HOUSTON – With the stakes escalating seemingly with each game, the Los Angeles Lakers did not squander an opportunity against the Denver Nuggets to continue climbing the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference standings.
The Lakers’ 127-125 overtime win over the Nuggets on March 14 not only clinched the season series between the teams, it moved the Lakers a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets for third place in the West – just in time for back-to-back matchups on March 16 (March 17, Singapore time) and March 18 in Houston.
The Lakers and Rockets enter the two-game set tied in the loss column. They are also two losses ahead of the Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers have caught fire at the right time, winning eight of nine to seize the pole position in a riveting four-squad squabble.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have all but secured the top two seeds in the West, which leaves the aforementioned quartet to battle it out for the final two home-court advantages in the opening round of the play-offs.
That ongoing skirmish has transformed the final four weeks of the regular season into a play-off-like environment.
“Our guys approached it like a play-off game; they played it like a play-off game,” Lakers coach J.J. Redick said of the Denver win. “It wasn’t perfect, but they stuck with it. So the winning plays really stuck out.”
The Rockets opened a five-game homestand with a 107-105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on March 13, a win that came despite the absence of All-Star centre Alperen Sengun (back).
Without Sengun, the Rockets’ second-leading scorer and leader in assists and rebounds, Houston had to take an alternate approach offensively. Part of that involved Amen Thompson taking a more proactive role, both attacking the rim and capitalising on perimeter opportunities when the Pelicans scrambled to occasionally trap Kevin Durant and force him to give up the ball.
Thompson is typically a force in the paint. But without Sengun, there was additional space for Thompson to operate. The onus remains on Thompson to capitalise when the moment arrives.
“I’ve just got to be aggressive, especially with Alpi (Sengun) out,” said Thompson, who scored 23 points and posted team highs in rebounds (12) and assists (eight). “I’ve got to get more rebounds, I’ve got to guard more ‘fives.’ I’ve just got to be more active.
“I do feel like I’ve found my groove. I feel like my next step is being more consistent with it. Knowing what I like to get to and doing that every game, not just when I feel good.”
Another component of Thompson’s offensive growth is penalising opponents for leaving him open from the perimeter. Thompson shoots just 22.3 per cent from behind the arc this season, but he nailed two timely corner three-pointers against the Pelicans and missed only one three-point try.
“Don’t settle for it,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Thompson taking advantage of those open three-point looks. “Slash behind it if you can, but obviously those late shot clock ones we want him to step up and knock it down and be confident shooting it.”
Meanwhile, in NBA action on March 15, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept his record-breaking 20-point scoring streak alive as the Thunder rolled to an eighth straight win with a 116-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who on March 12 eclipsed Wilt Chamberlain’s 63-year-old record for consecutive games of scoring 20 points or more, finished with 20 points, 10 assists and three rebounds.
Yet the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player left it late before reaching 20 points for the 128th game in a row, with 10 of his points coming in the fourth quarter after he spent long periods struggling for shooting accuracy, netting just seven-of-22 from the field.
“At the end of the day it’s basketball,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his lacklustre shooting display. “I went out there with the same aggression I do every night. More shots didn’t fall tonight than do, and usually that’s not the case.”
Elsewhere, Eastern Conference leaders the Detroit Piston were upset 119-108 at the Toronto Raptors, where Brandon Ingram scored 34 points and Jakob Poeltl added 21 points and 18 rebounds for the Raptors.
In Cleveland, top draft pick Cooper Flagg scored a game-high 27 points and added 10 assists to spark Dallas Mavericks over the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-120. REUTERS, AFP