The NBA's night of chaos

Orlando is tumbling from the Race for No. 2 to the Race for No. 6 (joining Cleveland on the way down). Giannis is hurt. The Suns are mystifying. The West No. 1 race is hotter than ever. Holy smokes.

What a truly bizarre night in the NBA.

The Blind Musician; Alvar Cawén; 1922

Let’s basketball.

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Race for East No. 2

The Celtics rested Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford for their game against the Bucks on Tuesday. That led to Xavier Tillman starting and Luke Kornet being the primary big off the bench. The C’s didn’t seem terribly interested in winning. Boston may have low-key wanted Milwaukee to win to keep them out of the 4-5 bracket, which could have led to a second round battle, and seems to want to avoid tipping their hand about any tactical wrinkles being prepared for the playoffs.

In any case, the Celtics drew zero free throws for the entire game (a new record, and unbeatable at that!), the Bucks drew only two and … Giannis Antetokounmpo left with a calf injury in the third quarter. It’s not a season-ending injury, it appears, but it doesn’t sound like he could run a 5K right now. The Bucks won regardless, and have a game of breathing room for No. 2.

The Knicks, chasing Milwaukee, won, too. That game featured Jalen Brunson going for 45 …

… but more importantly, it featured one of the most hilarious plays in NBA history.

That’s Torrey Craig trying to lob it to himself off the backboard in transition, but missing because a trailing Andre Drummond thought the pass was for him. Drummond was injured back in transition going the other direction, not on the goof itself.

The baseline angle is worth watching, too. Pause immediately after seeing Coby White’s incredible reaction if you don’t want to see Drummond’s ankle turn.

Torrey Craig’s face there is now the stuff of legends.

Anyways, the Knicks won and sit one game behind Milwaukee in the standings. But the Bucks have the head-to-head tiebreaker, so New York needs to make up two games.

Orlando might have just VanVleeted themselves right out of any hopes for No. 2 … and might be slipping into the race for No. 6. Fred VanVleet had 37. The Rockets are still playing hard. They enjoy ruining the experiences of fans of opposing teams, and of the opposing teams.

Orlando is now two games back with an unresolved tiebreaker and two games against Milwaukee remaining. Their other game sandwiched in there: at Philadelphia. Gulp.

Playoff Status now gives the Magic better odds of ending up in the play-in than in the Nos. 2 or 3 slots.