FULL NBA Review From May 9, 2021

With only a few games left in the regular season, teams are fighting hard to ensure themselves a spot in the postseason. Miami and Boston squared off in a game that had huge play-in implications. Jimmy Butler’s near triple-double helped his team win and stay in sixth. New York beat the LA Clippers with hopes of hosting a first round playoff series. The LA Lakers defeated Phoenix behind 42 points from Anthony Davis, as they try to crawl out of the play-in position they sit in now.

New Orleans, Chicago, and Sacramento are still holding on to a glimmer of hope after they all picked up wins on Sunday night. The three squads would need lots of results to go their way in order to sneak into the play-in tournament. Dallas defeated Cleveland despite a Luka Doncic ejection, holding on to the five spot in the West. Minnesota beat Orlando in a game that only has implications on the draft lottery.

Here are the best NBA highlights, facts, performers, and takeaways from May 9th, 2021:

FINAL RESULTS

GAME OF THE DAY

New Orleans Pelicans (112) vs. Charlotte Hornets (110)

[Highlights] PELICANS (+153; $8.89) d. @HORNETS (-170; $15.47) 112-110 [NOP +4 | PUSH 222]

[Highlights] KNICKS (+246; $17.75) d. @CLIPPERS (-290; $10.80) 106-100 [NYK +7.5 | u215]

[Highlights] HEAT (-113; $8.54) d. @CELTICS (-107; $8.12) 130-124 [MIA -1 | o221.5]

[Highlights] BULLS (-391; $10.26) d. @PISTONS (+320; $9.13) 108-96 [CHI -9 | u220]

[Highlights] @LAKERS (+244; $8.54) d. SUNS (-290; $14.77) 123-110 [LAL +7.5 | o215]

[Highlights] MAVERICKS (-565; $10.08) d. @CAVALIERS (+437; $9.92) 124-97 [DAL -11 | o216.5]

[Highlights] @KINGS (-480; $11.07) d. THUNDER (+373; $6.65) 126-98 [SAC -9.5 | o221.5]

[Highlights] TIMBERWOLVES (-303; $7.96) d. @MAGIC (+254; $6.74) 128-96 [MIN -7.5 | u230]

NBA Game Odds via Vigit App

NBA Stock Prices via FANDEX

INTERESTING FACTS

Anthony Davis’ big game was one for the books

2nd most GP (7) with 40+ PTS/3+ BLK/3+ STL over the last 35 years, trailing only Michael Jordan (14)
1st Lakers player with 35+ PTS/10+ REB/5+ AST during consecutive GP since Elgin Baylor in 1968
1st Lakers player with 40+ PTS/10+ REB/5+ AST/3+ STL/3+ BLK during 1 GP since Shaq in 2001

BEST HIGHLIGHTS

AD went off vs. Phoenix

AD. UNREAL. 😳#CenterCourt pic.twitter.com/0LH7xrVLgI
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 10, 2021

Drummond lobs to AD for the SLAM 🔥#CenterCourt pic.twitter.com/syFJQPg6Fv
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 10, 2021

Hornets were hoopin’ against NOLA

P.J. Washington. Sheesh. 😳 pic.twitter.com/y67npIOmQS
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 10, 2021

LaMelo drops the wraparound dime to Cody Zeller!@PelicansNBA 89@hornets 96

4th quarter coming up on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/1Fo5OQDzfz
— NBA (@NBA) May 10, 2021

Half-court shot drained by Nickeil

NICKEIL ALEXANDER-WALKER FROM BEYOND HALF-COURT 🎯 pic.twitter.com/9A8oj3IAQh
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 9, 2021

TOP PERFORMERS

[Highlights] PF Anthony Davis, LAL (W v.PHX): 42 PTS (13-27 FG | 1-5 3P), 5 AST, 12 REB, 3 BLK, 3 STL, 3 TO

[Highlights] F Jimmy Butler, MIA (W @BOS): 26 PTS (9-14 FG | 1-3 3P), 11 AST, 8 REB, 0 BLK, 2 STL, 3 TO

[Highlights] G Terry Rozier, CHA (L v.NOP): 43 PTS (16-26 FG | 7-11 3P), 4 AST, 5 REB, 0 BLK, 1 STL, 3 TO

[Highlights] C Nikola Vucevic, CHI (W @DET): 29 PTS (14-27 FG | 1-8 3P), 2 AST, 16 REB, 1 BLK, 0 STL, 0 TO

[Highlights] G/F Evan Fournier, BOS (L v.MIA): 30 PTS (11-16 FG | 7-11 3P), 8 AST, 3 REB, 1 BLK, 0 STL, 0 TO

NBA TOP PERFORMERS

MAIN TAKEAWAY

THIS SEASON’S PLAYOFFS ARE POISED TO HAVE MORE UPSETS THAN USUAL

This season has been unlike any other in many different ways. There was the whole restructuring of the league format due to COVID issues, and teams have had many star players missing time. These injuries have caused the standings to look a lot different than anticipated. Plenty of squads who haven’t had recent postseason success are at the top, and those who have proven themselves in playoff settings won’t benefit from many (if any) home-court playoff series this year, but will that prevent all these potential upsets?

The six through eight seeds in the West are full of proven winners. Portland has missed CJ McCollum this season, and is in sixth but made a run to the Conference Finals just two years ago. The reigning champions in LA have missed LeBron/AD and currently sit in a play-in position. Golden State hasn’t had Klay Thompson at all, has played games without Steph Curry, and is the most likely team to finish eighth. This is happening in the East too, with the reigning conference champs, Miami, in sixth as Jimmy Butler (among others) has missed significant time this year.

Now, at the top, it is full of teams who haven’t proven to have the same playoff success. None of the current one or two seeds in either conference have been to a conference championship game in at least 10 years. Phoenix did it in 2010, but both of the top teams in the East date back to the early 2000s. All of Utah, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn are on upset alert this postseason due to likely matching up with proven teams early on. 2021 has been a unique season already and it could very well end up with the most playoff upsets ever considering the caliber of teams with the lower seeds.

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