News from April 13. The NBA suspended Jodie Meeks (Was) for 25 games for violating the NBA's anti-drug program for testing positive for a growth hormone. His suspension will start with Saturday's playoff game. Charlotte fired head coach Steve Clifford. The NBA held the tiebreakers (random drawing) for the 12 teams that finished with the same record to determine the draft order and lottery chances. Dallas (24-58) won the tiebreaker with Atlanta. Dallas will have 138 lottery chances and Atlanta will have 137 lottery chances. If both do not win the lottery (#1, #2, #3 draft picks), Dallas will draft before Atlanta (and the order will be reversed in the 2nd round). Chicago (27-55) won the tiebreaker with Sacramento. Both will have 53 lottery chances. If both do not win the lottery, Chicago will draft before Sacramento (and the order will be reversed in the 2nd round). Miami (47-35) won the tiebreaker with Milwaukee and, thus, Phoenix (who owns Miami's pick) will draft #16 and Milwaukee will draft #17. Oklahoma City (48-34) won the tiebreaker and then Utah won the tiebreaker and then New Orleans won the tiebreaker with Indiana. Thus Utah (which own's Oklahoma City's pick) will draft #20, Utah will draft #21, Chicago (which owns New Orleans' pick) will draft #22, and Indiana will draft #23. The lottery drawing will take placed May 15 and the draft is June 21. 2018 Draft Lottery Chances and Order Lottery Chances Team Chances (out of 1,000) Phoenix 250 Memphis 199 Dallas 138 Atlanta 137 Orlando 88 Chicago 53 Sacramento 53 Cleveland 28 [from Brooklyn via Boston] New York 17 LA Lakers 11 [a) to Boston or Philadelphia] Charlotte 8 Detroit 7 [may go to LA Clippers LA Clippers 6 Denver 5 a) to Boston via Philadelphia via Phoenix or to Philadelphia via Phoenix First Round Order 15 Washington 16 Phoenix [from Miami] 17 Milwaukee 18 San Antonio 19 Atlanta [from Minnesota] 20 Minnesota [from Oklahoma City via Utah] 21 Utah 22 Chicago [from New Orleans] 23 Indiana 24 Portland 25 LA Lakers [from Cleveland] 26 Philadelphia 27 Boston 28 Golden State 29 Brooklyn [from Toronto] 30 Atlanta [from Houston via LA Clippers] Second Round Order 31 Phoenix 32 Memphis 33 Atlanta/Dallas 34 Dallas/Atlanta 35 Orlando 36 Sacramento/New York [from Chicago via Oklahoma City] 37 New York [from Chicago via Oklahoma City]/Sacramento 38 Philadelphia [from Brooklyn] 39 Philadelphia [from New York] 40 Brooklyn [from LA Lakers via Toronto via Orlando] 41 Orlando [from Charlotte via Phoenix vi Memphis] 42 Detroit 43 Denver [from LA Clippers via New York via Philadelphia] 44 LA Lakers [from Denver via Chicago via Utah] 45 Washington 46 Brooklyn [from Milwaukee] 47 Houston [from Miami via Memphis] 48 Minnesota 49 San Antonio 50 Indiana 51 New Orleans 52 Utah 53 Oklahoma City 54 Dallas [from Portland via Denver] 55 Charlotte [from Cleveland via Brooklyn via Philadelphia] 56 Philadelphia 57 Oklahoma City [from Boston] 58 Denver [from Golden State] 59 Phoenix [from Toronto] 60 Philadelphia [from Houston] Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 Houston (0) ______ 8 Minnesota (0) |_ _____________ _____ _ _____________ | 4 Oklahoma City (0) _| |_ _____________ _ 5 Utah (0) _ _____________ | | | 2 Golden State (0) __ | | 7 San Antonio (0) |_ _____________ _____| | _ _____________ | 3 Portland (0) ___| | 6 New Orleans (0) |_ ___________ _ ___________ | 1 Toronto (0) ____ | 8 Washington (0) |_ _____________ ____ | _ _____________ | | 4 Cleveland (0) _____| | | 5 Indiana (0) |_ _____________ _| _ _____________ 2 Boston (0) _____ | 7 Milwaukee (0) |_ _____________ _____| _ _____________ 3 Philadelphia (0) __| 6 Miami (0) First Round (all time Central) *if necessary Saturday, April 14 Game 1: San Antonio at Golden State 2:00 pm ABC Game 1: Washington at Toronto 4:30 pm ESPN Game 1: Miami at Philadelphia 7:00 pm ESPN Game 1: New Orleans at Portland 9:30 pm ESPN Sunday, April 15 Game 1: Milwaukee at Boston 12:00 pm TNT Game 1: Indiana at Cleveland 2:30 pm ABC Game 1: Utah at Oklahoma City 5:30 pm TNT Game 1: Minnesota at Houston 8:00 pm TNT Monday, April 16 Game 2: Miami at Philadelphia 7:00 pm TNT Game 2: San Antonio at Golden State 9:30 pm TNT Tuesday, April 17 Game 2: Washington at Toronto 6:00 pm NBATV Game 2: Milwaukee at Boston 7:00 pm TNT Game 2: New Orleans at Portland 9:30 pm TNT Wednesday, April 18 Game 2: Indiana at Cleveland 6:00 pm TNT Game 2: Utah at Oklahoma City 7:00 pm NBATV Game 2: Minnesota at Houston 8:30 pm TNT Thursday, April 19 Game 3: Philadelphia at Miami 6:00 pm TNT Game 3: Portland at New Orleans 7:00 pm NBATV Game 3: Golden State at San Antonio 8:30 pm TNT Friday, April 20 Game 3: Cleveland at Indiana 6:00 pm ESPN Game 3: Toronto at Washington 7:00 pm ESPN2 Game 3: Boston at Milwaukee 8:30 pm ESPN Saturday, April 21 Game 4: Philadelphia at Miami 1:30 pm TNT Game 4: Portland at New Orleans 4:00 pm TNT Game 3: Houston at Minnesota 6:30 pm ESPN Game 3: Oklahoma City at Utah 9:00 pm ESPN Sunday, April 22 Game 4: Boston at Milwaukee 12:00 pm ABC Game 4: Golden State at San Antonio 2:30 pm ABC Game 4: Toronto at Washington 5:00 pm TNT Game 4: Cleveland at Indiana 7:30 pm TNT Monday, April 23 Game 4: Houston at Minnesota 7:00 pm TNT Game 4: Oklahoma City at Utah 9:30 pm TNT Tuesday, April 24 *Game 5: Milwaukee at Boston TBD *Game 5: Miami at Philadelphia TBD *Game 5: San Antonio at Golden State TBD *Game 5: New Orleans at Portland TBD Wednesday, April 25 *Game 5: Washington at Toronto TBD *Game 5: Indiana at Cleveland TBD *Game 5: Utah at Oklahoma City TBD *Game 5: Minnesota at Houston TBD Thursday, April 26 *Game 6: Philadelphia at Miami TBD *Game 6: Golden State at San Antonio TBD *Game 6: Boston at Milwaukee TBD *Game 6: Portland at New Orleans TBD Friday, April 27 *Game 6: Cleveland at Indiana TBD *Game 6: Toronto at Washington TBD *Game 6: Houston at Minnesota TBD *Game 6: Oklahoma City at Utah TBD Saturday, April 28 *Game 7: Miami at Philadelphia TBD *Game 7: Milwaukee at Boston TBD *Game 7: New Orleans at Portland TBD *Game 7: San Antonio at Golden State TBD Sunday, April 29 *Game 7: Indiana at Cleveland TBD *Game 7: Washington at Toronto TBD *Game 7: Minnesota at Houston TBD *Game 7: Utah at Oklahoma City TBD ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html