The balance of power atop the Western Conference may be shifting, and it may be because of an injury to one of the game’s all-time greats.
The Los Angeles Lakers had been thriving since trading for Luka Dončić, climbing all the way to the No. 2 seed in the West. But, after LeBron James suffered a left groin strain Saturday against the Boston Celtics, the Lakers are now facing a stretch where they may be down three starters.
Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks, with an offense that has struggled recently, are in a little slide and may be ceding ground to a rival in the Central Division.
Here are the winners and losers from Week 20 of the 2024-25 NBA regular season:
WINNERS
Celtics charging closer to two-seed in East
Although Boston (47-19) lost Wednesday night, snapping a five-game winning streak, it came against the Thunder, one of the truly elite teams in the NBA. And while the Celtics continue to rely on the 3-point shot — against Oklahoma City, 22 of the team’s 24 first-quarter field goals came from beyond the arc and Boston finished with a franchise-record 63 attempted 3s — they have been without Kristaps Porziņģis (illness) for the entire month of March. The Celtics feel like a team waiting to turn it on. And in a top-heavy Eastern Conference, they very well may cruise in the playoffs until a potential showdown against the Cavaliers (55-10).
After uneven stretches, Timberwolves get much-needed string of wins
With their sixth consecutive victory Wednesday night — and a significant one at that, against the Nuggets — the Minnesota Timberwolves are entering the final stretch of the season with some positive momentum. Granted, the streak, their longest of the season, has come mostly against teams Minnesota should’ve defeated. But the Timberwolves (38-29) have had four different leading scorers during this stretch. Although Julius Randle missed a couple weeks with a right adductor strain, Minnesota has won the last 11 games in which he’s played, an indication that his assimilation into the team’s offense following the offseason trade is complete. Most importantly, the team’s defense has picked up its intensity and has clogged the paint, eliminating chances for easy baskets. The Timberwolves held the Nuggets, who lead the NBA in assists (31) and points in the paint per game (58.8), to only 20 and 52, respectively.
Warriors just keep winning with Jimmy Butler
The Golden State Warriors (37-28) are 12-1 in the games in which Jimmy Butler has played. And while the schedule hasn’t been onerous, a 12-point victory over the Knicks last week showed Golden State can compete with some of the better teams in the NBA. Butler has demonstrated a willingness to take on the unglamorous parts of team basketball: rotating in help defense, deferring to teammates. Over the last 14 games, the Warriors rank fourth in the NBA in defensive rating, yielding 108.9 points per 100 possessions. Their net rating over that span is 11.7, second only to the Cavaliers (14.3).
LOSERS
Just when they were rolling, Lakers’ surge derailed by LeBron injury
The good news is that James’ left groin strain, at least going off of the initial diagnosis, is mild. But Monday night’s loss against a Nets team that entered the night on a seven-game losing streak showed how much of a grind it may be for Luka Dončić and the banged-up Lakers (40-23). Brooklyn blitzed Dončić with physicality and double teams and the offense could never settle into its actions. The upcoming schedule is daunting, and — as L.A. is battling with the Nuggets for the two-seed in the West — having two games against Denver over the next week, games James may miss, is terrible timing.
Bucks blow key game late, set to enter brutal stretch
Milwaukee erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, turning it into a three-point lead with 3.2 seconds left to play. The Pacers — the team on which the Bucks had held a one-game advantage in the East — drew up a last-second, football-style desperation play. Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton drained a desperate 3 and Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled him. Haliburton converted the four-point play, the Bucks lost their third in a row and are now tied with the Pacers at 36-28.
The Bucks are now entering a stretch in which they’ll play four games in six nights, with a back-to-back against the Pacers and Thunder wedged between games against the Lakers and Warriors. Over the last three games, Milwaukee is scoring 110.2 points per 100 possessions, 23rd in the NBA.
Mired in mediocrity, Heat can’t stop blowing leads
Miami isn’t competitive enough to compete for an automatic playoff berth and is too far ahead of the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference to tank — even though that’s not in the organization’s nature, anyway. The Heat (29-36) are firmly stuck in play-in purgatory. They have lost 12 of 17 since Feb. 5, the day they traded away Butler. They have lost five consecutive games. They cannot figure out how to hold on to leads; since Jan. 1, Miami has been outscored by 118 in the fourth quarter. The Heat have lost 15 games in which they led in the final frame — many of those by double digits.
