Nightly Playoffs Preview: Hornets sneak into 8th as Celtics stumble late, Suns refuse to die

Every night from now through April 15, the end of the NBA regular season, theScore will bring you potential playoff matchups - and teams still in the mix to qualify - based on the final nightly standings.

Here's where things stand after March 22: 

Eastern Conference

• The Hornets rebounded from a slow start to beat an undermanned Timberwolves squad, and got some help from the Celtics, who lost their third straight game to fall out of the playoff picture. 
• The Bucks lost their sixth straight and 13th in their last 16 games, making their hold on the six-seed all the more tenuous. They now lead the seventh-place Heat by just a game and a half. 
• The Raptors maintained possession of third place thanks to a routine victory over the Knicks, while the Wizards missed a chance to gain ground in the race for homecourt advantage by getting blown out in Sacramento. 

In the Mix

• The Celtics led the Pistons for the entire second half, going up by as many as 10 points. But the Pistons hung around, thanks to huge performances from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Andre Drummond, and tied the game late. Evan Turner missed two chances to win the game in regulation, and the Celtics got run out of the gym in overtime. It's a loss they may well come to rue at season's end.
• The Pacers and Nets were idle, ceding ground to the Hornets while gaining on the Celtics. The bottom third of the East's playoff bracket remains thoroughly logjammed.

Western Conference 

• The Thunder continued to build on their eighth-place cushion, scoring a comfortable win over the Heat while the pursuing Pelicans fell to the Clippers. 
• The Spurs continued their annual late-season coalescence project, romping the East-leading Hawks behind a monster two-way performance from Kawhi Leonard. 
• With their win over New Orleans, the Clippers moved percentage points ahead of the Blazers. This is worth keeping an eye on. The Blazers are still up five games on the Thunder in the Northwest, meaning they're a near-lock to hang onto the four-seed. But the Clippers (or any other team that ends up in fifth) will still open the first round at home if they finish with a better record than the division champs, which looks more likely with every Blazers injury report.  

In the Mix

• The Pelicans got a huge boost from the return of Anthony Davis, who dropped 26 on 11-of-13 shooting after a two-game hiatus due to an ankle sprain. It wasn't enough. The Pelicans hung in for most of the game, but the Clippers pulled away late, and New Orleans now sits a full three games out of a playoff spot. 
• The pesky Suns still refuse to die. They won their fourth consecutive game, a squeaker over the Mavericks, to stay in the hunt. They're two games behind the Thunder in the win column, but the Thunder own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so the Suns' margin for error remains practically non-existent. Such is life in the Wild West.