Hawks and Nuggets In, Pacers and Warriors Out
The dust has hardly settled. But at least now, we know which teams have had their seasons practically ended. The outcome of today’s games wrote out the cast of the upcoming playoffs, though we’ve yet to see how the final matchups play out. The Denver Nuggets and the Atlanta Hawks had their playoff berths handed to them respectively by the Phoenix Suns and the Washington Wizards.
In a must-win battle in the desert, the Suns woke up from a pathetic 3rd quarter to kick the Warriors out of contention. Why Don Nelson benched Baron Davis in the second half is the subject of interesting theories. The Big Cactus and his elderly buddies can now have some time off. C’mon Coach Mike, give the Gorilla some PT!
Meanwhile, the struggling Pacers were unceremoniously eliminated by the Wizards’ practice team. As a result, the Atlanta Hawks get a chance to face the Celtics in the first round. They’re not likely to win, but there’s definitely a boatload of learning experience in store.
In other news, the Bulls and the Bucks locked horns and put together the NBA’s first Non-AllStar Game in which the two vacation-bound clubs scored a total of 286 points. Ramon Sessions (who?) had 20 points and 24 (what??) assists.