Saturday: Warriors at Lakers (8:30 ET, ABC)
If the postseason started today, that would be the No. 9 (Lakers) vs. No. 10 (Warriors) matchup in the SoFi Play-In Tournament, with the loser’s season over and the winner advancing to a second win-or-go-home game for to secure the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
Earlier this week, Our writers were asked which West Play-In team had the best chance to make a Finals run like Miami did a year ago in the East. The Lakers got two of the five votes. That road could start with another LeBron vs. Steph showdown next month. Before then, we have two more previews of this race – Saturday afternoon and April 9, both in Los Angeles.
Steph Status: The Warriors are hoping Curry will be back for Saturday’s game after missing the last three with a sprained ankle. The Warriors are 1-5 without Curry this season.
Playoff game: The Lakers (36-31) enter Saturday with a one-game lead over the Warriors (34-31), but the two teams are tied in the loss column (31) and in their season series (1-1). With the head-to-head being the first tiebreaker, these last two matches are crucial. The Lakers are two games back of No. 8 Dallas in the Play-In and three games back of No. 6 Sacramento for the final guaranteed playoff spot.
Sunday: Suns at Bucks (1 ET, ABC)
KD Chasing Shaq: Kevin Durant enters Sunday’s game against Milwaukee needing 20 points to pass Shaquille O’Neal for eighth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Considering KD is averaging 28.1 ppg on the season, there’s a good chance we’re witnessing a watershed moment for one of the greatest scorers of all time.
Playoff position: The Suns walk into the playoffs (top 6) vs. Play-In (7-10) as No. 5-8 in the West entered Friday separated by just two games, with the Suns in seventh place. The Bucks are also fighting for a playoff spot, but they’re between second and third in the East, so the stakes aren’t as high as what Phoenix faces.
Big 3 vs. Dynamic Duo: Just two years removed from meeting in the 2021 NBA Finals, the Suns and Bucks both made major roster changes entering the 2023-24 season with Phoenix adding Bradley Beal to the team along with Durant and Devin Booker and the Bucks getting Damian Lillard to pair with Giannis. Antetokounmpo.
Phoenix’s Big 3 he’s only played 26 games combined, going 15-11 in those games. After winning a combined seven straight in January, the Suns are 6-7 in the last 12 games played by Booker, Durant and Beal.
The Milwaukee duo of Giannis and Damme have combined to play more than twice as many games as the Phoenix trio. The Bucks are 41-18 (.695) when playing together, compared to 2-6 (.250) when playing alone. Comparing the net rating, the Bucks are +11.1 points per 100 possessions in the 1,591 minutes Antetokounmpo and Lillard have shared the court. The Suns are +8.7 when their Big 3 play together, but in just 507 minutes.
Sunday: Nuggets at Mavericks (3:30 ET, ABC)
Doncic Status: Keep an eye on the injury report for the latest on Luka Doncic, who left Wednesday’s win over the Warriors in the fourth quarter with hamstring tightness and didn’t play the next day against OKC. The Mavs had their four-game winning streak snapped by the Thunder, dropping to 3-6 without Doncic in the lineup.
MVP Ladder: This game features two of the top four players on the latest Kia MVP Ladder: Denver’s Nikola Jokic at No.1 and Dallas’ Doncic at No.4. Doncic is on his way to winning his first scoring title averaging 34.3 ppg and has already met the 58-game threshold for eligibility. Meanwhile, both Doncic and Jokic rank in the top four in assists, serving as the heartbeat of their respective offenses.
Better than the break: The defending champions are hitting their stride as the postseason approaches. Since the All-Star, the Nuggets are a league-best 10-1 with Jokic averaging a triple-double (25.4 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 10.2 apg). Meanwhile, Dallas is 6-6 since the break with Doncic leading all players in scoring (35 ppg) and assists (11.2 ppg).
Playoff position: The Nuggets (47-20) are in a three-team battle for first place in the Western Conference with just one loss separating Oklahoma City (46-20 with a tiebreaker over Denver) and Minnesota (45-21). Meanwhile, the Mavs are trying to get out of the Play-In as they enter the weekend in eighth place, but just one game back of sixth place for a coveted guaranteed playoff spot.