NBA Playoff Chase: Indiana Pacers get a big win

Now that there are just three days left in the NBA regular season, all but one playoff spot has been settled (The Memphis Grizzlies and the Phoenix Suns, who will meet Monday night, are battling for that final spot).

The Grizzlies own the tie-breaker over the Suns from their head-to-head matchups (the Grizzlies have won all three games between the two), so the Suns must defeat the Grizzlies Monday and the Sacramento Kings Wednesday and hope the Dallas Mavericks can defeat the Grizzlies Wednesday to get into the postseason.

On Sunday night, 14 of the league’s 30 teams were in action.

In the biggest game of the night, the reeling Indiana Pacers seemingly put things together and defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 102-97.

The Thunder still have a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Clippers for the second seed in the Western Conference so the loss really didn’t hurt them.

For the Pacers, it was a huge victory. The Miami Heat were defeated by the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night so the Pacers currently have a half-game lead (in the win column) over the Heat for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Golden State Warriors 119-117 in overtime, leaving them just a half-game (in the loss column) behind the Houston Rockets for the fourth seed. The Warriors are now just a half-game (in the loss column) ahead of the Mavericks for the sixth seed.

If the postseason started today, these would be the current matchups.

Indiana Pacers(1) vs. Atlanta Hawks(8)
Chicago Bulls (4) vs. Brooklyn Nets (5)
Toronto Raptors (3) vs. Washington Wizards (6)
Miami Heat (2) vs. Charlotte Bobcats (7)

San Antonio Spurs (1) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8)
Houston Rockets (4) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (5)
Los Angeles Clippers (3) vs. Golden State Warriors (6)
Oklahoma City Thunder (2) vs. Dallas Mavericks (7)