NBA predictions: This week’s biggest NBA games

While the Boston Celtics are running away with the Eastern Conference in the NBA, there is a dead heat at the top of the Western Conference.

The Celtics have a 62-16 record, giving them a 15-game lead on the Milwaukee Bucks, who hold second spot in the conference.

In the West, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets have identical 54-24 records, tied for top spot, one game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder, at 53-25.

The Nuggets have a favorable remaining schedule, with three opponents that are well out of playoff contention – the Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs, and Memphis Grizzlies. The one exception is Wednesday night, when the defending champs will host the Timberwolves.

The Nuggets are priced at +302* to win the championship, the second-shortest odds on the board.

In addition to the head-to-head matchup with Denver, Minnesota have home games remaining against Washington, Atlanta and Phoenix.

The Timberwolves, at +2299*, have the seventh shortest odds to win the NBA title.

It will be a close battle to the finish in the West, in stark contrast to Boston’s runaway lead at the top the East.

Here are some more NBA trends to keep an eye on this week.

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EMBIID'S RETURN CHANGES COURSE FOR 76ERS

When Joel Embiid was injured in late January, the Philadelphia 76ers went through a spell of mediocrity. Starting with the January 27 game at Denver, a matchup against Nikola Jokic that Embiid missed with a knee injury, the Sixers went 11-21 before Embiid returned on April 2.

With five straight wins, Philadelphia are looking much more dangerous heading into the postseason, though Sunday’s win over San Antonio came with Embiid resting.

In his first three games back in the lineup, Embiid has averaged 27.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game. If he is legitimately healthy, the Sixers might be worth considering as a NBA title contender. They are priced at +2636*. 

The 76ers are at home for the last three games of the regular season, facing Detroit on Tuesday, Orlando on Friday and Brooklyn on Sunday. 

BUCKS STRUGGLING

When the Bucks replaced head coach Adrian Griffin with Doc Rivers, the early returns weren’t great. They went 2-6 in Rivers’ first eight games but followed that up by going 13-6 in the next 19 games and looked to be on the right track.

That has changed, however, as the Bucks have earned just one win in the past seven games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo missed their loss at Toronto on Friday and Damian Lillard missed three of those seven games, but this Bucks slump does not appear to be easily written off as injury related.

While the Bucks are slumping, they still have the second-shortest championship odds in the Eastern Conference, priced at +898* on Pinnacle.

They still have a tough schedule remaining, too, with Boston visiting on Tuesday and Orlando on Wednesday, before the Bucks visit Oklahoma City on Friday and Orlando on Sunday.

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ROCKETS GROUNDED

Just when it looked like the Houston Rockets might be mounting a charge against the Golden State Warriors for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, the Rockets ran into a tough spot in the schedule, leading to five straight losses.

They faced Dallas twice, as well as Minnesota, Golden State and Miami, so it should not be a huge surprise that the Rockets crashed to earth.

It was still a strong season for Houston overall, relative to expectations. Their over/under for wins at the start of the season was 31.5 and have a 38-40 record with four games left on the schedule.

The Rockets host Orlando on Tuesday before hitting the road, where they will play Utah on Thursday, Portland on Friday and the Clippers on Sunday.

JAZZ TAKE OVER AS LEAGUE'S COLDEST TEAM

Now that the Toronto Raptors have won back-to-back games, snapping a 15-game losing streak, the Utah Jazz have the league’s longest losing streak. Sunday’s loss at Golden State marked the 12th straight defeat for the Jazz.

In those 12 losses, the Jazz have been outscored by an average of 14.75 points per game. 

The Jazz don’t have an easy finish to the season, hosting Denver on Tuesday and Houston on Thursday before visiting the Clippers on Friday and Golden State on Sunday.

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