Starting Lineup, Feb. 19: Key Storylines to Watch as the Stretch Run Begins in L.A.

Don’t look now, but the 2nd half of the season starts tonight in L.A.

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION

Feb. 19, 2025

What’s Trending? The Stretch Run Is Here: A 53-day sprint to the finish line begins tonight

What’s Trending? West Races: Battles for home-court, top six & Play-In will be tightly contested

What’s Trending? East Races: Can anyone else break into Top 3? The races for 4th & the final Play-In spot

Wednesday on League Pass: The season resumes with the Lakers hosting the Hornets

Photos of the 1st Half: Some of our favorite frames from Opening Night to the All-Star break

1. WHAT’S TRENDING? THE STRETCH RUN BEGINS…

53 days.

That is all that remains of the 2024-25 regular season – a little more than a month and a half for teams to secure their postseason plans.

A guaranteed Playoff berth: Top 6 in each conferenceA chance to reach the Playoffs through the SoFi Play-In Tournament: 7-10 in each conference

With All-Star in the rear view, the sprint to the finish line begins tonight when the Lakers host the Hornets.

Before that game tips off, let’s assess where things stand through the season’s first 119 days.

Power Rankings: The Oklahoma City Thunder (44-10) hold the No. 1 spot in John Schuhmann’s rankings for the fifth consecutive weekThe Rest of the Top 5: Boston (39-16), Cleveland (44-10), Denver (36-19) and New York (36-18)Top 5 Offenses: Cavaliers (121.9), Knicks (119.9), Nuggets (119.5), Celtics (118.8), Grizzlies (117.8)Top 5 Defenses: Thunder (104.5), Clippers (108.3), Magic (108.7), Rockets (109.3), Celtics (109.6)The Only Team On Both Lists? The defending champion Celtics

Who’s Hot? Denver entered the top three in the Power Rankings thanks to an eight-game win streak entering the All-Star break.

The Rest of the Hot List? The Cavs and Pistons have won four straight, while the Celtics and Clippers have won three in a rowWho’s Been The Best Over The Past 10 Games? The Cavs, Celtics, Knicks, Thunder, Nuggets and Lakers have all gone 8-2 in that stretch

When it comes to individual honors, OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over the top spot on the Kia MVP Ladder on Jan. 11 and has yet to be replaced at his perch.

The Rest Of The Top 5: Denver’s Nikola Jokić, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns

In the rookie race, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle – who had a busy All-Star weekend – has held the top spot for the past three weeks as the Spurs look to be the first team to have back-to-back ROYs in a decade.

The last team to do it? The Minnesota Timberwolves with Andrew Wiggins (2015) and Towns (2016)

Milestone Watch: Two days before the break, Kevin Durant hit a major milestone, becoming just the eighth player to score 30,000 career points. Here are four more marks to watch for in the coming weeks:

Chris Paul needs 1 steal to pass Jason Kidd (2,684) for 2nd all-timeLeBron James need 2 games played to pass Vince Carter (1,541) for 3rd all-timeStephen Curry needs 57 3pt FG to reach 4,000Michael Malone needs 1 win to reach 500

2. WHAT’S TRENDING? WESTERN CONFERENCE

A year ago, there was a three-team race between the Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves for the No. 1 spot in the West that came down to the final day of the regular season to decide.

This year, with OKC holding an eight-game lead on the field, the top of the West looks a little different at the moment – with drama rampant throughout the rest of the standings

Home-Court Advantage (Top 4): No. 2 Memphis, No. 3 Denver, No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Los Angeles Lakers are all separated by three games (and just two in the loss column).

Grizzlies Roaring: Memphis has gone 11-3 over its last 14 games, led by a prolific offense averaging 124.4 ppg in that span. The Grizzlies are on pace to be the first team go from worst (105.8) to first (123.3) in scoring over two seasonsNuggets Top 3: Denver’s win streak has lifted them past Houston for 3rd in the West. During the run, Nikola Jokič (30.1 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 11.1 apg) & Michael Porter Jr. (28.8 ppg, 61.8 FG%) have led the way, while Jamal Murray is coming off a career-best 55-point gameLakers Rising: L.A. is 12-3 in its last 15 games to climb to 5th in the West, including a win with the recently acquired Luka Dončić, putting the Lakers just a half-game back of Houston for 4th

Playoff vs. Play-In (Top 6): The Clippers won their last three games before the break to maintain their hold on the coveted No. 6 spot as they look to keep five teams at bay for the final guaranteed Playoff berth.

The Race: Only five games separate the No. 6 Clippers and No. 11 Suns with the four teams currently in the Play-In field – No. 7 Timberwolves, No. 8 Mavericks, No. 9 Kings and No. 10 Warriors – sandwiched in betweenCan Mavs Hold? After being hit with injuries to its frontline – AD, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively are all expected to miss weeks – can Dallas maintain its position in the top half of the Play-In?New-Look NorCal Squads: Both the Warriors (Jimmy Butler) and Kings (Zach LaVine) shook up their rosters at the deadline as they look to improve on their matching 28-27 records down the stretchCrashing The Party? The Suns are 1.5 games back of the Kings and Warriors, while the Spurs are 3.5 games back and looking to climb into contention after adding De’Aaron Fox to pair with Wemby

The Road Ahead: The Wolves have the easiest remaining schedule (based on opponent win percentage) in the West, followed by the Warriors, Rockets, Mavs and Blazers.

No Easy Task: On the other hand, the Suns, Kings, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Clippers not only have the five most difficult remaining schedules in the West – they are also the hardest in the entire NBA

3. WHAT’S TRENDING? EASTERN CONFERENCE

Each of the top seven teams in the East went into the All-Star break on a winning note, with the conference-leading Cavs and sixth-ranked Pistons both opening the stretch run with four-game win streaks.

The Long Haul: Since Oct. 30, the top two teams in the East have been No. 1 Cleveland and No. 2 Boston. On Dec. 15, the Knicks rose to No. 3 and those three teams have been locked in those spots for the past two monthsThe Margins: The Cavs hold a 5.5-game lead on the Celtics, who in turn, hold a 2.5 game lead on the Knicks. All three teams have won eight of their last 10 and sit five-plus games over the rest of the EastFormidable Foes: A year removed from the Celtics winning the East by 14 games on their way to Banner 18, the Cavs and Knicks have established themselves as contenders, with all three teams ranked top four in offense and top five in net rating in the league

Seeds 4-9 – Indiana, Milwaukee, Detroit, Orlando, Atlanta and Miami – are separated by five games, with two key races among the six teams.

Home Court: The Pacers, Bucks and Pistons are separated by two games in the race for the No. 4 seed. Indy holds a one-game lead on Milwaukee and two-game lead on DetroitPistons Revving Up: Detroit’s four-game win streak has them coming out of All-Star above .500 for the first time since 2008-09 and helped Detroit create separation from the Play-In packPlay-In: The Magic, Hawks and Heat are separated by just a half-game for the top of the Play-In field, with all three teams going 4-6 in their last 10 gamesFinal Spot: The Bulls hold the No. 10 spot – four games back of No. 9 and 1.5 games up on No. 11 Philly (lost five straight) and No. 12 Brooklyn (won three straight) for the last postseason berth

What Lies Ahead? The Celtics, Sixers and Heat have the third-, fourth-, and sixth-easiest remaining schedules in the league the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, the Bucks, Knicks, Hornets, Cavs and Nets have the five hardest remaining schedules in the East.

Can Boston close strong and shrink the gap against Cleveland? The Celtics lead the season series 2-1 with one game to play on Feb. 28 in BostonCan Philly get into the Play-In and find a rhythm with its star-studded lineup?Will the Bucks and Knicks be able to hold their positions while facing the most difficult slates in the East down the stretch?

4. TONIGHT: LAKERS COMMENCE PLAYOFF PUSH vs. HORNETS

The home stretch opens tonight with a cross-conference clash between the Lakers and Hornets (10 ET).

The Lakers are 12-3 across their last 15 games, and sit just 0.5 games back of the Rockets for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.

A key to the Lakers’ rise up the standings? A stout defense (109.3 def rating) that ranks 3rd in the league dating back to Jan. 15.

Purple & Gold Fortress: An eight-game home winning streak has been founded on the defensive end, as L.A. ranks 1st in opponent field goal percentage and 3rd in opponent points per gameRestricted Access: Driving to the rim has been a particular struggle for foes with the Lakers allowing the third-fewest points in the paint during the same spanTested & True: In the last 15 contests, coach JJ Redick’s crew is also 5-0 in games decided by five points or fewer in the final five minutes, including wins over the Pacers and Warriors

A Luka Dončić-LeBron James tandem gives the Lakers ‘two big point guards’ to create plays for themselves and others, but it will take time to adapt to them sharing the court.

Slowly But Surely: Luka has averaged 23.3 minutes in his first two games back from a calf injury suffered on Christmas Day, but there’s been glimpses of his chemistry with LeBron and Luka assisting one another a combined five times in their first two games as teammatesHelping Hand: In his 22nd season, LeBron (listed as questionable with left foot soreness) is averaging the 3rd-most assists (9.0, 4th in NBA) of his career, while his 10 triple-doubles are the 4th-most in a single season with 30 games to play“I mean it’s special, he sees the game a different way than a lot of people. His IQ is insane, and to have two guys like that on the court, I think it’s going to help the whole team out,” Dončić said about his early impression of playing alongside LeBron

5. SOME OF OUR FAVORITE FRAMES FROM THE SEASON’S 1ST HALF