NBA playoffs predictions and play-in tournament schedule live updates: Bracket, odds, draft lottery and stats

The LA Clippers were able to hold on despite losing 30 points of a 37-point lead, clinching a playoff spot with a 105-92 lead in Phoenix.

The Clippers are locked into the 4-5 matchup after wins by Oklahoma City, Denver, and Minnesota tonight. One more win by the Clippers clinched home court in the first round.

The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers to move to 44-35. They clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker over LA (45-35) and now control their own destiny for ninth seed. If they beat the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Jazz this week, they will finish ahead of the Lakers. With two Kings losses or three Pelicans or Suns losses this week, the Warriors can climb into eighth place with 3-0 finish.

Anthony Edwards on the Timberwolves' showdown with Denver tomorrow night, which will go a long way toward deciding the West's No. 1 seed.

"I think everyone know what is at stake, I don't even need to talk about how big it is. Everybody know."

Yes, Draymond Green hit five first-half 3-pointers against the Lakers.

The last time he made at least 5 threes in a game was in 2017. He went 5-for-6 in a blowout win against Chicago.

This was the 15th time in his career he's made at least five 3-pointers. His career-high is eight threes in a game, set in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

Usually, Green hitting three 3-pointers spells doom for the opponent. The Warriors entered Tuesday’s game 61-10 when Green makes 3 or more.

They lost earlier this year with Green making 4-of-8 from 3. That game, he made them all in the first half. The Warriors would later squander a big lead and lose in the final seconds. It snapped a 10-game Warriors win streak when Green makes at least three.

Here is an exchange I had with Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, who strained his right soleus muscle in his calf at the start of last season. Lillard's teammate, Giannis Antetokounmpo, left tonight's game with a left soleus strain.

When I googled soleus strains in the NBA, I saw that...

"I did it last year."

So, I was going to ask you, what did it feel like?

"That s--- hurt. It hurt. And it makes sense. Usually I'm able to walk things off, I feel like I have a high pain tolerance. When I did it, I started to walk, (but) it wasn't just that it was that painful, it was that the muscle just can't handle it. So, I think once it calmed down, you kind of figured out a way to limp around it, but it's a weird feeling. But hearing that, I know, I know that feeling. And also as somebody who experienced that — if that's what it is — that's also encouraging.

Is that something you were able to rehab pretty quickly? Or did you need to take some time off of it first?

When I did it, I strained my calf, and then I came back after like, I'd probably say, eight or nine days, I came back from the calf. And then I strained, I had the soleus injury like right after I came back. I think it was like a game or two after I came back, I did my soleus. And then after that, it was like two weeks. For me, it was like two weeks and then I came back and played.

The last time the Warriors, who beat the host Lakers on March 16, won back-to-back games at Crypto.com Arena was 2019. It was the final season of the Kevin Durant tenure in Golden State. But the Lakers didn't have LeBron James for either of those games. He was out after sustaining an injury on Christmas Day against the Warriors, and Anthony Davis was still a New Orleans Pelican.

Take out the LeBron-less wins, and the Warriors' last back-to-back road wins against the Lakers came in 2017 — that window between the Kobe Bryant and LeBron James eras. The Warriors followed a Nov. 29 overtime win at then-Staples Center with a Dec. 18 overtime win in Los Angeles.

That Lakers' squad? Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle, Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Clarkson, with 24-year-old Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and 29-year-old Brook Lopez as veterans.

One of the reasons for the Warriors' struggles: Steph Curry doesn't shoot it well, traditionally, in this arena. With Steve Kerr as his coach since the start of the championship era, Curry has played 18 road games against the Lakers, including last year's playoffs. He averaged 22.6 points on 41.2 percent shooting. He made just 52-of-177 from three-point range (29.4 percent).

Conversely, in Curry's 18 games in the same time frame, in the same building, but against the Clippers, he averaged 26.7 points on 49.5 percent shooting. He made 73-of-179 from deep (40.8 percent).

Curry's best games on the road against the Lakers came against Kobe. Curry has topped 30 just seven times in this building against the Lakers, three of them against the Kobe Lakers. Those three games are the only times Curry has made 5 threes or more. Curry's biggest hame ever against the Lakers in this building: April 12, 2013. He scored 47, making nine threes in a two-point loss. He almost made the greatest shot of his life that game, his buzzer-beating beating heave from about 80 feet banked off the glass before rimming out.

The Orlando Magic (46-33) may have squandered a golden opportunity to get the East's No. 2 seed after losing 118-106 to the eliminated Houston Rockets on the road. Orlando still might get there if it wins out, since two of those games are against the Bucks, who now may not have Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a calf injury. But the Rockets had nothing to play for, so this loss stings.

The Knicks (47-32) move up to the No. 3 seed temporarily after defeating the Chicago Bulls 128-117. But New York would lose tiebreakers to Orlando and Milwaukee.

Gut-punch loss for the Sacramento Kings (45-34) in Oklahoma City tonight to close a disheartening 1-3 road trip. They led by 20 in the first half, but went ice cold, scoring 23 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth, watching the Thunder slowly walk them down and eventually beat them 112-105. Earlier in the trip, they led by one in Boston, but lost on an Xavier Tillman floater.

Had those results flipped, the Kings would have the inside track for the sixth seed. Instead, they wobble home without the injured Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk trying to avoid falling into the 9 vs. 10 side of the Play-In Tournament. They have a huge home back-to-back on Thursday and Friday night against the Pelicans and Suns, the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings, so a climb up is still possible. But a tumble back is also possible, depending on how the Warriors-Lakers game finishes.

The Warriors can leap past the Kings if they go 4-0 this week and Sacramento loses two of its final three.

Timberwolves 130, Wizards 121

It wasn't always pretty, but the Wolves (55-24) got it done to set up a HUGE game tomorrow night in Denver. against the Nuggets

Anthony Edwards: 51 points, 7 assists in 38 minutes

Rudy Gobert: 19 points, 16 rebounds, 38 minutes

Nickiel Alexander-Walker: 23 points

Mike Conley: 15 points (all 5 3s in the second half)

Things are going about as well as the Pelicans could've hoped so far today as they continue to battle for the 6th seed. Sacramento lost to OKC. Phoenix is currently down 28-4 against the LA Clippers. And the Lakers, who are without Anthony Davis tonight, are down double digits against the Warriors. If the Pels handle business tonight against the Blazers and the Kings/Suns/Lakers all lose, NOLA would move up to the 6th seed and they'd be two games up on Sacramento going into Thursday's game against the Kings.

Well, the Heat survived, as they are wont to do at this time of year.

Miami needing double overtime to dispatch the Atlanta Hawks, 117-109, is not ideal. The Heat, who are trying to catch Philadelphia for seventh place and perhaps even the Pacers for sixth, have to fly back to Miami for another game Wednesday against the surging Dallas Mavericks.

The two silver linings: The Mavericks also played Tuesday, and the Heat could've lost Tuesday and didn't. But Miami will likely need to win all three of its remaining games and get some help to move out of eighth in the East.

The Sixers won their game Tuesday, beating Detroit, and the Pacers dumped the Raptors. So as things stand, Indiana (46-34) holds a 1-game lead over Philadelphia (45-35) for sixth, while Miami (44-35) is barely behind both.

The Heat have three games left, all at home, beginning Wednesday with Dallas followed by Friday and Sunday games against the Raptors. The Sixers are also at home the rest of the way, with a huge game Friday against Orlando and then a season finisher against Brooklyn. The Pacers have to go to Cleveland – Indiana trails the Cavs by just one half game for fifth in the East – and then hosts the Hawks Sunday.

Tyler Herro, just back from an extended absence because of injury, led Miami with 33 points against Atlanta. Joel Embiid was the Sixers' high man with 37 points against Detroit, and the Pacers' best was Tyrese Haliburton with 30 points against Toronto.

As the three jockey for position, it is likely two of them will face each other in the 7-8 Play-In game. The winner of that game could well face Milwaukee (if the Bucks hold onto the second seed), and we don't right now if Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a major injury Tuesday night.

If he did, that matchup picks up a lot more appeal. Remember, the Heat, fought their way through the Play-In last year and beat the Bucks as a 1 seed in the first-round of the playoffs. Miami, of course, fought all the way into the Finals.

The LA Clippers need a combination of two of their wins and Mavericks losses to clinch a top-4 seed, I.e., the Clippers' magic number for home-court advantage in conference quarterfinals is two.

They will not clinch that tonight, though, as the Mavericks decisively won in Charlotte prior to the Clippers' visit to Phoenix Tuesday night.

Credit to Khris Middleton and the Bucks for coming out strong to enter the fourth quarter after losing Giannis Antetokounmpo for the night. The Celtics had clawed back late in the third quarter to finally make this a competitive game and Milwaukee closed the door on that pretty quickly. The Bucks have shot well while the Celtics have been ice cold, but Middleton has just taken over at the right moments by targeting mismatches and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities.

With 3:40 remaining in the third quarter of Tuesday's game vs. the Celtics, Giannis Antetokounmpo crumpled to the floor while running up the court and immediately started to hold the lower portion of his left leg. After sitting on the floor for a short period, he was helped off the floor by teammates, but went straight back to the locker room under his own power.

The Bucks have announced that his injury is a left calf strain — specifically the soleus muscle — and he will not return to tonight's game. Here's more from Doc Rivers after the game.