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Then there’s the cluster of teams in the mix for the third and fourth spots and home-court advantage in the first round. The Hawks are third at 48-33, but the Heat (47-33), Celtics (47-34) and Hornets (47-34) are a game behind. Then there are the Pacers and Pistons, whose next two games will decide who plays the Cavs and who gets the Raptors.
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Hold onto your seatbelts, folks.
Stud of the Night
Kevin Durant had an easy night against the Lakers, scoring 34 points on 11-for-18 shooting in the Thunder’s 112-79 win.
Dud of the Night
The Lakers were horrible even by their standards, shooting just 28.4 percent from the field as a team in the loss.
Tweet of the Night
The King and his court are tightening up on defense as the playoffs get closer.
Looking ahead
Thunder (55-26) at Spurs (65-15), 8 p.m. ET: The Spurs won’t be the Western Conference’s top seed, and they won’t become the first team to ever go through a season undefeated at home. They can, however, tie the 1985-86 Celtics and their 40-1 home record by beating the Thunder on Tuesday. They also don’t want their losing streak to extend to four games heading into the playoffs.
