There’s officially less than one week left in the NBA regular season. While some teams — notably in the Western Conference — are still playing in games with playoff implications, Thursday’s three-game slate did not feature any of those teams.
But despite not having much left to play for, two of the top teams in the East in the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers played one of the best games of the season. And luckily, no one got horribly injured like in the recent double-overtime thriller between the Blazers and Nets.
The action and intensity in that Bucks-Sixers showdown more than made up for the lack of drama in the other two games. The Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors easily strolled to comfortable wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively.
Milwaukee Bucks 128-122 Philadelphia 76ers
The Bucks and the 76ers produced a barn-burner of a game the last time they played. Led by Joel Embiid’s 40 points and 15 rebounds, the 76ers edged out the Bucks, 130-125, in Milwaukee despite a career-high 52 points from Giannis Antetokoumpo.
But the Greek Freak got his revenge as his 45 points and 13 rebounds topped Embiid’s triple-double (34 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists) to lead the Bucks to a 128-122 victory in Philadelphia. With the win, the Bucks have clinched the best record in the league and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Making the Bucks’ win more impressive was the fact that Eric Bledsoe got ejected less than three minutes into the game after an altercation involving Embiid.
After getting shoved in the back by Bledsoe, Embiid threw the ball at the Bucks guard’s direction. But Bledsoe retaliated by forcefully throwing the ball at Embiid’s torso, which sparked a melee between the two teams. Bledsoe was given two technical fouls and was tossed, while Embiid and Mike Scott got one technical apiece.
There’s a chance the Bucks and 76ers meet again in the Eastern Conference finals. And based on their past two meetings, that could be one heck of a series if it does come to fruition.
If those two teams do meet up, don’t forget to check out the SBOBET odds for that intriguing series.
Cleveland Cavaliers 104-117 Sacramento Kings
The Kings aren’t going to return to the playoffs this season. But they do still have a shot at finishing with a winning record for the first time since 2006 after beating the Cavs at home.
Swingmen Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic did most of the damage for the Kings as they poured in a combined 41 points on 9-of-18 from beyond the arc. De’Aaron Fox also chipped in with 16 points and 10 assists.
Jordan Clarkson led the way for the Cavs with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting off the bench, while rookie Collin Sexton added 19 points. Sexton is having a strong finish to the season, averaging 23 points per game in his last 10 contests.
The Kings are now at 39-40 with just three games left in their season and can get that winning record if they sweep their final three games. Although, two of those games will be on the road against the Jazz and the Blazers, who are still playing hard this late into the season.
As for the Cavaliers, they are 19-60 and have now lost seven games in a row. They are just about sure to finish with one of the three worst records in the league, which will give them a 14 per cent chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
Golden State Warriors 108-90 Los Angeles Lakers
The Warriors are finishing the regular season with a strong run of NBA 2019 results. With their 108-90 win over the Lakers, they’ve now won five of their last six games, with their one loss coming amid some controversial officiating calls.
With no LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball, the NBA 2019 betting odds for this game were always going to be skewed heavily toward the Warriors. And the remaining Lakers didn’t help themselves as they shot a miserable 35 per cent from the field and went 8-of-37 on 3-pointers.
DeMarcus Cousins led the way for the Warriors with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Quinn Cook added 18 off the bench, mostly in garbage time. No Warriors starter even played 30 minutes as they had the game in hand by the end of the fourth quarter.
Cousins has suddenly been coming on strong during this last stretch. He’s averaging close to 17 points in his last 10 games while shooting 56 per cent from the floor. That’s certainly a promising sign for Golden State heading into the playoffs — but a worrying development for the rest of the league.
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