The final games of the 2014-15 NBA regular season were played on Wednesday with seven different games carrying playoff implications. Some games determined seeding for the playoffs, other games were for the right to get in.
The amazing journey of the 2014-15 season continued its incredible course right through the final minutes of competition on Wednesday night. After a year-long traffic jam of talent in the Western Conference, only two teams remained in a fight for the final playoff spot. In the Eastern Conference there was a bigger battle for the bottom.
Western Conference
Oklahoma City Thunder (45-37): The Thunder were always on the outside looking in for the final spot out west. The New Orleans Pelicans had the inside track in tie-breaker and had a game in hand that they could drop. The Thunder are going to miss the playoffs this year. They did everything they could at the end of the season, led by the possessed body of Russell Westbrook who stormed through the final week, leading the Thunder to the brink. After losing 7-of-9, they closed out the season by winning 3-of-4, including the second game of a back-to-back with travel involved against a team, the Portland Trailblazers, a team already locked in the playoffs.
The great thing about that Westbrook possession? The only thing that could possess Westbrook is Westbrook. No one plays like that man and during the last four games we got Westbrook2. He led all scorers in each of the last four games, going for 27, 54, 36, and 37. He also led three of those games in assists with 10, 8, 7. Down the stretch, the Thunder matched the Pelicans game-for-game, but it wasn’t enough. You can only wonder how things would have turned out had Anthony Davis not hit that double-clutch three-pointer earlier this year…
New Orleans Pelicans (45-37): Speaking of the Pelicans, what a team and what a finish. While the Thunder seemingly backed out of the playoffs heading into the final week of play, the Pelicans used those games to make up ground and surpass the Thunder in the standings. After getting run out of the building by the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-74 on April 8, it looked like the Pelicans might be crashing out of the hunt. That didn’t happen. After dropping that game to Memphis, the Pelicans held serve for the remaining four games, carrying an identical record and pattern of wins and a loss as the Thunder. The Pelicans finished off a thrilling season with a comprehensive victory over the Death Star San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. The Pelicans never looked bothered. They hit almost every shot they took early and forced a small hill of turnovers by the Spurs, rolling out the lead to 23 points during the game and eventually closing it out 108-103. The game carried more than just playoff implications as Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that both GM Dell Demps and Head Coach Monty Williams were told that they would be fired if the Pelicans failed to make the playoffs. Congratulations to the Pelicans, at least four more games of Anthony Davis sounds mighty fine.
Eastern Conference
Indiana Pacers (38-44): What a cruel ending for the Pacers. Similar to the battle for the final playoff spot in the west, the Pacers and Nets were trending in opposite directions. After posting six consecutive wins, including quality wins over the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Washington Wizards, the Pacers came up short on the final night of the season. It was a bad night for the Pacers. They lost against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team who had their own playoff seeding fate on the line, lost in their vaunted Flo Jo jerseys, and lost Paul George to an undisclosed injury. The injury situation far overshadows anything else in this situation, but it feels all the more crushing that George worked his way back for the playoff push after his freakish leg break last summer only to have to be carried off the court as the Pacers season went down. The hope here is that George isn’t seriously hurt and will be ready to return to his Team USA level of play very soon.
Brooklyn Nets (38-44): The Brooklyn Nets took a different route to the final night of the season. After a late March-early April win streak, the Nets went into the final night of the season loser of three of their last four games. But, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it appeared going into their final game showdown against the Orlando Magic; the Nets had played seven consecutive games against teams who made the playoffs. Even still, Deron Williams looked very old and they had to come back from a double-digit deficit at home against the cellar dwelling Magic to lock up the final playoff spot in the east. The Nets should feel good about making the playoffs, but not about their chances to advance. They have already played the Hawks twice in the last two weeks and they came out losers in both games. While tonight’s game was a big win for the Nets, how much bigger does their win against the Indiana Pacers on March 31 look right now?
After one of the most exciting and incredible seasons in NBA history, the playoff matchups are set. If the playoffs bring half the amazing of the regular season, we are in for one crazy ride.
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