Only 2 games were on the schedule last night but all in all the Suns ended up OK. A Denver win and a Dallas loss combined to further muddy the murky Western waters as the 2 and 5 spots are within 1 game of each other. I've removed the Grizzlies from the update - they're dead.
Thursday April 1st Western Conference Results:
Orlando Magic 97 Dallas Mavericks 82 (Recap) - Although this one was in Dallas, the Mavs were coming off an overtime win over the Grizzlies the night before while the Magic hadn't played since Sunday. Throw those two things together and you have yourself a big Orlando win. Dwight Howard posted 17 points and 20 rebounds to lead the charge for the Magicians. The Mavs are just 5-5 in their last 10 games and have Oklahoma City coming to town on Saturday.
Denver Nuggets 109 Portland Trail Blazers 92 (Recap) - Yet another case of a team coming off a game last night against a team that had a few days off - same result. Portland trailed by just one at halftime, but a big third quarter opened up a deficit that the tired Portland legs just couldn't recover from. Carmelo Anthony had 25 (including 13 in the final quarter) to lead Denver back to the winning track. The Nuggets had lost 4 of their last 5 coming into the game.
Western Conference Standings:
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | L10 | STREAK |
| 1. LA Lakers |
54 | 21 | .720 | - | 7-3 | LOST 2 |
| 2. Utah | 50 | 26 | .658 | 4.5 |
8-2 | WON 3 |
| 3. Dallas |
50 | 26 | .658 | 4.5 | 5-5 | LOST 1 |
| 4. SUNS | 49 | 26 | .653 | 5 | 9-1 | WON 9 |
| 5. Denver | 49 | 27 | .645 | 5.5 | 4-6 | WON 1 |
| 6. Oklahoma City |
46 | 28 | .622 | 7.5 | 6-4 | WON 2 |
| 7. San Antonio |
45 | 29 | .608 | 8.5 | 6-4 | WON 1 |
| 8. Portland |
46 | 30 | .605 | 8.5 |
8-2 | LOST 1 |
Friday April 2nd Western Conference Games of Significance:
Suns @ Pistons - We'll have the game preview up shortly but this is a classic case of one team going up while the other goes down. Detroit has lost 9 in a row and the Suns have won 9 in a row. Let's make it 10 for each! With Milwaukee waiting tomorrow this is one I think we need.
Magic @ Spurs - Orlando is clearly a better team than the Spurs...but San Antonio is relatively hot of late and the Magic played Dallas last night. Would it be too much to ask for Superman to eek one out? It might be.
Jazz @ Lakers - The last time I expected a bit of help from the Lakers they dropped a stink bomb against the Thunder. With that in the back of my mind I'll just assume they won't show up against Utah. They always manage to disappoint me.