The NBA's stretch run has arrived. Here's a look at what's happening
There have been two days in NBA history when the average margin of victory was at least 24 points on a day when a minimum of nine games were played.
That's two days in 80 years.
And they were both this week.
Welcome to Blowout Season in the NBA, where evidently some teams have completely let go of the rope. There were nine games on Friday, with the average margin of victory being 24.4 points. That topped the record of sorts set this past Sunday, when nine games saw an average winning margin of 24.0 points.
Among Friday's highlights (or lowlights, depending on perspective): New York beat Chicago by 40, Houston beat Utah by 34, Atlanta beat Brooklyn by 34, Toronto beat Memphis by 32 and Boston beat Milwaukee by 32.
There have been roughly 2,600 days in NBA history that had at least nine games on the calendar. Only 10 of them ended with the average margin of victory that day topping 20 points — once in 1996 and the other nine all since 2021.
The five games decided by 30 or more points tied an NBA single-day record. But, weirdly, it could be argued that the blowouts were all expected — given that all those teams were favorites of 13.5 points or more at tipoff, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
There have been 89 games decided by 30 or more points this season, continuing to smash the previous record of 80 set last year.
For some perspective, the NBA saw 90 games decided by 30 or more points in its first 11 seasons combined.
Here's what we know so far regarding the NBA playoff field for this season.
— Eastern Conference playoff teams: Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Philadelphia would get the other two guaranteed spots, but those are not clinched.
— East play-in teams: Nobody is locked into the play-in yet, but entering Saturday, the four teams headed there are Toronto, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami.
— East eliminated teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn and Washington.
— Western Conference playoff teams: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver and Houston are in. Minnesota is likely to grab the sixth and final guaranteed spot.
— West play-in teams: Phoenix is probably going to the play-in tournament. Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State definitely are.
— West eliminated teams: Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento.
— Hornets 129, Pacers 108: Charlotte made 24 3s, now 17-4 when making at least 19.
— 76ers 115, Timberwolves 103: Minnesota shot 38%, now 1-8 when shooting 41.5% or worse.
— Hawks 141, Nets 107: Atlanta now 18-2 in its last 20 games, Brooklyn now 3-22 in its last 25 games.
— Knicks 136, Bulls 96: Jordan Clarkson was +27 in nine minutes for New York.
— Rockets 140, Jazz 106: Utah has led for a total of 4:44 in its last four games combined.
— Celtics 133, Bucks 101: Jayson Tatum was one assist away from a second straight triple-double.
— Raptors 128, Grizzlies 96: A 61-24 lead in bench scoring was the story for Toronto.
— Magic 138, Mavericks 127: Dallas' Cooper Flagg became the first teenager with a 50-point game in NBA history.
— Pelicans-Kings: Maxime Raynaud scored 28 for Sacramento, which rallied from 17 down.
— Washington at Miami: Bam Adebayo scored 83 against the Wizards last month. The rematch!
— San Antonio at Denver: Wembanyama vs. Nikola Jokic in potential West playoff pairing.
— Detroit at Philadelphia: Sorry, Detroit. Michigan-Arizona Final Four game tips off during this one.
— Toronto at Boston: Celtics rolling toward No. 2 seed.
— Washington at Brooklyn: Someone will win, possibly to their chagrin.
— Phoenix at Chicago: Suns likely will be No. 7 in West play-in.
— Memphis at Milwaukee: Doc Rivers can be announced as a Hall of Famer for first time.
— Indiana at Cleveland: Cavaliers looking to tune up before playoffs.
— Charlotte at Minnesota: The Hornets are playing without fear right now.
— Orlando at New Orleans: Magic have to keep building some momentum.
— Utah at Oklahoma City: Thunder just won’t let the Spurs make up too much ground.
— LA Lakers at Dallas: Neither team will have Luka Doncic, who remains beloved by Mavs fans.
— LA Clippers at Sacramento: Clippers looking to get a home play-in game (or two, if needed).
— Houston at Golden State: Warriors have five games to prep for the play-in, and this could be Stephen Curry’s return.
Saturday on Prime: San Antonio-Denver.
Saturday on NBA TV: Detroit-Philadelphia.
Sunday on NBA TV: Toronto-Boston.
Sunday on NBC and Peacock: LA Lakers-Dallas, Houston-Golden State.
Oklahoma City (+130) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by San Antonio (+550), Boston (+600), Denver (+1100), Cleveland (+1200) and New York (+1800). Detroit, on its way to the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500. And Luka Doncic's injury sent the Los Angeles Lakers' odds soaring, from +2500 beforehand to +12500 now.
— April 10: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.
— April 12: All 30 teams play their regular-season finales.
— April 14, 15 and 17: NBA play-in tournament dates.
— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.
— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
Before Cooper Flagg (at 19 years, 103 days), the youngest player in NBA history with a 50-point game was Brandon Jennings, who scored 55 when he was 20 years, 52 days old. Flagg scored 51 in Dallas' loss to Orlando on Friday.
Cooper Flagg now has three games of 40 or more points in his rookie season. Only 11 rookies have had more such games, and the only two in the last half-century were Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan.
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