On March 31, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and two more teams officially advanced to the playoffs. One is the Dallas Mavericks, who have made the playoffs for the third consecutive year under Doncic. The other is the Miami Heat, also making the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
Before the start of today's game day, the NBA officially announced today's promotion and elimination conditions -
The Green Army locks up the playoffs to meet the requirements: the Green Army wins and the Cavaliers lose
The Lone Ranger locks up the playoffs to meet the requirements: the Lone Ranger wins and the Timberwolves lose
Warriors lock up the playoffs to meet: Warriors win and Timberwolves lose
The Heat lock up the playoffs to meet: The Heat win and the Cavaliers or Raptors lose
The Wizards are completely out of the playoffs to meet: the Wizards lose and the Hawks win
In the game that ended today, the Lone Rangers advanced first because they defeated the Cavaliers under Doncic and the Timberwolves also lost the game. Doncic blasted 35 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists, and the Lone Rangers are the third team in the West to qualify for the playoffs, after the Suns and Grizzlies have locked up playoff qualifications. Since the Lone Rangers won the championship in 2011, they have made the playoffs six times, but the fate is the same, all stopping in the first round. In the 2022 playoffs, can Doncic break through the first round?
The Heat beat the Celtics in today's power-up conversation, continuing to lead the East while also becoming the first team in the East to qualify for the playoffs, winning the game while the Cavaliers lost the game. Butler had 24 points and Lowry 23. The Wizards beat the Magic today, theoretically still have the possibility of playing a play-off, and have not yet been officially eliminated.
For the rest of today's game, the Warriors have a chance to become the fourth team in the West to qualify for the playoffs, provided they beat the Suns. The Suns have won 8 straight, while the Warriors have suffered 3 consecutive defeats, which is not a small difficulty.