04-10-22 NBA Blog Train Sunday - The End of the Line
The final day and night of the 2021-22 NBA regular season.
We have reached the end of the line.
All hands on deck for the last go round of 15 games with all 30 teams in action.
All aboard!
Wizards at Hornets -13 Under 233
It took them a little while to figure things out today, but the Hornets sure got it going in the 4th quarter.
Terry Rozier in the 4th was hotter than a fur coat in Arizona, exploding for 18 points in the final frame.
Isiah Thomas was also key for the Hornets off the bench in the 3rd quarter, providing the needed spark.
Earlier on, we were treated to a couple of poster dunks. (More posters than power.)
“PJ Washington, get your jammies on!”
A rare lefty dunk from Miles Bridges on top of Daniel Gafford, but this dunk is missing the sound :/
Later on, Gafford blocked another Bridges dunk attempt and Bridges dapped him up. Always love it when players do that.
Hornets 124, Wizards 108.
The Hornets even pulled out the late cover, but the Over missed it by one point.
Since the Nets, Cavs and Hawks all won as well, the Hornets will be the 10-seed and play in ATL on Wednesday, April 13 at 7pm on ESPN.
Some final regular season juicy nuggets from the always fantastic Eric Collins:
Who are the only two players in the NBA this season to have both 100 made 3s and 100 dunks? Miles Bridges and Christian Wood.
Charlotte Christian high school has the most NBA 3-pointers of any high school in the world. (Thanks in large part to Steph and Seth Curry, who have combined for 3,847. Anthony Gill of the Wizards has contributed 21.)
An unfortunate Gordon Hayward injury update: The always wonderful Ashley ShahAhmadi reported that Hayward is out indefinitely with left foot soreness after playing in that game in Philly last Saturday. Hayward is going back into a cast and will be reevaluated in two weeks.
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Pacers +17 at Nets Over 245
The Nets were up 41-29 after the 1st quarter and led by as many as 18, but the Pacers came roaring back in the 3rd quarter to make this pretty interesting.
Alas, the Nets held on so they are the 7-seed and will host the Cavs in the first play-in game on Tuesday, April 12 at 7:00pm on TNT.
SO reports indicate that Ben Simmons could very well return for the 1st Round of the playoffs, and the Nets will throw him straight into the fire. What could go wrong?
Nets 134, Pacers 126.
The Pacers covered the spread and despite an Over/Under at the high, high mark of 245, this puppy went Over for sure.
Shoutout T.J. McConnell who returned for the last three games of the season.
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Bucks at Cavaliers -8.5 OVER 227
The Bucks did not play their usual guys, save for Jrue Holiday for 8 seconds. Yes, 8 seconds:
The Cavs LIT up the first quarter, scoring 46 points and this baby was a wrap.
Kevin Love scored 32 points in 15 minutes! He hit 8-of-11 3s.
Cavs 133, Bucks 115.
As aforementioned, the Cavs will play the Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. Here’s to hoping Jarrett Allen gets a chance at a Play-In Revenge Game! He fractured his finger on March 6.
The Milwaukee Bucks are the 3-seed and will play the 6-seed Bulls in the 1st Round. Might need to get your brooms ready but hopefully not.
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Hawks -12 at Rockets Over 241.5
Trae Young is the first player since Tiny Archibald to lead the league in total points and assists in the same season.
Meanwhile, Jalen Green scored a career-high 41 points in this one. Green finished out his rookie season by scoring 30+ points in 6 out of the last 7 games. And over the same final 7 games, Kevin Porter Jr. averaged 28.7 points per game of his own. Very promising stuff for a promising backcourt of the future.
Hawks 130, Rockets 114.
The Hawks host the Hornets in the East Elimination play-in game on Wednesday night. It should be extra spicy considering:
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Raptors at Knicks +1 UNDER 214.5
Obi Toppin was on ONE! He had 23 points in the first half in 20 minutes and would go on to score a career-high 42 points with six 3s. It was his fourth career-high in the last five games.
Including the exclamation point !
Knicks 105, Raptors 94.
Immanuel Quickley went off for a 30-point triple-double: 34 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The youngest Knick ever to record a 30-point triple-double.
The Raptors are the 5-seed and will play the 4-seed Sixers in the 1st Round. That might be the most fun 1st Round series after the likely Celtics-Nets, of course.
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Heat at Magic +6.5 OVER 218
The Heat had nothing to play for with the #1 seed locked in.
The Magic had seven players score in double figures.
Magic 125, Heat 111.
Victor Oladipo ended the regular season in fashion: 40 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists. It was his first 40-point game since his 2017-18 breakout season when he finished 3rd team All-NBA.
The Magic finished with the second-worst record in the league and will have top lottery odds with the Rockets and Pistons.
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Pistons at Sixers -6.5 Over 221.5
No Embiid or Harden or Cade in this one. The Pistons were very much in this game for the most part.
But Shake Milton scored 30 points and Paul Reed scored a career-high 25 points on 12-of-14 shooting.
The Philly crowd erupted in “B-Ball Paul” chants late in the 4th quarter.
Sixers 118, Pistons 103.
The Pistons secured a bottom-3 record in the league for top lottery odds.
The Sixers are the 4-seed and will play the Raptors in the 1st Round, which is a tough draw for Philly considering that unvaccinated Matisse Thybulle will not be able to play in the games at Toronto.
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Celtics -9 at Grizzlies OVER 223.5
The Grizzlies had nothing to play for with the #2 seed in the West wrapped up, and the C’s absolutely steamrolled.
The Celtics -9 and this Over would have been a Double Pure Lock.
Celtics 139, Grizzlies 110.
Like the Grizz, the Celtics are the #2 seed in the East now and will play the winner of the Cavs-Nets play-in game.
The Grizz will play the winner of the Clippers-T-Wolves play-in game.
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Bulls +7.5 at Timberwolves Over 229.5
The Bulls were up by as many as 28, but the T-Wolves made a second half run to cut the lead to just 1 with 1:42 on a Jake Layman corner 3.
That’s when Chicago’s very own, Ayo Dosunmu, cashed in a layup and a 3 to help close the door.
Ayo finished with a career-high 25 points, but it was Pat Williams career-high 35 points that led the way for the Bulls.
Bulls 124, T-Wolves 120.
The Bulls will play the Bucks in the 1st Round, a tall order for the Bulls no doubt.
The T-Wolves will play the Clippers in the first West play-in game on Tuesday night at 9:30pm on TNT.
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Spurs +10.5 at Mavericks OVER 224.5
The headline here is that Luka hobbled off the court with what the Mavs are calling a left calf strain.
Mavs 130, Spurs 120.
Problem: The Mavs have the earliest possible playoff game, Saturday at 1pm against the Jazz. Gulp.
Meanwhile the Spurs will play the Pelicans in the West Elimination play-in game in New Orleans on Wednesday night at 9:30pm on ESPN.
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Thunder at Clippers -11.5 OVER 216.5
Not quite as significant as Luka, but still worrisome for the Clippers was the sight of Luke Kennard leaving the game for the locker room and not returning with hamstring soreness. Kennard still scored 20 points in 28 minutes.
But these are prime, PRIME examples of why coaches rest their players on the last day of the regular season.
Clippers 138, Thunder 88.
Without Kawhi for the entire season and with PG missing 51 games, the Clippers still finished this season with a winning record at 42-40. The Clips will play in Minnesota on Tuesday night at 9:30pm on TNT.
The Thunder finished with the fourth-worst record in the NBA for a second consecutive season. (In fact, all of the bottom-4 teams in the league this season are the same as last season.)
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Warriors -7 at Pelicans Over 221.5
Kuminga two-handed power dunk!
But this game was all about KLAY, who scored 41 points by way of seven 3s, making it the first time in his career that he has scored over 30 points in three straight games.
Warriors 128, Pelicans 107.
The 3-seed Warriors will play the 6-seed Nuggets on Saturday night primetime at 8:30pm on ABC.
The Pelicans play the Spurs at Smoothie King on Wednesday night at 9:30pm on ESPN. The winner will play the loser of Clippers-Wolves and the loser is gone fishin’.
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Kings +10.5 at Suns Under 227.5
Kings 116, Suns 109.
The #1 Suns will wait to see how the play-in shakes out.
Meanwhile, the Kings will wait to see how the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday, May 17 pans out.
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Jazz -17 at Blazers Under 220
Jazz 111, Blazers 80.
The Jazz get the Mavs which was a spicy matchup in the regular season with that Gobert-Luka beef.
The Blazers lost 21 out of the last 23 games. A true post-All-Star Break tanking masterpiece.
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Lakers +6 at Nuggets OVER 230
Welp, a Lakers 4th quarter 3-point barrage led to outscoring the Nuggets 40 to 27 in the final frame, and an Austin Reaves steal and layup in the final seconds sent this one to OT.
Reaves had a 30-point triple-double! All career-highs: 31 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He had never even had a double-double before!
Malik Monk also scored a career-high 41 points.
The Lakers ended the season with OT win and a power dunk!
Lakers 146, Nuggets 141. OT
Oh, and then Frank Vogel was fired.
#LOLAKERS
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It’s been a wild and fun ride, folks.
The play-in and playoffs await — and big, big things are in store. Stay tuned. :-)
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