When you drop 31 points to lead your team to a crucial road win.

Austin Reaves & the Lakers broke a tie (and clinched the tiebreaker) with the Grizzlies in the race for home-court in the First Round.

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

March 30, 2025

West Showdown: Lakers get key road win in Memphis, OKC moves 50 games over .500

Play-In Shakeups: Mavs leap the Kings in the West, Magic overtake Hawks in the East

Eight Is Great: Boston clinches division title with 8th straight win, Nets snap skid

NBA TV Tonight: Knicks host Blazers, Rockets visit Suns seeking 12th win in 13 games

League Pass: What’s at stake tonight for the Clippers, Warriors & Wolves in the race for 6th

BUT FIRST … ⏰

The two-week sprint to the regular-season finish line is here…

Tonight’s NBA TV doubleheader tips off at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks host the Blazers (6 ET) as New York tries to win its 5th straight over Portland.

Then, the Rockets go for their 12th win in the last 13 games when they visit Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the Suns (9 ET), who are battling to get into the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament field.

1. LAKERS TIGHTEN HOLD ON 4TH SEED, OKC 50 GAMES OVER .500

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With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, all head-to-head matchups between teams vying for Playoff position take on added importance.

That was the case on Saturday when the Lakers visited the Grizzlies.

The teams entered the game with matching 44-29 records, with the Lakers edging out the Grizzlies for the coveted 4th seed – and home-court advantage in the First Round – by leading the season series 2-1.

A Lakers win would not only give L.A. a one-game lead over Memphis, it would also clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker should these teams end the season the same way they started the day – tied.

Justin Ford/Getty Images

Lakers 134, Grizzlies 127: Austin Reaves (31 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast, 5 3pm), Luka Dončić (29 pts, 8 reb, 9 ast) and LeBron James (25 pts, 6 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl) all stuffed the stat sheet as the trio combined for 85 points to lead the Lakers past the Grizzlies. | Recap

• Grizz Trio: Desmond Bane (29 pts, 5 3pm), Jaren Jackson Jr. (24 pts) and Ja Morant (22 pts, 8 reb, 10 ast in his return from a six-game absence) each scored 20+ as Memphis lost its 1st game under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo
• Still Rising: Already the 1st player in NBA history to reach 39K, 40K and 41K career points, LeBron broke the 42K threshold in the win
• Postseason Race (LAL ↔️): The Lakers remain 4th in the West with the win, moving 1 game ahead of the 5th-place Grizzlies and within 1.5 games of the 3rd-place Nuggets
• Postseason Race (MEM ↔️): The Grizzlies remain 5th in the West with the loss, dropping 1 game behind the 4th-place Lakers and just 1.5 games up on the 6th-place Clippers

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Thunder 132, Pacers 111: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped his league-leading 47th 30+ point game of the season (33 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast) to lead the Thunder to their 9th straight win and 62nd of the season – two shy of the franchise record. | Recap

• Helping Hands: The Thunder got a combined 41 points and 11 3s from Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe as six players finished in double figures
• Streak Continues: SGA posted his 68th consecutive 20+ point game, one shy of tying Michael Jordan for the 4th longest single-season streak ever
• A Franchise First: At 62-12, OKC is 50 games over .500 for the first time in team history
• Beast vs. East: OKC (27-1) tied the most wins by a team against an opposing conference – the 2015-16 Warriors, 2006-07 Mavs & 1999-2000 Lakers all went 27-3. With two more games vs. East teams, the Thunder can break the record
• Double-Digit Wins: OKC earned its 48th win of the season by 10+ points, becoming the 3rd team to have 48 or more such wins in a single season in NBA history
• The previous two – the 1971-72 Lakers (50 wins) & 2016-17 Warriors (48 wins) – both won the championship that same season

2. MAVS, MAGIC RISE IN SoFi NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT RACES

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Mavs 120, Bulls 119: Dallas is now 4-0 with Anthony Davis in the lineup. The All-Star posted 18 points, seven boards and five assists, while Klay Thompson scored a team-high 20 points with five 3s to help the Mavs snap Chicago’s four-game win streak. | Recap

• Bulls Trio: Rookie Matas Buzelis scored a game-high 28 points for the Bulls, who also got 25 points apiece from Coby White and Nikola Vučević in the loss
• 200 Club: Klay reached 200 3s made in a season for the 10th time in his career, joining former teammate Steph Curry as the only players with 10 or more such seasons
• Postseason Race (DAL ⬆️): The Mavs rise to 9th in the West with the win, up 0.5 games on the 10th-place Kings and 1.5 games up on the 11th-place Suns
• Postseason Race (CHI ↔️): The Bulls remain 9th in the East with the loss, holding the tiebreaker over the 10th-place Heat

Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

Magic 121, Kings 91: Paolo Banchero (24) and Franz Wagner (21) needed only three quarters to combine for 45 points and lead the Magic to a wire-to-wire win over the Kings in Sacramento’s first stop on a six-game East Coast trip. | Recap

• Magic 3 Ball: Orlando – which ranks last in both 3-pointers made (11.0 per game) and 3-point percentage (31.3%) – hit 18 3s on 46.2% shooting in the win
• Postseason Race (ORL ⬆️, ATL ⬇️): The Magic rise to 7th in the East with the win, leading the 8th-place Hawks by .001 in win pct
• Postseason Race (SAC ⬇️): The Kings drop to 10th in the West with the loss, 0.5 games back of the 10th-place Mavs and 1 game up on the 11th-place Suns

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Heat 118, Sixers 95: After enduring their first 10-game skid since 2008, the Heat have responded with four straight wins, the latest coming Saturday behind Tyler Herro’s 2nd straight 30+ point game (30 pts, 7 ast, 5 3pm) and 20 points and six 3s from Alec Burks. | Recap

• Postseason Race (MIA ↔️): The Heat remain 10th in the East with the win, tied with the 9th-place Bulls at 33-41 via tiebreaker

3. CELTICS CLINCH DIVISION WITH 8TH STRAIGHT WIN, NETS SNAP SKID

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Celtics 121, Spurs 111: Jayson Tatum (29 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast) and Jrue Holiday (21 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast, 5 3pm) combined for 50 points to lead the Celtics to their longest win streak of the season (8 games) and their league-leading 31st road win. | Recap

• Team Effort: Seven of the eight Celtics that took the court on Saturday finished in double figures, with Luke Kornet (15 pts, 16 reb) posting a double-double off the bench
• Division Title: With the win, the Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division – their 35th division title in history
• Closing Case: Kia Rookie Ladder leader Stephon Castle finished with 22 points and eight assists in the loss as the Spurs aim for back-to-back Kia Rookie of the Year winners
• Postseason Race (BOS ↔️): The Celtics remain 2nd in the East with the win, moving within 4 games of the 1st-place Cavs – the closest this race has been in three months, when Boston (23-8) was 4 games back of Cleveland (27-4) on Dec. 28

Nets 115, Wizards 112: On Friday, Drew Timme posted a double-double (11 pts, 10 reb) in his NBA debut. On Saturday, he scored 19, including the go-ahead layup with 7.7 seconds left to help the Nets snap a six-game skid. Tyrese Martin and Jalen Wilson added 20 apiece in the win. | Recap

4. NBA TV DOUBLEHEADER: HART VS. FORMER TEAM, AMEN VS. SUNS DUO

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Josh Hart was traded from the Blazers to the Knicks as part of a four-team deal on Feb 9, 2023,

Hart has not lost to the Blazers since – looking to go 5-0 against his former squad when New York hosts Portland tonight (6 ET).

• Before & After: In his first 347 career games with the Lakers, Pelicans and Blazers, Hart had zero triple-doubles. Since arriving in New York, he has 15 in 176 games – including a franchise-record nine this season
• The Numbers: In his 8th season, Hart is posing career-best marks in rebounds (9.7, 13th overall, 1st among guards), assists (5.8), steals (1.5) and field goal percentage (53.1, 17th overall, 3rd among guards), while enjoying his 2nd-best scoring season in the NBA (13.8)
• The Impact: Hart ranks 2nd in the NBA in minutes played (37.7) and is part of NY’s eight most-used lineups this season, which have outscored opponents by a combined 187 points in 1,685 minutes

Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images

This season, 201 players have defended at least 500 shot attempts.

Amen Thompson leads the other 200 players for the lowest FG percentage allowed (40.9%)

The 22-year-old sophomore has been a rising star on both ends of the court this season, but it is his versatility and intensity on defense that is so intertwined with Houston’s success this season.

• The Rockets enter tonight’s game against the Suns (9 ET), with the 4th-ranked defense (109.8) in the league
• Individually, Thompson ranks 10th in the NBA (108.4) among players averaging 30+ minutes

As the Rockets go for their 12th win in their last 13 games, Thompson faces his next test – Phoenix’s combo of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, the only teammates among the league’s top 10 scorers.

• Amen vs. Book: This will be Thompson’s first time facing Booker this season. In 11:13 of matchup time across four games last year, Thompson held Booker to five total points on 2-of-10 shooting
• Amen vs. KD: In 9:37 of matchup time with Durant over five career games against the Suns, Thompson had allowed 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but did force six turnovers and block KD twice

The Stakes: The Rockets enter tonight’s game holding a 1.5-game lead on the Nuggets for 2nd in the West. Meanwhile, Phoenix sits 1 game back of reaching the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament field.

5. PLAYOFF VS. PLAY-IN: 3 TEAMS COMPETING FOR 1 SPOT

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The Clippers, Warriors and Wolves enter tonight separated by just a half-game in the chase for the final top-6 guaranteed Playoff berth.

• (6) LA & (7) Golden State are tied in the standings at 42-31, but LA holds the tiebreaker by leading the season series 3-0 with one game left to play on the final day of the regular season. Golden State holds the tiebreaker over Minnesota
• (8) Minnesota is 0.5 games back of both at 42-32, but has the easiest remaining schedule of the three teams vying for that converted 6th seed and holds the tiebreaker over the Clippers by sweeping the season series 3-0

Tonight on League Pass, all three teams take the court for a potential game of musical chairs in the standings.

• Clippers at Cavs (3:30 ET): The Clippers try to sweep the season series with East-leading Cleveland and guarantee they hold 6th place at the end of the night with their 3rd straight win
• Warriors at Spurs (7 ET): The Warriors are 16-2 with Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler III in the lineup together. This is the first of two remaining games against the Spurs down the stretch
• Wolves vs. Pistons (7 ET): The Wolves host the Pistons looking for their 3rd win in the last four games to either stay close behind (if Clippers and Warriors win) or potentially leap ahead (if both lose)

Tonight’s Scenarios

• Clippers Win: LAC remains 6th regardless of other outcomes
• Clippers Lose: LAC falls to 7th if GSW wins and 8th if GSW & MIN win
• Warriors Win: GSW remains 7th if LAC wins, rises to 6th if LAC loses
• Warriors Lose: GSW remains 7th if MIN loses, falls to 8th if MIN wins
• Wolves Win: MIN remains 8th if LAC & GSW win, rises to 6th if LAC & GSW lose, rises to 7th if only one of LAC or GSW lose
• Wolves Lose: MIN remains 8th regardless of other outcomes

Rounding Out The Night On League Pass: The Bucks host the Hawks (7 ET) with both teams looking to get back on track after losing three and two straight, respectively. Plus, the Hornets visit the Pelicans (7 ET) and the Sixers host the Raptors (7:30 ET).