NBA restart Day 4 takeaways: Rockets fix their defense and Spurs grab the wheel in race for No. 8 seed - CBS Sports

Day 4 of the NBA's Disney bubble is in the books, and with most teams having played multiple games by this point, the playoff picture and the narratives that will follow it are beginning to take shape.

9 seed, two championship contenders duked it out in a potential Finals preview, and sadly, we've had our first major injury of the restarted season.

Houston's thesis is based on three pillars: win the 3-point battle, the free-throw battle and the turnover battle.

Not only does that give them more shooting, but it takes their worst ball-handler off of the floor to help limit turnovers, and it allows them to switch every screen defensively, effectively cutting off all open 3-point attempts for an opponent while also making them susceptible to more strips, tips and deflections from quicker defenders. .

But Houston's defense so effectively cut off their open attempts that Milwaukee not only took fewer 3s than they do on average but made only nine because of how few open looks they got. .

They were lazy on Friday against the Mavericks.

The Spurs haven't missed the postseason since the Cretaceous period, though this season posed a greater threat to that streak than ever before.

But now, four days into bubble ball, the Spurs not only lead the pack for the No.

9 seed but have a real shot at sneaking up to No.

The Spurs came to Orlando with the fifth-easiest schedule among bubble teams.

9 now that New Orleans has dropped their first two games, has five straight games against real contenders before mercifully drawing the Nets in their finale.

Death, taxes and the Spurs making the playoffs. .

Make that 18 losses by five points or fewer for the Mavericks this season, the most in the NBA.

Remove games that included NBA-defined clutch situations and the Mavericks would have a 26-6 record.

The Mavericks are young.

They have championship aspirations next season

The Timberwolves will likely get their pick now, when it is still quite valuable, as opposed to next season, when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will presumably drop it into the 20s

Had the season not been extended, he wouldn't have played at all for the Magic after suffering a serious knee injury in January