SPORTY SUNDAY UPDATE 4/4/22: STATE OF EACH LEAGUE AS WE ENTER SPRING.

Welcome to a Sporty Sunday evening, where we take a look at where each league is holding as we begin the month of April.

NBA:

The regular season will end on April 10th, which promises chaos over the final week of regular season action.

In the East, the Heat(51-28) Celtics(49-30), Bucks(48-30), and 76ers(48-30) are battling for the top spot, while the Bulls(45-33) and Raptors(45-33) are likely locked in at five and six respectively.

Once a top four team in the conference, the injury-riddled Cavs have regressed to the seventh seed and must win a play-in game to solidify their spot in the postseason.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks(41-37), Charlotte Hornets(40-38), and Nets(40-38) are splitting hairs for seeds 8-10. The issue with the Nets is despite herculean performances from Kevin Durant, who torched Atlanta for a career-high 55 points on Saturday, they have lacked a consistent supporting cast and a struggling Kyrie Irving hasn’t done them any favors with their 122-115 loss to the Hawks serving as prime a prime example of that.

Out West, the Suns(Presidents trophy winners at 62-16), Grizzlies(55-23, surprise team of the year), Warriors(50-29, and staged an emphatic 18-0 run to clinch a playoff berth in a win over Utah, despite being without Stephen Curry due to injury), and Mavericks(49-30) have secured playoff berths, while the Nuggets(47-32), Jazz(46-32), and Timberwolves(45-34) slug it out for seeds 5-7. From there, the Clippers( 39-40, Now with Paul George back), have a hold on the eighth seed and will have two cracks at qualifying for the playoffs, while the Pelicans(34-44) and Spurs(33-45) are currently in the 9-10 game and are hopeful of keeping the underwhelming Lakers(31-47) out of the play-in tournament altogether.

NCAA:

North Carolina(8) Vs Kansas(1) Monday night at 9PM for all the marbles.

NHL:

On Sunday, the Florida Panthers(48-15-6) became the first team this season to secure a spot in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. The President trophy favorites Colorado Avalanche(49-14-6) can follow suit should they defeat the Pittsburg Penguins(41-19-10) Tuesday at PPG paints arena.

MLB:

Opening day is this week April 7th. Stay locked into themarvzone.com for my pre-season predictions!