NBA Notebook: No reflection yet for Ime Udoka and Celtics on their historic defense

Ime Udoka avoided most sentimentality during his first season with the Celtics. Whether his journey to his first head-coaching job, his first matchups against his mentor Gregg Popovich, or establishing what's become the best defense by far in the NBA this season, he's been consumed by the day-to-day since early this season. Getting the Spurs, Nets, and seeing his hometown Trail Blazers games out of the way all marked pivotal points in establishing a rhythm early. He avoided the lows that followed, so he's not getting caught up in 2022's highs.

"Honestly, I haven't thought about any of that," Udoka told Boston Sports Journal when asked to reflect on what he's accomplished with Boston's defense. "When you're in it, and you see how coaches think this way all the time, how fragile it is or one thing can kind of offset what you're doing, so you stay locked in, in the moment, and continue going game-by-game. There are things we can improve, as well as we've been doing, so those are the things you look at overall and so our team doesn't get content, complacent or happy with where we're at defensively when we feel like we can get a lot better in certain ways." 

As the Celtics near the conclusion of a historic season defensively under Udoka's switch-everything scheme, one that was brought to the next level by an added wrinkle of playing Robert Williams III on wings away from actions to help, their play has raised expectations. They've won 24 of 32 to enter the conversation with the East's best teams, while their top-ranked 105.5 defensive rating gives them the league's fourth-best net rating (+5.9), which sits at +12.1 per 100 possessions since Dec. 31, the day Udoka highlighted on Friday as the day where Boston's fortunes shifted. They neared full health, and blasted a mostly-full Suns team, 123-108, a victory that along with others that followed showed they can beat any team in the NBA. The Celtics, for the first time in over one decade, look like they can win a championship. 

That made Sunday's time machine to 2008 all the more fitting. No. 5 jerseys filled the stands, most of the last Celtics title team filed into TD Garden, while fans still tied to those teams boxed out this era's typical weekday ticket-holder. It gave the game a throwback atmosphere. Most arrived to watch Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement, only to find the team on the court reminiscent of the one they came to commemorate. 

Al Horford defended Luka Doncic with the perimeter prowess Garnett flashed on that end during his late years. When Williams III face-guarded Doncic on one possession, preventing a clearly-scripted motion to get him back on the ball, the crowd buzzed, ooohhhhh! There was a chance that game would've been an afterthought during another lost season after the Celtics fell to 18-21 in early January. Instead, fans interacted with every play with playoff intensity and responded to a heady defensive style Boston played with. Even Garnett, who resisted fans urging him to get retrieve a loose ball stuck above the basket above the baseline where he sat, shot out of his seat when Jaylen Brown launched one of the dunks of his life over Maxi Kleber and dapped up the young star. The older, new big three Celtics didn't have that. 

They did exceed this Celtics team's defensive stinginess though, leading the league in 2007-08 with a 98.1 defensive rating, 2.4 points better per 100 possessions than No. 2 Houston. That allowed them to get by with the No. 11 offense. They featured a dedicated point guard, two scoring wings and unselfish big men, though certainly more depth than Boston currently features. The starting five who never lost a playoff series posted a +19.4 net rating that season. Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Brown, Horford and Williams III boast a +23.7 advantage over opponents per 100. The 2008 Celtics won 80.5% of their games. Since the Knicks collapse in early January, Boston's won 24-of-32 (75%). 

This team is young, unproven and features only one player beginning to set his eyes on hall-of-fame aspirations, never mind three of the 75 greatest NBA players ever in Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. This comparison simply illustrates the historic nature of what Udoka and his team have pulled off defensively in year one together. 

They allowed 18, 20 and 19-point quarters to the prolific Mavericks on Sunday. On Wednesday, they held Golden State to 17, 15 and 19 in three of the quarters. Boston's allowed 25 points or fewer in 10 of their last 20 quarters, allowing 23.4 points per game in the first, 25.0 in the second, 26.4 in the third and 24.7 in the fourth, all ranking in the top-six of each frame since 2022 began. Some stretches have been laughable, holding Trae Young and the Hawks to 13 in the third and 20 in the fourth to close out a win earlier this month, before limiting the surging Grizzlies to 20 in the first quarter in the next game. 

Those minuscule totals against Boston's defense give the Celtics' offense room for error, or to grow massive leads, as was the case, respectively, in the Dallas loss and Golden State win. Udoka isn't celebrating those achievements as they pass. He's diving deeper into the film, nit-picking over how the Celtics could allow even fewer. The Celtics already hold a 4.1 point per 100 possession advantage on Dallas, second-best defense in the new year. The last three teams to lead the league in defense by multiple points per 100: the 2020 Bucks, who would win the title in 2021, the 2016 Spurs and the '08 Celtics. 

"Every game, we look at holding teams to whatever it is in the first half, and there's probably 10 or so points we kind of give away," Udoka told BSJ. "So you want to tighten all those things up, one less mistake by each guy, and so no looking ahead or probably even reflecting on anything until we're done."

For more historic perspective, the No. 1 defenses in the NBA over the past 14 seasons since 2008 held opponents to approximately 7.7 points worse than the league average that year. The 2008 Pistons and Celtics raced furthest ahead of the pack in 2008 of any over those leaders, Detroit holding opponents to 9.8 points worse than the league average, and Boston 9.6. This year's Celtics only hold opponents to 6.4 points worse than the league average, but since the new year, their competition scores 9.9 points fewer (100.1) than the NBA scoring average this season (110.0). 

Since the deadline, when Boston took on its current incarnation and went on to win 12-of-15, they're holding opponents to 7.1 points worse than that 110 mark, while facing some of the league's best offenses in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Dallas and Golden State. The Celtics put themselves in historic conversations over two-thirds of the NBA season, and while No. 1 defense doesn't automatically win championships, far from it, it puts you in the conversation with unique teams like the 2004 Pistons and 2008 Celtics that drove their titles on that end. The league has changed substantially since then. The key is Boston's defensive style evolved too. A more apt comparison for them may be the Warriors of 2015-2019, switching everything with massive bodies everywhere. 

"They're playing great basketball and it's a huge challenge because this is a team that got great size too," Kings head coach Alvin Gentry said on Friday. "And when I say that, I don't mean everyone's 6-10 or 7-0, but they've got great size at all the positions. Point guard, two guard, small forward, all of them, and then they have a rim protector in Williams, who's done a great job for a young player. I think he's developed and they've got a lot of confidence in him protecting the rim." 

When Williams III ran into Garnett in the locker room around 25 minutes before the Celtics and Mavericks tipped off on Sunday, he immediately wished he could've played with KG. He could feel the energy. Garnett, in turn, said he's a big fan of Williams III, the pogo-stick shot blocker and dunker who makes prime Garnett look ground-bound. A viral video recently circulated, comparing a play earlier this month where Smart drove, collapsed the defense, kicked to Brown on the left wing for a three that he missed, only to watch Williams III throw down a slam. It's shown next to Rajon Rondo kicking to James Posey, whose miss landed in Garnett's hands above the rim for the exact same put-back slam in the NBA Finals against the Lakers. 

There's a big difference between the Finals, what Udoka likely envisions as done, and a mid-March regular-season game in Charlotte. Schedule, opponents and shooting all stand as challenges against the Celtics' league-best greatness through the second and final third of the year. While Tatum and their offense's recent run may sit on an unstable shooting foundation, the defense has proven itself all year. 

Udoka looks back at the numbers his starting five posted early as indicative of elite defensive potential. He never wavered on that group, or his approach, direct, defensive and patient. Players moved in and out of the lineup, the Celtics blew numerous games, and months before his Garnett interaction, Williams III ran into his coach at the practice facility. 

"I'm tired of this s***," he told Udoka. "Something's gotta give." 

Williams III knew little about his new head coach coming into the season. Brad Stevens simply told Williams III he would bring in a one who would challenge the team. Udoka had just questioned the Celtics' mental toughness after a 25-point collapse at Madison Square Garden. Now, Williams III was confiding how frustrated he was with their collapses late in games. Udoka reassured him: "We're going to get it. We're going to turn it around." 

Gentry chuckled at the thought that the Celtics could be different in mid-March than the team that led his Kings by as many as 60 points shortly after Udoka and Williams III spoke in January. The stops Boston piled up early in that game, the season-best total of first half kick ahead passes and the offense that followed them would soon become Udoka's formula alongside his Williams III wrinkle. Turning defense into offense, he predicted, would turn Boston into a top-10 offense too. Hot shooting put a dent in his scheme when the Pacers and Pistons knocked off the Celtics in recent weeks, but no team has completely countered Boston's system. The Nets almost did, but importantly stumbled in key moments during their 126-120 loss in Boston. 

"I think the one thing they do a really good job of, and they did it the first game we played them, is kind of stalling you out," Gentry said. "They're a very good switching team. They can switch all five positions, so they do a great job of just kind of stalling you and slowing the offense. With that, you've got to really keep the floor spread and you've got to move the basketball, and you've got to attack that way rather than the way you'd attack some of the other defenses in the league." 

Boston's win on Wednesday clinched a better season than last year's .500 campaign with the Celtics' 42nd win. Their 43rd on Friday clinched a playoff spot. They also vaulted over the Bulls into the No. 4 seed with 11 games to play and tiebreakers in hand over Miami, Philadelphia, and they control their own destiny to secure ones over Milwaukee and Chicago too. The Celtics have a clear path to rising to No. 2 in the east if they continue their recent play, and even have an outside shot at home court advantage in the east. 

Their most likely scenarios include that 4-5 series against the Bulls, a 3-6 matchup with the Cavaliers or Raptors, then the 2-7 with the winner of the play-in tournament. Boston will balance rest and lineup experimentation alongside rising as far as they can in the east. Many fear a Nets surge into the postseason that could potentially lead teams to tank away from a first-round meeting with Brooklyn. The Nets have to escape the play-in tournament first though, and with Boston's focus set inward, they're going to continue to focus on winning each game. 

They've set the second-best in conference record at 30-16 against the grueling east, second to only the Heat, with a +6.1 scoring margin that towers over Miami's second-best +4.7. There's a case that the Boston Celtics, the team everyone beat earlier this year, are the team to beat in the conference. 

"There's no time to really get complacent or content with what you're doing," Udoka said. "We're trying to strive for more and continue to do what we've done well. At some point you look back at it, but in the thick of it, not at all ... you're proud of the group, how they've reacted to adversity early and us coaching them and challenging them, but at the same time, we felt when we were whole we'd obviously be really good defensively and then offensively it's just continue to hammer away at those habits and guy have been receptive." 

Here's what else happened in the NBA this week...

Atlanta (35-35): Created some separation from the Wizards (by 4.5 games) for the No. 10 seed by cleaning up the Clippers, Pacers and Trail Blazers, before dropping a game to the Hornets. They'll continue their playoff push without John Collins (plantar fascia tear/right ring finger), who's sidelined indefinitely after missing 10 of the Hawks' last 14 games, though they've managed a 6-4 record without him, as he's struggled through the injury stemming back to February. It could potentially end the first season of his five-year, $125-million deal, averaging 16.2 PPG.

Boston (42-28): They've tied the 76ers in the win column for the No. 3 seed, passing the Bulls in winning percentage for No. 4 and moved within two games of the Bucks for the No. 2 seed. The Celtics also own tiebreakers over Miami and Philadelphia, and could potentially clinch one over Milwaukee and Chicago in April. Their defense held the Mavericks to 38 first-half points in a close loss before stifling the Warriors to 32. They still rank No. 1 in defense, and their offense remains competitive despite Jaylen Brown and Derrick White shooting slumps. Malik Fitts signed on through 2022-23 on a partially-guaranteed deal, while Kelan Martin's 10-day deal expired and leaves the Celtics' 15th spot open.

Brooklyn (37-34): Kyrie Irving dropped a Nets franchise-record 60 points on the Magic in what could be one of his final performances of the season. Brooklyn plays nine of its final 12 games in New York City, as the city's health commissioner signals no end in sight to the private sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate that's left him ineligible to play at home and against the Knicks all season. Irving would also potentially be ineligible to travel to Toronto for the play-in tournament, which the Nets would do if the season ended today. 

They're 2.5 games back of the Raptors for No. 7 and only one and 1.5 game ahead of Charlotte and Atlanta in the lower-level play in standings. Irving attended the team's game against the Knicks, sitting courtside in a moment that turned heads questioning the validity of the rule, but him entering Brooklyn's locker room at halftime caused the team to get fined $50,000 by the NBA. 

Charlotte (35-35): Blew through the Thunder and Hawks, a likely play-in tournament preview, with a four-game homestand ahead that should solidify their playoff positioning. A visit to Brooklyn after gives them a chance to move into the upper tier of the play-in tournament. Isaiah Thomas discussed his Hornets tenure with the Charlotte Observer, with his second 10-day deal expiring Tuesday. 

Chicago (41-29): Bumped into bad losses against the Kings, Jazz and Suns that dropped them below the Celtics in the east to No. 5 for the moment, after steadily holding home-court advantage seeding all season. Reinforcements come soon via Patrick Williams, now cleared for contact and assigned to the G-League, and Lonzo Ball, who's progressing more slowly due to a knee bruise following his left meniscus tear. They face the surging Raptors, two meetings with the No. 2 Bucks and have a potential playoff preview with the Celtics over their final 13 games. 

“(Williams) can play an important role for our team,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “If we were whole, I think the best thing to do with him would be to ease him in and bring him off the bench. That’s just my opinion right now. I don’t think it would be fair to him, just to throw him — with the number of games he’s missed and the amount of months he’s missed — to say, his first game back: ‘Hey, he’s starting.’”

Cleveland (40-30): They're in danger of falling into the play-in tournament even with Caris LeVert back in the lineup, losing to Chicago and Philadelphia while narrowly escaping the Clippers in overtime. The Cavaliers have lost 9-of-13, though Jarrett Allen will not undergo surgery on his left middle finger and hopes to return before the playoffs after injuring it on Mar. 6. Toronto tied them for the No. 6 seed, both 2.0 games behind Chicago for No. 5 and 3.5 games ahead of No. 8 Brooklyn. The Cavs play the Raptors and Bulls this week. 

Dallas (43-27): Luka Dončić is unconscionable in the clutch. He hit a game-tying three against the Celtics and fed Spencer Dinwiddie for the game-winning three on Sunday. On Wednesday in Brooklyn, he traded daggers with Kevin Durant, then fed Dinwiddie again at the buzzer to win the game from three. Dončić is averaging 31.8 PPG, 10.6 RPG and 6.8 APG on 50.5% shooting and 40% three-point efficiency over his past five games entering Friday, and once again looks like the most dangerous player in the NBA after conditioning issue to begin the season. Dallas holds the fifth seed, 1.0 game back of Utah and 4.0 games back of Golden State for No. 3. Meanwhile, former Dallas GM Donnie Nelson is suing the team. 

Denver (42-29): Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets edged out the 76ers in a battle of the MVP candidates with Joel Embiid to begin the week, then unloading 127 points on the Wizards before returning home for a four-game homestand. They've won 12-of-15, moving within 1.5 games of Dallas and Utah for home-court seeding in the west and maintaining a 1.5 cushion above the play-in line on the surging Timberwolves. The bump in play might've been motivated, in part, by optimistic outlooks for injured stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., but Michael Malone gave more sober indications regarding their timelines. 

Detroit (19-51): They've lost 51 games, but Saddiq Bey added another silver lining to their dreadful season with 51 points in 39 minutes against the Magic on Thursday. The Pistons had lost four straight games after winning 6-of-8 behind inspired play from Marvin Bagley III, Cade Cunningham (out last two games with illness) and Bey. The second-year wing is averaging 16.3 PPG on 39.8% shooting. 

Golden State (47-23): The Celtics locked them down and a first half chase for a loose ball between Marcus Smart and Steph Curry left the Warriors' star with an injured foot that'll sideline the star indefinitely. Steve Kerr blew up on Smart for the incident, but the Celtics stood up for him over what looked like a routine basketball play that ended in another blow for a team that once looked like a title contender. Golden State had won four straight, Draymond Green returning from his extended absence with a back injury for the final one, helping stabilize the team 1.0 game behind the No. 2 Grizzlies.

"We're relieved it's not worse," Steve Kerr said Friday. "That was the fear going in, that it could have been worse. We're hoping that he's back for the playoffs, maybe even a few games before the playoffs, but we'll see how it all goes."

Houston (17-53): Four more losses put them back in a tie for the league's worst record with the Magic. Rookie defensive specialist Usman Garuba (wrist) will get a chance to make an impression as he returns from a 25-game absence following January surgery. 

Indiana (24-47): Gave up 130 points in losses to the Hawks and Grizzlies, announcing that TJ Warren (foot) will miss the rest of the season after making a full recovery from his left foot injury from 2021. Warren is an unrestricted free agent, but is expected to remain with the Pacers.

Clippers (36-37): It's make or break time for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard's potential returns from injury, with the team still in play-in tournament position with 10 games remaining. They're 4.5 games ahead of the Lakers and six games behind the Timberwolves, giving them the clearest seeding positioning in the NBA entering the stretch run. They'll likely travel to Minnesota or Denver to fight for the No. 7 seed, with Norman Powell (foot) out of his boot and hopeful to be back in time. LA has lost 3-of-4. 

“I spoke with coach (Ty) Lue and he told me that if he can’t get his guys back for games in the regular season, it wouldn’t be safe for them to return in the playoffs,” Chris Haynes said on TNT earlier this month.

Lakers (30-40): Lost by double-digits to the Suns, Raptors and Timberwolves, with Minnesota openly taunting Russell Westbrook through his 5-for-12 night. As expected, the star bringing more attention to the Westbrick taunt only led to more taunters trying to provoke him on video, which worked for several provocateurs. He bounced back with a game-tying three at the buzzer in an overtime win against the Raptors in response. The Lakers should make the postseason, sitting 3.5 games above No. 11 San Antonio with 12 games to play, but with New Orleans, the Clippers and Minnesota in the play-in tournament it's unclear how they'll sneak into the playoffs. 

Memphis (48-23): Back on a four-game win streak with their offense catching fire against mediocre competition. They've continued to hold off the Warriors for the No. 2 seed, and sit eight wins from their best season in franchise history with 12 games to play. Ja Morant (back) is day-to-day, with Minnesota potentially looming for whatever team secures that runner-up position behind the Suns, there's no easy path in the west. Desmond Bane is shooting 51.9% from three on their current streak, exploding out of his slump earlier in the month.

Miami (47-24): Jimmy Butler (ankle) sat while Caleb Martin and P.J. Tucker played through pain to keep the Heat rolling with a win over the Thunder. They've won 11-of-15, their defense remaining among the league's best while their offense slipped to 17th over that stretch. They're a league-average team in all areas except passing on that end (61.8 AST%, 11th). The Miami Herald highlighted how sparsely Kyle Lowry shoots, while Butler is known to take nights off from scoring too. They're comfortable letting Tyler Herro (24.6 PPG last 15) and Bam Adebayo eat, but this team will need more from its guards to reach the Finals.

Milwaukee (44-26): Back to No. 1 in offense while winning 10-of-15, Giannis Antetokounmpo settling the Bucks in as the east's No. 2 seed for now and a close contender for the No. 1 seed (2.0 GB) with 32.8 PPG from their star over his last 14 games on 58.2% shooting. Brook Lopez returned from back surgery for the first time since opening night and helped the Bucks beat the Jazz and Kings off the bench. It looks like he'll ramp up slowly, and Serge Ibaka's continued integration remains key to that process, as the team looks at its best with Antetokounmpo playing center anyway. They signed Tyreke Evans to their G-League roster as a tryout after his reinstatement from a drug ban, Evans, who's now 32, last playing in 2018-19 with the Pacers.

Minnesota (41-30): Remember all the frustration filling this section of the column early this season? The Timberwolves were piecing together their most competent season perhaps since the Kevin Garnett trade, but they still felt capable of more. They'd get firmly over .500, then lose three or four straight. Their starting lineup would stand among the best in the league, and they'd sit among the mediocre overall. Now, the Wolves have won 12-of-15, second to only the Celtics in net rating (+10.2) over that stretch. 

Karl-Anthony Towns set a new franchise standard with 60 points against the Spurs to go with 17 rebounds and three assists. He's averaging 31.5 PPG and 12.0 RPG in those games, knocking off the Warriors and Heat, though notably playing most of their games against the Trail Blazers, Thunder and Magic. This team is dangerous, arguably the best offense in basketball and a top defense some nights. That puts them in the championship conversation as an outsider, and the Warriors and Grizzlies should be worried. They're No. 5 in defense (110.7 PP100) over their last 21 games. 

New Orleans (29-41): No shame in hanging with the Suns in a 131-115 loss, though at some point the Pelicans will need to answer where their defense will come from. They're the No. 2 offensive in basketball over their last 15 games, C.J. McCollum and Herb Jones combining for 43 points against Phoenix, before New Orleans rode 124 points to beat the Spurs in a key win to hold San Antonio off (2.5 GB) in the No. 10 seed race. They can also steal home court in the 9-10 game from the Lakers (1.0 GB), but each passing game makes it less likely Zion Williamson suits up for that game. Brandon Ingram (hamstring) has missed six straight games, with the Pelicans dropping four of them after winning 5-of-8. 

New York (30-40): Can we officially call them out, 5.0 games back of the No. 10 Hornets with 12 games to play? Probably not, especially since they've won 5-of-7. It'd be an uphill climb to make the play-in games though, with as good of a chance as any to make one final push with the Hawks and Hornets ahead this Tuesday and Wednesday. They're playing the best defense in the league (102.6 PP100) over those seven games, aided largely by a 30-point thumping of the Mavericks. Elsewhere, they've fought with the Suns, Grizzlies and Nets, losing by four points or fewer to each. Immanuel Quickley and Evan Fournier have led the offense, each shooting 41% from three, with their streakiness more likely to lead the Knicks to the lottery than an eight seed, given how this year has gone.

Oklahoma City (20-50): Losers of eight straight, they're in for a tankathon in Orlando before hosting the Celtics on Monday. The Thunder rank 27th in offense and 30th in defense over this stretch, Lu Dort (shoulder) and Josh Giddey (hip) missing games, among others, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played through an ankle ailment in Friday's loss to the Heat. OKC fans will be paying more attention to March Madness than the Thunder's stretch run, but Tre Mann, Darius Bazley and Aleksej Pokusevski have made strides with expanded opportunities. Mann dropped 25 points against Miami, Pokusevski posting a double-double.

Orlando (18-53): Four of their past opponents had a player score 30 points or more, Kyrie Irving reaching 60 and Saddiq Bey 51 as target signs settle on the Magic on their way to what they hope will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. They're a league average defense while losing 10-of-15, at least. They won't involve Jonathan Isaac (knee) in their final 11 games, ruling out in what'll amount to a lost season for 24-year-old. He hasn't played since Aug. 8, 2020. 

Philadelphia (43-26): Righted the ship with a 10-point win over the Mavericks, Joel Embiid and James Harden combining for 56 points and shutting off a red-hot Luka Doncic. They host Toronto and Miami before beginning a three-game west coast swing in a packed east home court race. Doc Rivers hinted at rest for his stars last week, raising questions about whether they'd compete for a top seed with Brooklyn possibly looming out of the play-in tournament. They've won 3-of-4 anyway, even with a too close for comfort overtime battle in Orlando to start it out. 

Philadelphia has won 8-of-11 since Harden joined, No. 10 in offense and No. 13 in defense. There are questions, including the usage of Matisse Thybulle that Rivers compared to an inverse of Lou Williams, along with De'Andre Jordan bench minutes that don't seem sustainable. None of it will matter if Harden and Embiid play to potential though, averaging a combined 24.1 free throw attempts and 54.5 PPG. 

Phoenix (57-14): They've surpassed last year's Suns through 71 games, now five wins away from tying the Phoenix record 62 wins from 2004-05 and the 1993 NBA Finals team that lost to Michael Jordan and Chicago. Every 57-game winner in Suns history at least made the West finals, and continuing an 8-4 pace without Chris Paul, they'll be the prohibitive favorite to come out of the west, likely facing the Lakers or Pelicans round one. Their magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed in the west is only three, with a 9.0 game lead on No. 2 Memphis. What a season -- No. 3 in offense, No. 2 in defense with an .800 winning percentage. Meanwhile, the NBA's firm will soon interview team governor Robert Sarver in its investigation into his alleged misconduct exposed in an ESPN feature.  

Portland (26-43): They've lost 9-of-10 while sinking to the bottom of the NBA in offense and falling out of the west play-in race they recently sat one game out of despite their tumultuous season. They're still only 2.5 games back of New Orleans, but No. 7 in the NBA lottery with the Pelicans' pick coming in as No. 9 if they miss the actual NBA Playoffs too. Their starting lineup each night is a who's who of who's that? That'll likely lead them to their first missed playoffs since Damian Lillard's rookie season (2012-13). 

Sacramento (25-47): Blasted by the Celtics, 126-97, despite Domantas Sabonis scoring 30 points with 20 rebounds and five assists, while starting 7-for-9 from three. They let Jayson Tatum start 7-for-9 from three before doubling him in the second half, their own hot shooting start dissolving into their 11th loss in 15 games since acquiring Sabonis at the deadline, seen as a win-now move giving up years of team control and growth in Tyrese Haliburton. They ranked 28th in defense entering Friday night, and it's easy to imagine the Kings yet again looking for a new head coach with play-in hopes (5.0 GB of NOLA) all but dead. Richaun Holmes is out for the season for personal reasons, the team announced Friday. 

San Antonio (27-44): Dropped a key game to the Pelicans by 33 points if they want to sneak into the play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed. That never seemed like the plan anyway after trading Derrick White and others at the trade deadline, numerous Spurs sitting out games lately, including Josh Richardson, who shot 47.6% from three over his last six games in 21 tries. Meanwhile, Romeo Langford (hamstring) is hurt again. The Spurs are No. 8 in the lottery. 

Toronto (39-31): They're quietly on a collision course with the Celtics in the first round if both teams keep winning. The Raptors tied the No. 6 seed temporarily late in the week, before they fell to the Lakers in overtime on Friday despite 31 points and 17 rebounds from Scottie Barnes. Nick Nurse quipped that the Clippers took all of Toronto's players, between Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell, but it may not be long before Barnes is better than both. You'll be seeing Drake's shocked response to Russell Westbrook's game-tying three soon. 

Utah (44-26): They aren't going anywhere, even if they're the least talked-about contender in either conference. Jordan Clarkson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Eric Paschall and Jared Butler's bench scoring made easy work of the Bulls and Clippers to end the week. They're healthier than last year, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert playing some of the best basketball of their careers as the playoffs loom. They might even be favored in a first-round series against the Mavericks as they're currently lined up, 3.0 games behind the No. 3 Warriors and Dallas 1.5 games up on No. 6 Denver. Utah visits Boston on Wednesday. 

Washington (29-40): If the Knicks have an outside shot at No. 10, they have none following losses to the Warriors, Nuggets and New York to round out a six-game losing streak.