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How Sunday's NBA results impact the playoff race in the Eastern and Western Conference

Scott Rafferty

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How Sunday's NBA results impact the playoff race in the Eastern and Western Conference image

The first weekend of basketball in the 2019-20 NBA season restart is well underway.

Five games were on the slate for Sunday. In the early game, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat took care of business with a convincing win over the Denver Nuggets while the gameday was capped off by the defending champions sweeping the season series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Every contest in Orlando impacts the playoff race. What about Sunday's five games?

STANDINGS

Find out below: 

Miami Heat 125, Denver Nuggets 105

Jimmy Butler vs. Nuggets

BOX SCORE

Down Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Will Barton, the Nuggets didn't have the firepower to keep up with the Heat.

Miami's All-Star duo of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 22 points each. Butler added seven assists, four rebounds and three steals to his stat line while Adebayo added nine rebounds and six assists to his. Kelly Olynyk put on the finishing touches with a 20-point fourth quarter, making him the first Heat player since Dwyane Wade in 2009 to score 20 points in the fourth quarter of a game.

With the win, the Heat improve to 42-24 on the season, putting them only 1.5 games behind the Boston Celtics for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat will have an opportunity to close that gap further when they take on the Celtics in their third seeding game next week.

As for the Nuggets, they're still at No. 3 in the Western Conference, but the Jazz, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder are making ground on them.

Oklahoma City Thunder 110, Utah Jazz 94

Chris Paul Joe Ingles

BOX SCORE

The Thunder got off to a strong start and never looked back.

It was a team effort for Oklahoma City, as a number of players scored in double figures. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 19 points, Chris Paul came close to a triple-double with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Steven Adams finished with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double, Danilo Gallinari chipped in with 15 points and Dennis Schroder put up 13 points off the bench.

Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson had a rough outing for Utah, combining for 24 points on 9-for-32 shooting from the field.

A loss moves the Jazz a game behind the Nuggets for the No. 3 seed and puts them only 0.5 games ahead of the Thunder and Houston Rockets for the No. 4 seed. There's still a lot up in the air when it comes to the middle of the Western Conference.

LA Clippers 126, New Orleans Pelicans 103

Paul George vs. Pelicans

BOX SCORE

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George put on a clinic in this one.

Whereas Leonard did a little bit of everything with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists, George exploded for 28 points on 8-for-11 shooting from 3-point range.

The Clippers as a team couldn't miss from the perimeter, going 25-for-47 from deep.

The Clippers look like they're going to finish the regular season with the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference at this point.

The Pelicans, meanwhile, are at risk of falling out of the race for the No. 8 seed. Back-to-back losses to open the season restart moves them four games behind the Memphis Grizzlies, 1.5 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers, one game behind the San Antonio Spurs and 0.5 games behind the Sacramento Kings.

Indiana Pacers 127, Philadelphia 76ers 121

BOX SCORE 

Both teams entered this game with identical records of 39-26. 

At the final horn, the Pacers walked away with the season series 3-1 behind a career-game from T.J. Warren. The 6-8 forward knocked down a career-high nine 3-pointers en route to scoring a career-high 53 points, the third-most in Pacers' NBA history. 

MORE: Warren becomes talk of NBA with 53-point outburst

His performance helped the Pacers overcome big games from the stars of the Philadelphia 76ers - Joel Embiid (41 points, 21 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks), Ben Simmons (19 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists), and Tobias Harris (30 points). 

With this win, the Pacers hold the tiebreaker, should they finish with an identical record as the 76ers at the end of the 76ers.

Toronto Raptors 107, Los Angeles Lakers 92

BOX SCORE 

The defending champions won their opener in Orlando behind a masterclass from their leader Kyle Lowry. 

MORE: 8 observations from Raptors win vs. Lakers

OG Anunoby chipped in with 23 points as the Raptors held the Lakers' All-Star duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis to 34 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists. Trailing the Bucks by 6.5 games, the Raptors probably won't be catching them but the win helps them build a four-game cushion over the third-seeded Boston Celtics. 

Meanwhile, the Lakers will have to wait to mathematically clinch the West's top seed. They need a win or a Clippers loss but with neither happening on Sunday, it's on the next matchday for them. They still hold a comfortable 5.5 game lead at the top.

Current Standings

Standings as of Aug. 2
  EAST         WEST      
  Team W L GB   Team W L GB
1 x - Milwaukee Bucks 54 12 -   x - Los Angeles Lakers 50 15 -
2 x - Toronto Raptors 47 18 6.5 2 x - LA Clippers 45 21 5.5
3 x - Boston Celtics 43 22 10.5 3 x - Denver Nuggets 43 23 7.5
4 x - Miami Heat 42 24 12 4 x - Utah Jazz 42 24 8.5
5 x - Indiana Pacers 40 26 14 5 x - Oklahoma City Thunder 41 24 9
6 x - Philadelphia 76ers 39 27 15 6 x - Houston Rockets 41 24 9
7 Orlando Magic 31 35 23 7 Dallas Mavericks 40 28 11.5
8 Brooklyn Nets 30 35 23.5 8 Memphis Grizzlies 32 34 18.5
9 Washington Wizards 24 41 29.5 9 Portland Trail Blazers 30 37 21
          10 San Antonio Spurs 28 36 21.5
          11 Sacramento Kings 28 37 22
          12 New Orleans Pelicans 28 38 22.5
          13 Phoenix Suns 27 39 23.5

x - Clinched Playoffs berth

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Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.