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Undoubtedly the biggest game of this Sunday night is the match-up between Phoenix and Dallas at the American Airlines Center in Texas. On Friday the Suns got exactly what they were hoping for coming into this game, a Dallas loss coupled with a win of their own. This left them 3 games behind the Mavericks, who are in 8th place and a win tonight would cut that gap to 2 games with the season series tied at 2 all. A Dallas win however, would mean that the Mavs would only need one more win to clinch the last spot in the Western Conference due to having won the tiebreaker (the season series) 3-1.

The Suns will be hoping that they can overcome their poor away form to record a win that could be vital, they’re 16-21 on the road this season and 3 straight losses at Portland, Utah and Sacramento in late March has got them to this situation. To put it simply Phoenix need to win this one.

Thankfully they have no injuries to worry about coming into tonight’s game but neither do Dallas. The Suns will want to come out all guns blazing and out shoot Dallas like they do every team, they lead the team in points scored this season averaging 109 a game while the Mavericks are giving up less than a hundred in what’s bound to be a match up between the best offense and a sturdy defense. Tip off is at 3.30pm ET and the game’s on ABC for anyone that wants a peek.

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7 games were played in the NBA last night and some teams sealed their fate:

In New York the Raptors booted the Knicks out of play-off contention officially with a 102-95 win that keep their slim hopes alive. They’ve won 5 straight now and will be annoyed that they couldn’t bring this kind of form to the table earlier in the season. Andrea Bargnani led them with 23 points while Chris Bosh and Shawn Marion both had double doubles, 17 points, 13 rebounds and 12 points and 13 rebounds respectively. This win still leaves Toronto with a lot to do, they’re still 6 and a half games off of 8th place with only 7 games to play, they’ll need Detroit to start slipping up and quick.

Chicago went a step further to securing their place in the post-season with a 103-94 home win against New Jersey. This win leaves them 2 and a half games in front of 9th place Charlotte with 5 games to play so barring a massive collapse they’re in. They won this one thanks to a solid team performance, their bench helped out with 32 points while Ben Gordon led with 18. New Jersey are another team that are near enough out of the play-offs after losing 6 of their last 7, they’re now 5 games out of 8th with 6 to play.

Philadelphia did Charlotte a favour by beating the Pistons at home on Saturday night, 95-90, to secure their own play-off spot mostly thanks to Andre Miller. Miller had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his 2nd triple double of the season. A lot of his 21 came from the foul line but that cannot be said about Andre Iguodala’s 31. Iguodala shot 13 of 19 from the field and just missed a double double with 9 rebounds. This win keeps the Sixers in 5th place having played 2 games more than 6th placed Miami, who have only 5 games to play. Detroit are only 2 games in front of the Bobcats now.

Orlando kept the pressure on Boston in their battle for the Eastern Conference second seed by beating the 4th seed Atlanta in Atlanta. Orlando, who are only a half game off of Boston, needed another heroic performance by Dwight Howard, who had 21 points and 23 rebounds to see the Magic to a 88-82 win. This loss leaves the Hawks with 5 games to play and only 2 games in front of Philadelphia in 4th place, they’ll be hoping that they can avoid slipping up in their last few games to lose home court advantage in the first round.

Miami countered the 76ers win over Detroit with a win of their own in Washington, 118-104. Dwayne Wade looked back to his best with 33 points while Yakouba Diawara and Jermaine O’Neal both had 16. In another sign of how carefully Ed Tapscott is playing Gilbert Arenas the Washington head coach didn’t give Agent Zero any minutes on the court on Saturday. Who knows, he could have swung the game in the Wizards’ favour…

Milwaukee committed play-off suicide again last night, this time losing at home to Memphis, 107-102. This leaves the Bucks 5 games off 8th with 4 to play, needing to win all 4 and hope for an unlikely tie for 8th to get into the post-season. Over the last few weeks they’ve just self destructed this time at the hands of the Grizzlies who’ve won 4 straight. Rudy Gay led Memphis with 26 while Marc Gasol had a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Finally Denver managed a straight forward win at home to the L.A Clippers, 120-104. Leading by 11 at the end of the 1st quarter this game was never in doubt for the Nuggets who now a full game in front of San Antonio in 3rd place. J.R Smith came off the bench to lead the Nuggets to victory with 34 points while ‘Melo had 18. The Nuggets have 5 games to go and look good value for their current high seed.

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7 games are being played tonight and the most interesting in my opinion is the game between the L.A Clippers and Denver. This may look like a blow out but this is the kind of situation that the Clips revel in. Going to a place where they’ve no chance of a win and doing it. We’ve seen in early in the season against Atlanta and no one expected that. Denver need every win they can get in the ultra tight Western Conference and are only half a game in front of 3rd placed San Antonio. Despite having already clinched their play-off berth they can’t dial down the intensity on court and try and rest for the play-offs, they need a good seed if they want to get far into the post-season. A win tonight would help in getting that high seed to, at least, secure home advantage in the first round.

For the Clippers they’re hoping to avoid the worst record in the league. They’re currently at .240 with 7 games to play but Sacramento, who have the worst record (.213), have been winning recently and the Clippers won’t want the humiliation of being bottom come April 15th. With this in mind they’ll be hoping for big games from Zach Randolph (averaging 21 points) and Al Thornton (17) while praying that Carmelo Anthony (23) had an off night in what’s sure to be a shootout. Tip off’s at 9pm ET.

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10 games were played in the NBA last night and play-off spots were confirmed:

First in Indiana the Pacers slim play-off hopes were made much harder as they lost at home to the San Antonio Spurs. The Pacers who are currently 4 games off of 8th place need every win they can get and more, this wasn’t their night though. There wasn’t a hint of defensive play in this game, Danny Granger led the Pacers with 35 while Troy Murphy had a double double (19-13rebounds). Unlike Indiana however, all of San Antonio’s starters went into double figures with Tony Parker leading with 31 and 10 assists. Tim Duncan dropped 22 while Manu Ginobili had 16 to push the Spurs to a 126-121 win. This leaves San Antonio in the 3rd seed in the Western Conference with 7 games to play.

In North Carolina, Miami clinched a play-off spot with a win over the Bobcats, 97-92. They’re still a half game behind 6th placed Philadelphia though and needed Dwayne Wade’s help to beat Raymond Felton and co., he had 27 and 10 assist to help a stumbling Miami over the finishing line. This win makes Charlotte’s job much more difficult though, they’re now 2 games behind 8th place with only 6 games to play, it remains to be seen whether they can make the final surge into the play-off places.

In Boston the Celtics managed an easy win over Atlanta and never looked in doubt throughout the game winning the last 3 quarters of play. All of their starters scored double figures with Paul Pierce leading with 21, Kendrick Perkins had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Rajon Rondo shot 7 of 10 from the field to score 20 in a 104-92 win.

In Orlando Cleveland dropped a game to the Lakers in their bid to get home-court advantage throughout the play-offs when they lost to Dwight Howard and the Magic at Amway Arena, 116-87. This was a bad loss for the Cavs just because of the margin of defeat, 29. That kind of defeat hasn’t been seen for a long time by the team from Ohio. Dwight Howard dropped 20 and 11 rebounds while Rafer Alston had 11 and 10 assists to cap a good night for Orlando.

Oklahoma failed to pull off another shock at home when Portland came to visit last night. This was never a close game with the ‘Blazers having an 11 point lead at the end of the first quarter and eventually won this won by 35, 107-72. LaMarcus Aldridge had a very good night scoring 35 and jumping high for 18 rebounds. Kevin Durant only managed 13 in 28 minutes on the court for the Thunder.

Memphis pulled off a shock at home by beating the Dallas Mavericks and in the process gave the Phoenix Suns what they were looking for for the last few weeks. The game was tied going into the final quarter before the Grizzlies pulled away to win 107-102. Rudy Gay and Mike Conley propelled Memphis with 27 and 25 respectively, Gay also had 10 rebounds for a double double. With Phoenix pouncing on the opportunity Dallas are now only 3 games in front of the Suns with 6 games to play.

Utah haven’t been playing well recently but despite this have still managed to keep their relatively good home form intact. This is way it came as a massive shock that they managed to get beaten by the Minnesota Timberwolves in Salt Lake City. The Jazz,who had only lost 6 games previously before this game at the EnergySolutions Arena were stunned by the ‘Wolves who outscored them 31-25 in the last quarter to win 103-102. This leaves Utah marooned in 7th place in the West, one and a half games behind 6th place with only 6 games to play, it seems their push for home court advantage has failed.

The aforementioned Phoenix overcame Sacramento easily at home despite giving up over 100 points for the millionth time in a row. They had a 14 point lead after the 1st quarter before handing the Kings a lifeline by letting them win the next one by 10 thus cutting their overall lead to 4. They then kicked themselves back into gear and emerged 139-111 winners in the end. Steve Nash led with 29 while Jason Richardson had 19, as mentioned previously the Suns are now only 3 games behind the Mavericks in the battle for 8th place in the Western Conference.

In Oakland the New Orleans Hornets were beaten by the Golden State Warriors in a game notable by the absence of 3 New Orleans starters in the points tally. In a 111-103 loss David West had 31 while Chris Paul scored highest with 43 but apart from that they’re was zilch from the rest of the Hornets team, showing up their lack of a team. The other 7 players that played for the Hornets combined to score only 29, 2 less than David West’s total. Despite this loss the Hornets are only 2 and a half games off 2nd sport in the West so it’s not all over for them.

Finally the Lakers got back to some good form with a home win over the Houston Rockets. The Lakers who have had some tough road games recently came home to give their fans something to cheer about, Pau Gasol scored 23 and 10 rebounds while Kobe Bryant had a solid 20 to see them to a 93-81 win. This win leaves them only a game off Cleveland for the best record in the league and home court advantage in every round of the play-offs.

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10 games are being played in the NBA after last night’s sparse offering and the most interesting game, in my opinion, is between Miami and Charlotte in North Carolina. This game features two teams currently going through contrasting spells.

On the one hand home team Charlotte have won 6 of their last 10 including a home win over the Lakers, a comprehensive win at Philadelphia and a very encouraging loss at Boston, a game which the ‘Cats took into double overtime. It hasn’t all been plain sailing for the team that’s best placed to nick 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, the highs in the last 10 have been nullified by the lows; a road loss at conference-worst Washington and a blow out loss at home to Indiana, 108-83.

Despite these lows, including a late loss to the Celtics in a game they were winning with only a few seconds to go before being subjected to a buzzer beater, the Bobcats are only one and a half games behind 8th place Chicago and a win tonight would see them within one game of 7th placed Detroit as well.

They’ll be hoping that their fantastic home form will help deliver this, they’re currently 22 and 17 at Time Warner Cable Arena and with no significant injury worries for tonight’s match-up they’ll be looking to their strong starting five to continue where they left off in Boston on Saturday night. Every starter and two bench players scored double figures with Gerald Wallace leading with 20 and 10 rebounds while Boris Diaw shot 75 percent of his 3 pointers for the majority of his 17 points.

For Miami they’ve only won 3 of their last 10 and as a result have given up the 5th seed to Philadelphia, something that they’ll come to regret if they can’t retake it and have to play Orlando in the first round of the play-offs.

Part of this has been down to Dwayne Wade’s inconsistent performances of late. Wade, who averages 29 points a game has only beaten that number thrice in the last 10 games and only in one of those 3 games did Miami come out with on top. With Luther Head and Udonis Haslem both questionable for tonight’s game the Heat will definitely need Wade to show up. Tip off is at 7pm ET.

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Thursday nights always mean only 2 or 3 games are played in the NBA but there certainly wasn’t a lack of entertainment, mostly coming from Washington. We’ll start in Philadelphia however, where the 76ers shone in the second half to win by 10 points 105-95.

A good second half performance was needed from Philly as they went into half time 9 points down and looking sluggish but thankfully for them Lou Williams came off the bench to lead the Sixers with 21 points, shooting 7 of 10 while Andre Iguodala had 20 and Andre Miller had a double double (18-11assists).

This win pushed Philadelphia into 5th place in the Eastern Conference, something that they’ve been aiming for for a few weeks now. This would mean that if the season ended today that they would play Atlanta in the first round instead of Orlando, which is a much nicer prospect. Milwaukee look to have truly blown their play-off chances with another loss and are now 4 and a half games off of 8th place with only 5 games to play, it would take a minor miracle for them to make it now.

“Since 1 of the 3 is a foregone conclusion (Cleveland @ Washington)…” . How wrong I was. The shock of the century occurred in Washington as the Wizards snapped the Cavaliers 13 game win streak at the Verizon Center thanks to having a starting line-up that actually looks half decent. Butler, Jamison, Haywood, McGuire and most importantly Arenas started for Washington as they came up against league best Cleveland who were looking to wrap up home court advantage throughout the play-off with a minimum of fuss.

For the most part though, Cleveland weren’t in their groove in this game with the Wizards’ defense holding strong. Despite this LeBron James still managed to get 31 points in a so-so performance, he shot 11 of 18 from the field including 4 of 8 from behind the arc while Mo Williams dropped 19. This couldn’t stop Washington winning 109-101 though and they were calm and collected for the most part outscoring the Cavs by 10 points during the first 3 quarters of play. With this loss Cleveland dropped to 61-14 on the season but still hold the best record by 2 games over the L.A Lakers who didn’t play on Thursday night.

Finally in Denver the Nuggets heaped even more road-woe onto the Utah Jazz with a 114-104 win. Things looked bleak for Utah coming into this game, they had only won one game against a team over .500 on the road all season so the chances of them pulling a rabbit out of the hat and winning in Mile High were slim. With that in mind they were pleasantly surprised to be 11 points up with a minute and half to go in the first quarter. Unfortunately the Nuggets then went on a 10-2 run to end the quarter down only by 3, this seemed to take the wind out of the Jazz’ sails because in the next quarter the home team outscored them by 14 points and from then on they were able to match Utah to see the game out.

All of Utah’s starters scored double figures but that couldn’t stop them losing, C.J Miles led with 19 while Mehmet Okur managed a peculiar double double (14-15rebounds) with 10 of his points coming from the foul line. He wasn’t the only one, Deron Williams (18-10assists) and Carlos Boozer (15-11rebounds) both padded their season stats by contributing solid numbers.

Solid but unspectacular which wasn’t good enough to win when players like Carmelo Anthony and J.R Smith (who came off the bench) can provide spectacular very easily. The former had 23 points while the latter led the Nuggets with 28 including 8 trays. Denver cemented their place as the current 2nd seed in the West and now lead San Antonio by 1 game with 6 left to play.

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It being Thursday there are only a small of games being played tonight, 3 to be precise. Since 1 of the 3 is a foregone conclusion (Cleveland @ Washington) we’ll move onto 1 of the remaining 2:

In the continuing tussle in the Western Conference Utah go to their Northwestern rivals the Denver Nuggets, hoping to climb up the standings to get a more favourable seed in the first round. This won’t be easy for the Jazz who look shaky whenever they’re outside of Salt Lake City. They’ve only managed one away win against a team with a winning record this season, a 93-80 triumph against Philadelphia in only their 3 road game of the season on November 11th. Since then they’ve had no luck on the road and will want to secure at least the 4th seed so that they can have a chance of winning in the first round without having to win on the road.

To make this game look even more daunting the Nuggets have won 4 straight including with against Dallas and New Orleans to showcase why they’re currently in and deserve second spot. They’ve already secured their play-off berth and will be looking for a division title to end the regular season on a high, a win against one of the teams in that division would help that dream become a reality. They will be hoping that they can continue their current win streak with the help of Carmelo Anthony, who’s averaging 32 points in their last five games.

Utah only have one injury worry; point forward Steven Hunter is questionable. It won’t be him that could be the difference for Utah though, they’ll be looking for big performances from Carlos Boozer (averaging 16 points a game), Mehmet Okur (17) and Deron Williams (19) if they’re to win this one. Tip-off is at 10.30pm ET and the game’s on TNT for anyone who’s interested.

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9 games were played in the NBA last night and with it a few close run games:

Firstly in Orlando the Magic gave up second place in the Eastern Conference after losing to the Toronto Raptors, 99-95. Both teams vying for the 2nd spot were involved in close games unfortunately Orlando were on the wrong end of a tight game while Boston won at home to see themselves go a game ahead of the Magic with 6 games remaining while Orlando have 8.

Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 24 points and 12 rebounds including the game winner late on, Shawn Marion also managed a double double (17-15rebounds) again showing the potential of this Raptors team who themselves still have a slim chance at making the play-offs. Toronto have won 5 straight now and are 6 games off 8th place with 8 games to play, they’ll need other teams to slip up while carrying on their good form but are ending the season strongly.

The aforementioned Boston Celtics needed 2 periods of overtime to overcome the Charlotte Bobcats, 111-109. Ray Allen, who had 22 points on the night shooting 8 of 20, shot the game winning tray with virtually no time left on the clock to break the hearts of Charlotte who’ve been impressive over the last few weeks, winning 6 of their last 10. The ‘Cats are now 1 and a half game off of 8th placed Chicago with 7 games to play. Boston nicked 2nd spot in the East with this win and Orlando’s loss and are looking like they’ve overcome the blip in form they had over the past few weeks.

In New Jersey the Nets beat the Detroit Pistons 111-98 to keep their play-off hopes alive. New Jersey are 4 and a half games off of Chicago with 7 games to go so will need the Bulls etc. to slip up at some point and will also need to address their inconsistency at the same time. They managed to comfortably beat Detroit on Wednesday night though, all 5 of their starters scored double figures; Keyon Dooling led with 23 while Devin Harris dropped 19 plus 11 assists for a double double. With this loss the Pistons dropped to 36 and 39 and only a half game in front of 8th place Chicago, who they’re still battling with for 7th spot.

The Lakers ended their bad run of form by going into Milwaukee and beating the Bucks 104-98. Not only were Los Angeles back to their best but their talisman was as well, Kobe scored 30 points shooting 10 of 19 from the field while Lamar Odom had 20 points and 10 rebounds to see the Lakers home comfortably despite trailing by 9 after the first quarter. Despite this win Cleveland are still 3 and a half games in front of them for the best record in the league and therefore home advantage throughout the play-offs, the Lakers have 7 games to play.

In the battle of the rubbish teams Memphis scored a rare home win over the Washington Wizards, who decided not to give Gilbert Arenas any time on court so that home fans could see him in tonight’s game against Cleveland. So to sum up Ed Tapscott decided not to play Arenas, the Wizards’ star player, in a game they had a great chance of winning so that he could play him in a game they’ve no chance of winning. That’s an amazing triple jump of logic, if I may say so myself.

Anyway the Grizzlies won this one 112-107 with Rudy Gay leading with 25 points, shooting 9 of 15 from the field including 4 from behind the arc. With Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison and Nick Young really making progress this season along with Arenas’ return Washington will be hoping that they can achieve some respectability next season.

Phoenix must wonder what they have to do to get a game back on the Dallas Mavericks, last night they beat Houston in Phoenix and must’ve been pretty pleased with themselves. However any pleasing feeling must have gone straight out of the window once they’d seen that the Mavs had managed a 98-96 home win over Miami. Dallas are still 4 games ahead of the Suns and both have 7 games to play, Phoenix will be ruing their early season form after coming on strongly on the back straight. For the record Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 30 points, hitting all 10 of his foul shots while shooting 9 of 17 from the field. Dallas came back from an 11 point deficit in the 3rd quarter in a game where there were numerous lead changes.

Aforementioned Phoenix ground out a win at home the Rockets, 114-109, thanks to Steve Nash’s 25 points and 17 assists. Every Suns starter went into double figure with Shaq getting a double double (22-10rebounds). This loss leaves Houston in 4th place in the Western Conference, one game behind 2nd placed Denver so they still have high hopes of getting that number two spot before the season’s out.

In another battle between poor teams the Warriors beat Sacramento at home in overtime thanks to Monta Ellis who shot the winner and scored 42 points overall and was a whisker away from a triple double with 9 rebounds and the same number of assists. A notable performance from the losing side was Kevin Martin’s career high 50 points, he shot 50 percent from the field although his feat was dampened a little by the fact that 23 of his 50 were from the foul line.

Finally New Orleans left the City of Angels with a 104-98 win over the Clippers. After a buzzer beater win over Sacramento the previous night the Hornets needed Chris Paul to step up to ensure they won in Los Angeles. Paul had 30 points and 14 assists, shooting 13 of 19 from the field and hit the game winner to keep his team in 5th place in the West. You don’t want to know what the Clippers’ record is…

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The most interesting game in tonight’s card of 9 is between one team in the East desperately trying to hold a place and a team in the West also trying to hold onto a place. The team in the East, Miami, are only a half game in front of Philadelphia and with the 76ers not playing tonight the Heat could open up a healthier gap before the Sixers next game. They face the Mavs who are 4 games in front of the Phoenix Suns for the fight for 8th spot in the West and a win tonight could sew up that spot especially if Phoenix fail to win at home to Houston.

Dallas won the only other match between these teams this season 111-96 in Miami in late January and will be hoping to emulate that scoreline in Texas tonight. They’re coming off a big win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-88, a win that was in the bag before the 4th quarter started. Conversely Miami are coming off a close loss to Orlando at home, 101-95, and will want to start winning after only 4 wins in their last 10 that’s seen them give Philadelphia a sniff of 5th place.

Part of the problem has been Dwayne Wade who’s put up below average numbers in the last few games but still averages 29 points a game (a league best), if he can start firing on all cylinders the Heat will feel much better about their chances of pulling off a win in Dallas. Udonis Haslem is questionable to start tonight while Luther Head is definitely out, Josh Howard is the only injury problem for Dallas and is questionable to play tonight. Tip off is at 8.30pm ET for anyone who’s interested.

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9 games were played in the NBA last night and we start in the Eastern Conference:

The Cleveland Cavaliers showed how to play mediocre basketball and still win at home on Tuesday night as they dispatched the Pistons 79-73. At times in the first half they were down by 9 and looking distinctly average, with LeBron James having an off-night shooting only 9 of 24 from the field but still scoring 25 points. A late run in the 2nd quarter meant they could going into half time tied at 44 before taking hold of the game in the 3rd quarter. Despite their early dominance Detroit lacked any kind of talisman, emphasised by the fact that only two players managed to score double figures and even then their highest was only Rip Hamilton’s 13.

LeBron managed probably his worst double double of the season scoring 25 with 12 rebounds but missing both 3 point shots he took and 13 others from the field. Luckily the Cavs other players stepped up. Delonte West had 12 while Anderson Varejao and Mo Williams had 11 a piece. Cleveland had a slight scare in this one but have still only lost once at home this season.

Indiana carried on their stellar home form by beating the Chicago Bulls at Conseco Fieldhouse to keep their slim hopes of the play-offs alive. Danny Granger led the Pacers with 31 while T.J Ford came off the bench to drop 22 including the game winner with less than 5 seconds to go. This win leaves Indiana 3 and a half games behind 8th placed Chicago with 7 games to go and it’s still a hard task but staying unbeaten at home will help. Chicago missed an opportunity to take back 7th place from Detroit after they lost at Cleveland and due to Charlotte’s win over the Lakers are now only 1 game in front of the Bobcats who are in 9th.

In Philadelphia the 76ers got a priceless win over the Atlanta Hawks to send themselves within a half game of 5th placed Miami in the Eastern Conference. Andre Iguodala scored a team high 19 points while Andre Miller managed a double double (18-10assists) and Marreese Speights came off the bench to drop 16 points to propel the Sixers to a 98-85 win.

The aforementioned Bobcats continued their great run of form over the L.A Lakers by beating them in North Carolina last night. Over the past 4 seasons Charlotte have won 6 of their 7 match-ups against the Lakers and continued last night with help from Gerald Wallace who scored 21 and 13 rebounds, Boris Diaw who got 11 and 12 assists and Raymond Felton who dropped 16. The ‘Cats dropped 51 percent from the field compared to the 39 percent shot by Los Angeles, who couldn’t be saved by Kobe’s 25. The ‘Cats are now only 1 game off 8th placed Chicago after the Bulls lost to the Pacers and must now be dreaming of playing into mid-April.

Dallas moved 4 games in front of 9th place Phoenix in the West after a blow out win at Minnesota, 108-88. With the Suns only having 8 games left the Mavs look to have tied up the last play-off spot. Last night they were led by Dirk Nowitzki who had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Jason Terry, off the bench, who had 21.

Oklahoma City have come close to some road wins recently and finally converted one of those chances away from home with a tight win over San Antonio, 96-95. Kevin Durant did what he had to do if the Thunder were to win this game and led with 31 points while 3 other starters for Oklahoma got 16 a piece. This loss must have hurt the Spurs even more due to the fact that they had Ginobili, Parker and Duncan in the starting line up. San Antonio still clinched a play-off berth later in the day but gave up the 2nd spot in the West to Denver.

The Nuggets clinched a play-off spot with an expected win over the New York Knicks, 1111-104 in Denver. With this win they’re now up to 2nd in the Western Conference and were helped throughout the night by Carmelo Anthony, who scored 29 (and shot over 60 percent from the field) and Nene who had 18 points plus 12 rebounds.

In a big clash in the Northwest Division Portland prevailed at the Rose Garden over Carlos Boozer and his Utah Jazz, 125-104. LaMarcus Aldridge just beat Brandon Roy for the highest points by a ‘Blazers player with 26 while Roy had 25 and 11 assists. With this win Portland moved into 5th place while Utah dropped back into 7th.

Finally in Sacramento the New Orleans Hornets squeaked out a win to avoid dropping a place in the Western Conference standings, 111-110. Chris Paul had an off night with 15 but showed that if he can’t provide in point form he can provide in assists and had 15 of those, some were surely in the direction of David West who had 40 points and 9 rebounds to see this one out on the West Coast.

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