The New Orleans Pelicans did themselves a big favor by beating the L.A. Clippers on Tuesday night behind Anthony Davis' 41 points. It's a game they needed in order not to drop in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The Clippers, meanwhile, remain outside of the playoffs, but are just a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets.
After his stellar performance against the Clippers, Davis did not hang out with his teammates talking about the win or eat or head the showers. Instead, he went straight to check on the standings in the conference to see what happened with other games that night, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.
Anthony Davis said the first thing he did after the #Clippers–#Pelicans game was check the scores for the #Thunder and #Nuggets as well as the West standings following tonight's games.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 7, 2018
The Pelicans are in a tight race to make the playoffs. After beating the Clippers, they are in fourth place with a 37-26 record. The Clippers have a 34-29 record. That's how close the Western Conference race is right now.
Oklahoma City and Denver both have 29 losses, and are in seventh and eighth place, respectively. If a team anywhere between third and 10th loses just one game, that can send them down the standings several spots. And don't even think about losing two in a row if you're any of those teams.
The Pelicans have to keep winning if they want to say in fourth place, which would get them home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
It will be a difficult task for all these teams to keep winning, as the schedules will begin to get somewhat difficult. The Clippers have a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers coming up soon, and the Pelicans are playing a slew of playoff teams as the season winds down.
It is the most interesting race in the NBA right now, and it will be fascinating to watch down the stretch.
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