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Oklahoma City heads to Ball Arena on Friday night for a 9:00 PM ET tip in a game that looks very different depending on who actually suits up. The Thunder are 64-16, first in the West, and already locked into the No. 1 overall seed. Denver is 52-28, sitting third in the conference, and this one still matters because the Nuggets are trying to protect that spot heading into the final weekend. The recent form points in opposite directions in terms of urgency, not quality. Oklahoma City has won seven straight and already handled Denver three times this season, including that dramatic March 9 win on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s buzzer-beater. Denver has won 10 in a row and has been excellent

Everything about this matchup points to playoff intensity before the play-in even starts. The Clippers arrive at Moda Center on Friday night at 10:00 p.m. ET sitting 41-39 and holding the No. 8 spot in the West, while Portland is 40-40 and one game back in ninth. That makes this one of the biggest games on the Friday board, especially with Los Angeles unable to create more separation after its 128-110 loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday. There is also recent history here, and it matters. Portland beat Los Angeles 114-104 on March 31, dominated the glass 48-30 in that game, and turned second-chance points into the difference. That result is a pretty clean roadmap for the Blazers. If they

Pittsburgh opens this three-game set at Wrigley Field with a 7-5 record, while Chicago comes in at 6-6 and trying to build on back-to-back wins. First pitch is set for 2:20 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10. The Pirates have been the hotter team over the larger sample, but the Cubs are getting home-field support from the market, and the current board still makes Chicago a moderate favorite behind Shota Imanaga. The pitching matchup is Carmen Mlodzinski for Pittsburgh against Imanaga for Chicago. Mlodzinski enters 0-0 with a 4.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts in nine innings, while Imanaga is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts in 10 innings. The game-day weather in Chicago looks

Arizona heads to Philadelphia at 7-6 after winning two straight and seven of its last 10, while the Phillies come in at 6-6 after dropping the final two games of their series in San Francisco. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night. The market has Philadelphia installed as a solid home favorite, but this is not a one-sided spot, especially with Arizona bringing the hotter recent form into the opener. The actual pitching matchup is Michael Soroka for the Diamondbacks against Jesús Luzardo for the Phillies. Soroka has opened 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA through his first 10 innings for Arizona, while Luzardo is 1-1 with a 4.97 ERA but just bounced