A look at where things stand in the NBA playoff picture Dan Bailey Jersey Womens , with six days remaining in the regular season:

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EAST UPDATE

Cleveland rallied from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Washington, which might prove fortunate for both teams. It allowed the Cavaliers to stay No. 3 in the East, and kept Washington in the No. 7 spot – which they might prefer.

With Kyrie Irving’s season over, the Boston Celtics don’t look as scary as they once did. And since the Celtics are just about locked into the No. 2 seed, the No. 7 seed might actually look attractive to teams. Milwaukee could have moved into No. 7 on Thursday, but it lost to Brooklyn.

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WEST UPDATE

Utah’s easy win over the Los Angeles Clippers put the Jazz on the brink of clinching. Minnesota hurt its cause with a loss to Denver and dropped to No. 8 in the Western Conference.

It’s still seven teams alive in the race for the final five spots out West.

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FRIDAY’S GAMES

– Indiana at Toronto: Raptors can set a franchise record for wins in a season (57) and clinch the No. 1 seed in the East. The Pacers almost certainly need a win to have a realistic chance of opening the playoffs at home.

– Cleveland at Philadelphia: Winner will be No. 3 in the East when the night ends, loser will be No. 4.

– Atlanta at Washington: The Wizards will try to end a three-game losing streak, but John Wall won’t play.

– Chicago at Boston: Celtics’ first game since the Irving-is-done news came out.

– Miami at New York: Win keeps Heat in the driver’s seat for No. 6 seed and, possibly, a first-round matchup against LeBron James.

– New Orleans at Phoenix: Obviously Joe Thomas Browns Jersey , not a game the Pelicans can waste, not against a team with the NBA’s worst record.

– Minnesota at LA Lakers: The Wolves must win Friday to remain in the top eight out West.

– Dallas-Detroit, Charlotte-Orlando and Sacramento-Memphis have no playoff implications.

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CURRENT BRACKET

First-round matchups if the season ended Thursday …

East: 1-Toronto vs. 8-Milwaukee, 2-Boston vs. 7-Washington, 3-Cleveland vs. 6-Miami, 4-Philadelphia vs. 5-Indiana.

West: 1-Houston vs. 8-Minnesota, 2-Golden State vs. 7-New Orleans, 3-Portland vs. 6-Oklahoma City, 4-Utah vs. 5-San Antonio.

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NOTE OF THE DAY

This will be the first season since 2000-01 that two teams in the same conference with records above .500 miss the playoffs. It happened to Houston (45-37) and Seattle (44-38) that season, and will happen to two other Western Conference clubs this season.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

”In general Jamal Adams Jets Jersey , it’s hard to win an NBA game if you don’t put forth an effort – at all.” – Warriors coach Steve Kerr, after Golden State lost by 20 in Indiana.

Jay Gruden isn’t handing the starting running back job to rookie Derrius Guice.

The Washington Redskins coach wants Guice – or someone else – to earn it.

How the backfield shakes out is the biggest question the Redskins face as they open training camp . Guice, former starter Rob Kelley and 2017 draft pick Samaje Perine are all vying to be the feature back alongside third-down star Chris Thompson at a position the Redskins desperately need improvement from after being fifth-worst in the NFL last season.

”It’s a great three-way competition really with Guice, obviously `Fat Rob’ and Samaje,” Gruden said Thursday after the first practice of camp. ”It’s very, very important to let these guys play it out. They’ve all shown flashes of being good football players at the running back position.”

No one flashes more potential than Guice, who plummeted in the draft from first-round prospect to Washington in the late second. The LSU product fumbled his first carry of camp but shoulders big expectations and has already made quite the impression on his new teammates.

”He’s a stud. He can do it all,” left tackle Trent Williams said. ”He’s one of them guys that every team wants to have. He’s an old-school running back: hard to bring down, runs strong and is extremely fast (at) his size.”

Guice should get every opportunity to show he deserves to be the No. 1 running back. He split first-team carries with Perine and Kelley on Thursday, though Gruden expects padded practices to provide a better indication of where the race stands.

Kelley came from off the pace to win the starting job as an undrafted rookie during in 2016 and held it last year until knee and ankle injuries ended his season. But with Guice’s buzz and Perine’s pedigree from his time at Oklahoma Baker Mayfield Jersey , Kelley is again an underdog and is perfectly fine with that.

”I’ve been there before,” Kelley said. ”I came in as an undrafted guy. It ain’t nothing new to me. It’s just about overcoming it, man. I’m not the first guy it happened to, I’m not going to be the last guy it happens to, so just keep going.”

Only one thing is settled with the Redskins’ running back situation: Thompson is entrenched as a crucial run and pass option for an offense that is transitioning from Kirk Cousins to new quarterback Alex Smith. Thompson is coming off knee surgery and will be eased back in to the crowded group.

As he deals with the frustration of wanting to be full-go, Thompson looks at the running back corps of Guice, Perine, Kelley, Kapri Bibbs and Byron Marshall and sees an abundance of depth.

”It’s ridiculous right now,” Thompson said. ”All the guys bring something to the table. So I’m excited about it. We’ve got a few guys that are those bruiser running backs Logan Woodside Jersey , and then the other half of the guys are all good route runners and stuff. I’m excited about it. It’s definitely going to bring the best out of us.”

Running backs coach Randy Jordan noticed that right away during offseason workouts after Washington drafted Guice. All of a sudden, Guice’s high-energy approach to every snap has forced that sense of urgency for the players looking to hold him off for carries once the season gets underway.

”The biggest thing is there’s a lot of competition in this room,” Jordan said last month. ”So when you have that, everything else takes care of itself.”

Guice said a rookie minicamp that getting accustomed to new terminology would be the biggest adjustment from the SEC to the NFL. Once he gets that down, he’ll level some of the playing field with Perine and Kelley, thought he doesn’t want to speculate about how big his role might be.

”I can’t really predict how me and Chris and Samaje and Kelley and all of us are going to be used,” Guice said. ”However Jay or Randy want to use us, that’s how it’s going to go.”

NOTES: LB Zach Brown strained his left quadriceps muscle and was held out of team drills for the remainder of practice. … TE Jordan Reed revealed he had two separate toe surgeries, one on each foot. Reed had a bone removed from each big toe after lingering soreness that has lasted since before training camp a year ago.

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