spot in the play-in, thus eliminating Chicago. Both Sacramento and Memphis rested key players, but Justise Winslow rose to the challenge and his double-double secured the Grizzlies a nail-biting one-point victory.

Many other teams in action benched their stars as well. Golden State beat New Orleans where again the two teams sat their big players. Jordan Poole shined on the night with a career-high 38 points including the go-ahead layup and clutch free throws. The LA Clippers did the same thing, and ended up losing to Houston on the road (which might’ve been beneficial for them considering the playoff seed matchups). Dallas was still fighting to stay out of the play-in tournament coming into the night, but Luka Doncic’s 11th triple-double of the season solidified their fate as a top-six team.

The conference leaders, Philadelphia and Utah, both are fighting to lock up the first seed. Balanced scoring from the Sixers helped them defeat Orlando, clinching the top spot in the East. Utah topped OKC, and are now one win or a Phoenix loss away from having full home-court advantage in the playoffs as well. Nikola Jokic’s triple-double and Markus Howard’s career-high 20 points gave Denver the win over Detroit, which pushed them above LAC for third in the West.

Here are the best NBA highlights, facts, performers, and takeaways from May 14th, 2021:

FINAL RESULTS

GAME OF THE DAY

New Orleans Pelicans (122) vs. Golden State Warriors (125) [GW-FG]

[Highlights] @WARRIORS (-130; $8.91) d. PELICANS (+112; $8.85) 125-122 (GW-FG) [GSW -2 | o224.5]

[Highlights] @GRIZZLIES (-221; $12.30) d. KINGS (+188; $11.09) 107-106 [SAC +5.5 | u226.5]

[Highlights] @MAVERICKS (-1200; $10.09) d. RAPTORS (+730; $6.39) 114-110 [TOR +13 | o220]

[Highlights] @ROCKETS (+528; $3.93) d. CLIPPERS (-708; $10.82) 122-115 [HOU +10.5 | o226.5]

[Highlights] NUGGETS (-400; $10.84) d. @PISTONS (+323; $8.61) 104-91 [DEN -9 | u216.5]

[Highlights] @WIZARDS (-325; $11.00) d. CAVALIERS (+271; $9.90) 120-105 [WSH -7.5 | u227.5]

[Highlights] JAZZ (-1400; $12.88) d. @THUNDER (+825; $6.55) 109-93 [UTA -14.5 | u221.5]

[Highlights] @76ERS (-1300; $11.23) d. MAGIC (+777; $6.51) 122-97 [PHI -13.5 | o216.5]

NBA Game Odds via Vigit App

NBA Stock Prices via FANDEX

INTERESTING FACTS

Russell Westbrook is facilitating at a level that has rarely been seen before

Most consecutive GP (35) with a double-double by a Guard during a single season in NBA history
2nd longest streak of GP (35) with a double-double to span multiple seasons (John Stockton, 37 GP)
3rd player to record 7+ consecutive GP of 15+ AST in NBA history, joining Isiah Thomas and Stockton (3x)

Nikola Jokic is having the greatest season in Denver Nuggets history

Now has the t-most triple-doubles (16) during 1 season in Nuggets history, joining Fat Lever

Utah Jazz’s consistency from 3-point land is almost unheard of

2nd longest streak of GP (77) with 10+ 3PM in NBA history, trailing only Houston (97)

If there is a man that can catch Westbrook’s triple-double record, it’s Luka Doncic

2nd most triple-doubles (36) through a player’s 1st 3 seasons in NBA history, trailing only Oscar Robertson (87)

BEST HIGHLIGHTS

Tim Hardaway Jr. dropped a dime

Nasty. (via @dallasmavs) pic.twitter.com/Jti7GOaB8L
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 15, 2021

KJ Martin punches it home

THROW IT DOWN, KJ. (via @HoustonRockets) https://t.co/sHcivEWZ16
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 15, 2021

TOP PERFORMERS

[Highlights] PG Russell Westbrook, WSH (W v.CLE): 21 PTS (7-18 FG | 1-5 3P), 17 AST, 12 REB, 0 BLK, 3 STL, 1 TO

[Highlights] C Nikola Jokic, DEN (W @DET): 20 PTS (7-11 FG | 0-0 3P), 11 AST, 15 REB, 0 BLK, 0 STL, 1 TO

[Highlights] G Jordan Poole, GSW (W v.NOP): 38 PTS (12-22 FG | 4-9 3P), 6 AST, 4 REB, 1 BLK, 0 STL, 2 TO

[Highlights] G Luka Doncic, DAL (W v.TOR): 20 PTS (7-19 FG | 1-8 3P), 11 AST, 10 REB, 1 BLK, 0 STL, 1 TO

[Highlights] C Kelly Olynyk, HOU (W v.LAC): 20 PTS (6-14 FG | 1-4 3P), 11 AST, 9 REB, 0 BLK, 3 STL, 3 TO

NBA TOP PERFORMERS

MAIN TAKEAWAY

THE PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT LIKELY ISN’T GOING AWAY ANYTIME SOON

This is the second season in a row where the NBA has had a shortened year due to COVID and has implemented some sort of play-in tournament for the final playoff spot(s). The idea was to give more teams a chance to get into the postseason because they would be missing games that they could’ve used to climb the standings in a normal year. Additionally, the NBA wanted to trial this concept for future years that would create a more meaningful end to the season.

The league was hoping that there would be more wire-to-wire races for seeding towards the end of the season with a play-in tournament at hand, and they got what they wanted. Trying to stay out of the seven spot in the West has been exciting, and still isn’t finished with two days left in the regular season. Portland and LAL still don’t know who is playing in the play-in tournament and who isn’t. Along with this, eighth place gets an extra shot to make it, where the ninth spot could be done after just one game.

Memphis and Golden State have been battling for the 8/9 spots in the West lately but this play-in has made for a potential LeBron vs. Steph matchup, which is a perfect way to drive in viewers. This year it was about giving more teams a fair chance like how DC was devastated with COVID-related issues early on, and their record reflected it. But now with an impressive second half of the season, they get a shot. With all the positives of the play-in tournament, it likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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