Phrase of the day: Playoff implications.

Actually, it will probably be for the next six weeks as every night from here until the end of the regular season on April 14 will have games affecting the playoff picture.

The Starting 5 is here to help keep you up to speed on all the latest moves.

Let’s get started…

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 4️⃣ Welcome to the 4th quarter
2. 🔝 Wolves back on top of West
3. 🔥 Bulls rally from 22 down
4. 📺 BOS/CLE: Top 2 of 2024
5. 📺 PHX/DEN: Suns without Book

TNT doubleheader: Win streaks are on the line Tuesday on TNT, beginning with the Celtics going for their 12th straight win when they visit the Cavs (7:30 ET, more in Section 4). That’s followed by the defending champs going for their longest win streak of the season, looking for their seventh straight when they host the Suns (10 ET, more in Section 5).

LeBron must like the first week of March: In addition to becoming the first player to reach 40,000 points (March 2, 2024) and scoring his career-high 61 points (March 3, 2014), LeBron posted 50+ point games on March 5, 2008 (with the Cavs) and March 5, 2022 (with the Lakers) 14 years apart.

1. WELCOME TO THE 4TH QUARTER

The fourth quarter of the regular season officially starts with tonight’s games.

Time is running out for teams to secure their postseason future.

With every new day, the stakes go up.

Take a look at the standings. It looks like rush hour on the 405 right now with so many teams packed together.

• The top three teams in the West are separated by half a game
• The Nos. 4-7 teams in the East are separated by just one loss
• The Nos. 4-8 teams in the West are separated by two games, with two teams on each side of the Play-In line

Each day from here until the end of the regular season, the Starting 5 will get you caught up on all the movement in the standings: who’s up, who’s down, who’s in and who’s on the outside.

So far, Boston is the only team that has clinched a postseason berth, as they can finish no worse than the SoFi Play-In Tournament. But more will come day by day and week by week.

A quick refresher on the races in play in each conference:

• Top 4: Home-court advantage in the opening round of the Playoffs
• Top 6: A guaranteed playoff berth
• Nos. 7-8: The top two teams in the SoFi Play-In Tournament field have to win one game in order to clinch a playoff berth. They play each other in the first game, with the winner securing the No. 7 seed and the loser facing the winner of the Nos. 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed
• Nos. 9-10: The bottom two teams in the SoFi Play-In Tournament field have to win two games in order to clinch a playoff berth. They play each other in the first game, with the loser eliminated and the winner advancing to face the loser of the Nos. 7-8 game for the No. 8 seed
• Nos. 11-15: The bottom five teams in each conference miss the postseason and head to the Draft Lottery

2. WOLVES BACK ON TOP OF THE WEST

Three of the top four teams in the West were in action on Monday, resulting in another shake up in the standings. Here’s how it went down.

Lakers top Thunder: The Lakers got a combined 50 points from D’Angelo Russell (26 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 5 3s) and Anthony Davis (24 pts, 12 reb, 3 blk) to knock off the Thunder 116-104.

LeBron James (19 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast) finished two dimes shy of a triple-double, while L.A. held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 20 points – ending his streak of eight straight 30+ point games. Recap

• D’Lo, Kobe and Magic: That’s the list of Lakers to have at least 25 pts, 5 reb, 5 3s and 4 stl in a game
• Playoff implications (OKC ⬇️): The loss drops the Thunder to second in the West, a half-game back of Minnesota. OKC and Denver are tied at 42-19, with the Thunder owning the head-to-head tiebreaker (3-1 season series)
• Playoff implications (LAL ⬆️): The Lakers jump the Warriors for ninth in the West and move within a game of Dallas for eighth

Wolves end two-game slide: Minnesota avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season with a 119-114 win over Portland behind Rudy Gobert’s big night (25 pts, 16 reb, 3 blk) and Mike Conley’s 19 points and seven dimes. Anfernee Simons led all players with 34 points and 14 assists but it wasn’t enough to give Portland its first three-game win streak since November. Recap

• Playoff implications (MIN ⬆️): The Wolves leapfrog the Thunder back to the No. 1 spot in the West with their win combined with OKC’s loss

Bucks win 6th straight: Milwaukee used a 23-10 fourth-quarter run to complete a 15-point comeback to defeat the Clippers 113-106 despite being without Giannis Antetokounmpo (Achilles tendinitis). Damian Lillard (41 pts) posted his third 40+ point game of the season, while Bobby Portis added 28 points, 16 boards and one shimmy after cutting the lead to 3 with the home crowd chanting his name.

Paul George and James Harden scored 29 apiece for the Clippers, who drop to 3-4 since All-Star, while the Bucks remain unbeaten. Recap

• Playoff implications (MIL and LAC ↔️): The Bucks hold No. 2 in the East, with a one-game lead over Cleveland. The Clippers hold No. 4 in the West, but fall two losses back of the Wolves and Nuggets

3. ROUNDUP: BULLS RALLY FROM 22 DOWN TO STUN KINGS

White, DeRozan shine in comeback: Trailing by 22 with 3:28 left in the third quarter, the Bulls outscored the Kings 46-20 the rest of the way – including a 22-7 run in the fourth – to emerge with a 113-109 comeback win. Coby White had a career-high 37 points, while DeMar DeRozan scored 19 of his 33 in the fourth quarter – outscoring the Kings by himself (19-18). Recap

• Playoff implications (SAC ⬇️, CHI ↔️): The loss drops the Kings from sixth to seventh in the West, while Chicago remains firmly in the ninth spot in the East

Jazz rally past Wizards: Trailing by five with 7:44 to play, the Jazz ended the game on a 22-5 run to defeat the Wizards 127-115. Jordan Clarkson (38 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast, 4 3s) had his team-record 13th 30+ point game off the bench, while Collin Sexton (29 pts, 7 ast) was part of the play of the game, throwing down an alley-oop pass off the glass from Keyonte George on the break. Recap

Grizzlies end skid: In a game where neither team led by double digits, the Grizzlies defeated the Nets 106-102 to snap a five-game losing streak. Luke Kennard hit six 3s and finished with 25 points to lead Memphis, while Nic Claxton led the Nets with 21. Recap

4. TOP TWO TEAMS OF 2024 CLASH IN CLEVELAND

No. 1 vs. No. 2: Tonight’s Celtics-Cavs game (7:30 ET, TNT) is not only a matchup of two of the top three teams in the East, the Celtics (22-6) and Cavaliers (21-7) have been the top two teams in the entire NBA since the calendar flipped to 2024.

• Offense: Boston owns the top offensive rating of 2024 at 122.8 points per 100 possessions, while Cleveland ranks sixth at 118.4
• Shooting: The teams have matching 49.1% field goal percentages, although Boston has been better from the 3-point line and free throw line for a league-leading 61.8 true shooting percentage
• Cavs balance: Cleveland has seven players averaging at least 10 points while playing at least 10 games in 2024
• Mitchell out: That balance will be needed as leading-scorer Donovan Mitchell will be out following knee treatment. The Cavs are 7-6 so far this season with Mitchell out of the lineup
• Star power: Boston, on the other hand, is one of two teams with three 20+ point scorers in 2024 with the trio of Jayson Tatum (27.2), Jaylen Brown (21.8) and Kristaps Porzingis (20.6) combining for nearly 70 points a game
• Defense: Cleveland owns the best defensive rating of 2024 at 108.0 (tied with Wolves), with Boston right behind them in third at 109.9

Boston seeks season-series sweep: The Celtics bring an 11-game win streak into this matchup as they look to sweep the three-game season series with the Cavs after winning the first in Boston back in December during their 20-0 start at home.

Postseason implications: Boston holds a commanding eight-game lead over the East as they look to secure the No. 1 seed. No. 3 Cleveland is locked in a battle with Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed as the two are separated by just one game.

5. SUNS FACE SURGING NUGGETS WITHOUT BOOKER

Familiar challenge: When the Suns visit the Nuggets tonight (10 ET, TNT), they’ll be without Devin Booker, who is expected to miss 7-10 days after spraining his ankle on Saturday. The Suns have played only 23 of their 61 games with all three members of their Big 3 – Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal – sharing the court due to various injuries.

Filling the void: So far this season, the Suns are 31-19 with Booker in the lineup and just 4-7 when he’s out, including Sunday’s 118-110 loss to OKC. Booker ranks second on the team in scoring (27.5 ppg, just 0.3 behind KD) and first in assists (6.8 apg).

Both Beal (+5.2 ppg, +0.4 apg) and Durant (+3.4 ppg, +0.2 apg) have raised their scoring and playmaking in Booker’s absence.

• Beal without Booker: 22.6 pts, 4.4 reb, 4.8 ast on 48.1 FG%, 48.3 3P% in 5 games
• Beal with Booker: 17.4 pts, 4.1 reb, 4.4 ast on 50.7 FG%, 34.8 3P%
• Durant without Booker: 30.5 pts, 6.4 reb, 5.7 ast on 48.9 FG%, 39.5 3P% in 11 games
• Durant with Booker: 27.1 pts, 6.7 reb, 5.5 ast on 53.9 FG%, 42.6 3P%

Critical time: The Suns are in the middle of a tight race hovering around the No. 6 seed – the line of demarcation from a guaranteed playoff spot (top six) and being in the play-in (7-10).

Sunday’s loss dropped Phoenix to the No. 7 spot before Sacramento’s Monday loss moved them back to No. 6. The Suns and Kings are tied with 26 losses, one behind No. 5 New Orleans, and just one ahead of No. 8 Dallas. The Warriors (two losses back) and Lakers (three losses back) are also within striking distance.

Tough road ahead: The schedule gives the Suns no breaks as the next 10 days include games:

• at Denver (Tonight, 10 ET, TNT)
• vs. Toronto (Thursday, 9 ET, NBA App)
• vs. Boston (Saturday, 8:30 ET, ABC)
• at Cleveland (Monday, Mar. 11, 7:30 ET, NBA App)
• at Boston (Thursday, Mar. 14, 7:30 ET, TNT)

They’ll face top four teams in their respective conferences, including two games against the league’s top team (Boston, 48-12). And it starts tonight in the Mile High City.