NBA return: Jayson Tatum turns Eastern Conference playoff calculator - The Athletic

Plus, who's hot (Spurs, Hawks) and not (Nuggets, Sixers) and a look at the battle for playoff seeds.

Every Monday, we'll tell you what's happening in the NBA On Friday, the return to the Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum was a tremendous success. Given what he brought, where do the Celtics go from here? With very tight rankings there could be several potential playoff seeding changes this week.

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The big story: Tatum changes the way East looks

Two games.Two wins.Two very encouraging steps for Tatum in his comeback from a torn right Achilles just 10 months ago.The Celtics have to be prepared for what they saw from Tatum in the 54 minutes he played Friday night and Sunday afternoon.He had a lot of rust in those two games (duh), but we also saw glimpses of what made him first-team All-NBA.dealing with what went well and what didn't.He managed to find his groove in different places.It will continue to be so.He'll just have to figure out how to make those grooves more consistent.

The real question is what this means for the Celtics and their pursuit of the Eastern Conference crown.Their breakout year quickly changed course to compete for their third NBA Finals appearance since 2022. Expectations adjusted as prices rose.Nikola Vučević will be out for the next 3 to 4 weeks after finger surgery, but Neemias Queta can more than hold his own.The fort - especially with Tatum back in the mix.

The Celtics have already played great basketball, so the addition of Tatum is more of a luxury than a necessity.It's unreasonable to expect Tatum to return to form quickly, but I'm not sure what we've seen is reasonable either.There have been many players who have returned to the field between seven and 18 months after tearing their Achilles.

The Detroit Pistons are shaky.The New York Knicks are very good, but they also seem unfocused at times.The Cleveland Cavaliers are not on par with the top three teams in the East.Along with the Indiana Pacers falling due to Tyreese Halliburton's Achilles injury, Tatum's injury was thought to be the main reason the conference was so wide open.It gives hope to Cleveland, the Orlando Magic, Detroit and New York.Instead, Boston looks to be interesting again.And after Tatum appeared in court.

What if Tatum started showing up more often?

NBA stock report expanded

📈 Atlanta Hawks (33-31).The Hawks are the hottest team in basketball!They have won six games in a row, and after beating the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, they moved to within two games of the No. 6 seed in the East.They still need to beat three teams to get into the top six (Sixers, Miami Heat, and Magic), but they are headed in the right direction.Atlanta is a better defensive team since Trae Young moved (shocking, I know), and the defensive end is the main reason they beat the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards (twice), Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks and the Phillies.It's not a real killer, but the Hawks often don't maintain that focus.

This group feels different.Jonathan Kuminga was incredible through three games before dealing with left knee inflammation, but Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have backed him up the most.Johnson doesn't dominate the game the way he once did, but he's still second on the team in assists per game (5.6).Atlanta has five players at least 3.8 assists per game in that winning streak, and Dyson Daniels has 6.7.leading to the match.Alexander-Walker was the most consistent scorer, posting 19.2 points on 50/42.1/100 shooting.The Hawks are shooting 49.5 percent and assisting 70 percent.This is Quin Snyder nirvana.

📉 Clips (45-18).JB Bickerstaff talked about how his Pistons lost respect for the game of basketball after losing three straight.Then on Sunday, they torched the Heat in Miami for their fourth straight loss.What about Detroit?The losses in Cleveland and San Antonio are salvageable.Even without Cade Cunningham who played against Brooklyn, the Nets are at home.There's nothing you can do to justify blowing a 23-point lead in the second half.

In his last three games, Cunningham needed 60 shots to score 62 points on 38.2 percent shooting.Everyone else shoots well for the most part, but we don't see any production without Cunningham.Shockingly, the defense was atrocious.The Pistons have given up nearly 120 points per 100 possessions in this series, which is unrelated to their season average of 108.9.for protection classification.You're a little lost, but you have plenty of opportunities to recover.

📈 Heat (36-29).Five straight wins for the Heat - and only two of those games were against tanking teams.They beat the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn (twice), Charlotte Hornets and now Detroit.During this streak, the Heat have been great on both ends of the floor, but the offense is really cooking.Tyler Herro has been the focus, averaging 24.6 points per 55.7 / 51.5 / 94.7 goal difference in the last five games.

Jaime Jack Jr. is not far behind.He scored 18.4 points on 50.8 / 53.8 / 82.6 shooting, and the two got 10 straight assists.Kyle Weir is averaging 12.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.6 steals over his last five games.

📉 Denver Nuggets (39-25).oopsThe Nuggets are headed in the wrong direction.Good news: Aaron Gordon is back from injury.The bad news: Denver lost that game by 39 points. The Nuggets are 6-9 in their last 15 and an absolute disaster without Nikola Jokic on the floor.They're "down" to plus-6.3 per 100 possessions with him on the court and minus-14.8 per 100 possessions with him on the bench.During those 15 games, the numbers show they're barely an NBA team when he's not on the floor.he

The schedule has been tough for them, with eight of their nine losses coming against playoff teams, the other coming against the Steph Curry-less Golden State Warriors.Their offense has been good enough at times, but their defense is terrible.They need to get Gordon and Peyton Watson back to full strength, and it's hard to guarantee they can return to full health with their hamstring injuries.out of the top six in the West.

📈 LA Clippers (31-32).The Clippers have won four of their last five games.Not bad for a team that started 6-21.This last stretch has been mostly against below-average teams, but LA needs to continue to take advantage of it.That's one game behind the eighth-place Warriors in the West, giving them an extra chance to make the playoffs if things don't go their way in the first Play-In game.With the Clippers still navigating a right knee injury, Curry has a chance to win.

LA hasn't shot the ball well (34.5 percent) over those five games, but has made nearly half of its field goals overall (49.9 percent).Kawhi Leonard continued his incredible 26.6 points, shooting 52.9 percent in 29.9 minutes per game over those five games.Darius Garland has 24.3 over his last three games.is on pace for 15.0 points and 5.3 assists per minute.The Clippers have five of their next eight games against the Tankers.They should be over .500 during this stretch.

📉 76ers (34-29).The Sixers entered the Play-In tournament last weekend and lost for the sixth time in their last 10 games.Things aren't quite spiraling for them, but they may be heading that way.They are already dealing with injuries to Joel Embiid and V.J.Edgecombe will agree to Paul George's suspension.In a loss to Atlanta over the weekend, Tyrese Maxey suffered a sprained finger that will keep him out for at least a few games.It could be worse, but Philly doesn't have much room for error.They need to figure out how to get back on track with so few games left or risk dropping to last place in the Play-In tournament.

The good news for the Sixers is that the strength of their roster is manageable. Unless Embiid or Edgecombe can get back on track soon, Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. might try to hold this together.George has nine games left on his suspension for violating the NBA's drug policy, meaning he will be back in time for their games against the Charlotte Hornets and Miami later this month.

📈 San Antonio Spurs (47-17).They've now won 15 of their last 16, and they're doing it in dominant fashion.Seven of them have faced the top six teams of both conferences.Only four of them have faced refueling teams.The Spurs are playing so well that it seems like a fluke to lose on March 1st in New York.Victor Wembanama is in surgery and the team is his manager.After.

Next week: All the cross country races are underway

There is about a month left in the season, and the game for the playoff positions in the East and West will take place every evening.Some teams will fight to keep the ground or move up.

Plant 2 to 4 eastern seeds:

- Boston (43-21): i Spurs, Thunder, vs Wizards.

- New York (41-24): at the Clippers, at the Jazz, at the Pacers, against the Warriors.

- Cleveland (39-25): home of the Sixers, at the Magic, at the Mavericks, against the Mavericks.

Boston has the toughest schedule of the three teams.But that's a 2 1/2 game cushion over New York.and a four-game cushion over Cleveland to play.The Celtics have a tanking team at the end of the week.So that should help relieve some of the pressure. Even though the Knicks and Sixers have easy schedules, accept Philly without Embiid, Maxey and George, Orlando will be a tough game.But Cleveland followed that up with a home game against Dallas.Boston could see its lead over New York extend to one point.

Seed 5 to 10 East:

Toronto (36-27): Rockets, x Pelicans, lan Suns, lan Pistons.

- Orlando (35-28): against Cavs, against Wizards, Heat.

- Miami (36-29): versus Wizards, vs Bucks, versus Magic.

- Philadelphia (34-29): vs. Cavs, Grizzlies, Pistons, Nets, Blazers.

- Atlanta (33-31): Mavs, Nets, Bucks.

- Charlotte (32-33): Blazersben, Kingsben, Spursben.

The Magic have moved up to sixth in the East, and if they hold on to that, they'll avoid a playoff spot entirely.They are five games back of Toronto, and the Raptors have a tough schedule.However, the Magic don't have an easy stretch either, and their matchup with the Heat later in the week could turn both teams upside down.Philadelphia has a tough five-game schedule this week, and we don't know which Sixers players will be available.Going to 9-10 matches will not surprise anyone.Atlanta will have a chance to continue their winning streak with an easy schedule, and the Hornets will hope to keep the momentum going.

How about Milwaukee (27-36)?The Bucks have the Suns at home, play the Heat and Hawks and host the Pacers this week.They are currently four games back of the Hornets with just 19 games remaining.They are easy to program the rest of the way, but not the best.

Western Planting 1-2:

- Oklahoma City (50-15).vs. Nuggets, Celtics vs. Wolves.

- San Antonio (47-17): vs. Celtics, vs. Nuggets, vs. Hornets.

The Spurs are 2 1/2 games behind the Thunder, but both teams have equally tough schedules this week.They each face Denver and Boston.Then the Thunder get Minnesota at home and the Spurs entertain Charlotte.I wouldn't expect too much movement here, but it depends if the Thunder decide to rest some guys.

3-7 Western Conference seeds:

- Minnesota (40-24): At the Lakers, at the Clippers, at the Warriors, at the Thunder.

- Houston (39-24): vs. Raptors, Nuggets, vs. Pelicans.

- Lakers (39-25): Wolves vs, Bulls vs, Nuggets vs.

- Denver (39-25): at Thunder, against Rockets, at Spurs, at Lakers.

- Phoenix (37-27): ma Bucks, ma Pacers, ma Raptors.

The Wolves are third in the West ahead of a difficult west coast journey.And remember, Orlando just demolished it at home.Houston has been iffy over the last week and a half, but the Rockets have a schedule where it's not impossible for them to go 3-0.The Lakers play three games at home (one against the attacking team) before going on a six-game road trip - these games will be huge.As mentioned above, Denver desperately needs a good stretch.My schedule is that the Nuggets will make the play-in.Phoenix should benefit from Denver's schedule and a weak week ahead.

Rear slot 8 to 10:

- Golden State (32-31): Jazz, vs Bulls, vs Wolves, f'Knicks.

- Clippers (31-32): vs. Knicks, vs. Wolves, vs. Bulls, vs. Kings.

- Portland (31-34): Hornets vs. Jazz in Alts.

It's hard to project this lineup because we expect to see Curry back in the Warriors lineup at some point.The Clippers have basically the opposite of the Warriors: two tough games to start and then two teams struggling to move up in the standings.Portland will be very busy with Charlotte ahead of two very winnable games.The Trail Blazers are in danger of falling too far behind the Clippers to have a chance to move up from the 10th spot.