Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 at 8:30 am  |  117 responses

Post Up: Ain’t No Sunshine

Utah bumps Phoenix for a Playoff spot and idle Chicago clinches the East with a Heat loss.

by Abe Schwadron | @abe_squad

It’s that weird time of year when a handful of the NBA’s teams have turned up the intensity to 11 and the rest are ready to empty the bench 11-deep. Last night was the perfect example—let’s get it.

Hawks 109, Clippers 102

Blake Griffin scored a season-high 36 points, but with about 40 seconds to play and the Clippers having cut a double-digit lead to just 4 points, Joe Johnson pulled this out of his behind to deliver the dagger for Atlanta:

It was only 3 of Johnson’s 28 points on the night, but the shot effectively ended the game, keeping Atlanta’s home-court advantage hopes alive. Chris Paul had 34 points, but the Hawks used a 15-2 run in the third quarter to take control, sparked by their own point guard (Jeff Teague, 21 points) and Josh Smith (18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists).

Playoff Implications: Lakers clinch Pacific Division and West No. 3 seed with the Clips loss.

Celtics 78, Heat 66

As ugly as the starting lineups were in this game, it still seemed hard to believe that this game could be so, well…whack. With each team’s Playoff seeding all but written in ink, Miami’s Big Three sat out, as did Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett. The result was the Heat’s lowest point total of the season—even after scoring the first 11 points of the game—and their high-turnover number of the year, at 25. Paul Pierce started the game but scored just 8 points and sat out the fourth quarter. The teams’ leading scorers were the unstoppable Sasha Pavlovic (12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter) and the immovable Dexter Pittman (12 points). No, seriously. Boston finished the year with a 3-1 year against the Heat.

Playoff Implications: Bulls clinch East No. 1 seed with the Heat loss.

Thunder 118, Kings 110

It’s hard to take much from this game for Oklahoma City, considering its crunch time lineup was Derek Fisher, Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison, Royal Ivey and Daequan Cook, but the Thunder are happy to take the win and prevent any more injuries to their stars. Kevin Durant scored 32 points over the first three quarters before taking a comfy seat on the bench. With OKC up 1 and 1:35 to play, Fisher drew a silly foul from Tyreke Evans on a 3-point attempt, earning 3 free throws, enough of an edge to finish off the Kings, despite another monster game from DeMarcus Cousins (32 points, 7 rebounds). Cook scored all 19 of his points in the fourth quarter.

Playoff Implications: None.

Jazz 100, Suns 88

And with that, your Playoff teams are set. Utah clinched the last remaining post-season berth behind—who else?—their big men. Paul Millsap scored a game-high 26 points on 10-18 shooting, grabbed 16 rebounds, plus had 4 assists and 3 steals, Al Jefferson added an 18-16-4 line and the Jazz finished with a +14 rebounding advantage and a +10 margin on points in the paint to get past the Suns, who failed to keep their Playoff hopes within reach. Down 7 at halftime, Phoenix stormed back to take an early fourth-quarter lead, but Utah went on a 26-12 run to end the game. Steve Nash delivered with 14 points and 11 dimes, and Michael Redd and Jared Dudley each added 15 points, but Marcin Gortat shot 1-8 with 2 points (12 rebounds) and the Suns made just 5 of 23 three-pointers. Could this really be the end of the Nash era in Phoenix?

Playoff Implications: Utah is in, Phoenix is out. And the Jazz could conceivably get to No. 7 out West, too.

Hornets 83, Warriors 81

Before you take a mental dump on this game, I can tell you from first-hand experience that the last 15 seconds were extremely entertaining. Were they the only 15 seconds of the game I watched? Why, yes. I picked it up tied at 81, as Warriors point guard Charles Jenkins (10 points, 10 assists) drove the lane for a game-winning bucket, only to have his stuff swatted by Gustavo Ayon. Rather than calling timeout, Monty Williams let the Hornets run in transition, leading to a pretty no-look pass from Greivis Vasquez to Marco Belinelli for a wide-open game-clinching layup—2 of Belinelli’s season-high 23 points.

Playoff Implications: None. Lottery? Huge! NOLA’s win means my Wizards win clinch the “No. 2″ spot.

Line of the Night: Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap—the Jazz big men combined for 44 points, 31 rebounds and 8 assists

Stat of the Night: The ’11-12 scoring title will come down to one more game each for Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant. After Durant’s 32 vs. Sacramento, he’s averaging 27.97 points per game to 27.86 for Kobe.

Dunk of the Night: Mo Williams to DeAndre Jordan for a casual Lob City classic.

Tonight: A seven-game slate that includes the always-heated Pacers-Bulls rivalry, CP3 and the Blakers in New York to take on the Knicks and Spurs-Suns late night on ESPN.

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  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Rainman: check the arrogance at the door. But you guys are debating separate things. Nbk doesn’t care about WHY Nash played poorly, he just claims he didn’t play to the level he needed to. Yeah, Nash’s back may have inhibited him (yes, that is the definition of speculating, by the way), but we don’t care. It’s performance that matters at this point in time, and given the strong games Nash played this year, he was clearly capable of playing better.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Caboose, that’s cool man. I’m just outside LA. Debating on transferring my career to NoCal or back to Seattle. Seattle is kind of my preferred choice right now. Want to convince me otherwise?
    nbk, I’m sure you know more about the Suns overall than I do. I’m not trying to get into a Suns fan argument. All i’m saying is I am not a novice on Nash or the Suns. Seen over 300 games of just theirs over the last 6 seasons easy.
    Rainman, I agree with allot of your points. I didn’t see that game so I can’t get into the specifics, but that is precisely what I was trying to say. Sometimes Nash has got it, sometimes he doesn’t. He’s not like Kobe where he is going to force it. He will sit back a little bit if his shot isn’t falling to see if someone else’s is. That’s not a bad thing imo.
    Finally, I don’t think that Nash should evade any criticism. I am upset with no person that feels Nash should have done more in the loss. They are right. That is the expectation we have for great players and that is what Nash is, but he isn’t ‘that guy’ anymore. His production is not the same as it was the past several years. He is getting old, slower than most, but as Chuck says, “(in Chuck voice)Fatha tiiime is undefeated”. He has a deserved pass in my book. If that makes me racist in your book, that’s fine. I don’t care what you think if your that stupid with your judgments.
    Did Nash have a bad game? Yes.
    Was it so awful it should be a widely remembered part of his legacy. No imo.
    Do players deserve breaks? I’m undecided. They aren’t entitled to us ‘giving’ them anything, but when a player is over 36 and is still a very productive player that is reason enough for me to give them one. It doesn’t have to be that way for you all.

  • Rainman

    After reading up on all the comments, i kinda feel like i’ve opened up a closed issue with my late comments lol, my bad y’all. But i just felt like there were reasons behind Nash not playing as well as we may have typically expected from him is all. Also comparing him to other greats in the game that are expected to dominate in different ways kinda irked (yes, i did say irk ) me. But @ CAboose: “It’s performance that matters at this point in time, and given the strong games Nash played this year, he was clearly capable of playing better.” Nash has tailed off slightly the last week or so, its late in the season, its not jsut any game he’s expected to be playing strong in, its the second to last game, im not all that surprised he didnt play magnificently actually. I was more surprised at Gortats inability to even slightly adjust his game to the length and strength of the Jazz bigs, really.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Haha if you are interested in NorCal, the only place I can actually argue for is San Fran. Sacramento is boring and about to be without an NBA team (I still think they’ll be up in Seattle soon).
    SF is pretty kickass though. I mean, everything is within walking distance, BART transportation is one of the best in the nation, diverse culture, beautiful city, lots of interesting surrounding areas (San Jose, Berkeley, Half Moon Bay, Six Flags), and a lot of pride in this city. Plus it’s Cali man, that’s still a pretty awesome argument.
    But I could argue just as strongly for Seattle, haha. Awesome city.

  • Rainman

    @ Lakeshow: cosign, i mean my argument wasnt that he shudnt get criticized, he does get criticized in fact, by all the people that cover the phoeniz suns specifically. Who actually takes ESPN seriously anyways? Just cuz Tony Parker may not get the credit he deserves on ESPN, doesnt mean he doesnt get the credit he deserves anywhere, right? But guys here were a little overly critical in my opinion.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    I’m not curious as to why he didn’t play better. And yes, I have tried to run with a hurt back, and also with a persistent injury/condition, I understand completely how hard it is to be athletic with that type of injury. But that just isn’t enough of an excuse for me to accept. He didn’t play how he should have. The reasons are just unfortunate if they are even legitimate.

  • Rainman

    my Tony parker reference was jsut an example in context, wasnt meant to come off as totally random, LOL

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Rainman still is arguing irrelevants things. Dude, we’re talking about effects, not causes.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Caboose, man you just made it harder! lol. My buddy is at USF Law right now and he is telling me about all the awesome stuff to do up there. Although… He does highly miss Seattle and cannot wait to move back. So… Man, no ones helping me decide lol!
    Rainman, it’s always hard playing catch up on Slam. The worse is when you get 10 people arguing you and your like “F this”, but you also want to get your 2 cents in. I completely agree on your astute observation of BSPN. We all know they suck why do we continue to act like they are legitimate.

  • Rainman

    Yeah… the fact is he didnt play all that great, the effect was his team lost. We agree there. But there are causes for everything. At the same time, i wasnt here trying to be a Nash apologist, but ppl were being overly tough on Nash

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    That’s fair Rainman, I think the dispute was that Nash was getting way more of a pass than other players. And yes ESPN is the Glenn Beck of the basketball world now.
    Lake, the beauty is you can’t go wrong : D

  • Rainman

    That was kinda my argument too, i wasnt really gonna give my 2 cents at all, untill comparisons to LeBron, and Kobe, and other superstars in that mold came about. Situations are completely different and completely differnet players, and completely different expectations, to me, at least. Anyways, im on my way out as it is so cudnt continue this even if i wanted to lol, take care y’all.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    SLAM should just run one thread where the whole purpose is for commenters to thank/appreciate/ridicule/remember/shoutout to other commenters from the past year without any actual debate. Maybe we could all do that on the last Post Up of the year?

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Lates Rain.
    Caboose, true that. Home is calling though. I think it’s back, back, to Seattle, Seattle. Too much Cali sun for me ;) haha.
    I’m out for the day too. Good Night Gentlemen!

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    It is funny how pointing out that Nash didn’t play well sparked so much debate and discussion. I don’t k ow about dude’s back he said it was fine. If it wasn’t that would change this gs but there is no proof of that in this game. Besides Nash has had a bad back foever.
    Like I said, you get the credit you should get the blame. But it doesn’t work like that for everyone. That is it.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    We all agree with that Allen.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Perhaps Nash came up short in the most important game of the Suns season on a personal level. I certainly think Gortat did…(1 from 6 from the field and ALL 5 misses were blocked by Favors? Thats called ownership…). Grant Hill is now officially old. Frye didn’t want it with the Utah front court at all and didn’t even suit up. Markief was too young to do much in that situation.
    Kudos to the Suns organisation to getting it to the 2nd last game of the season before the curtain officially closed but Nash….you personally disappointed me as a fan in that Utah game.
    —
    I think the Axe will fall on the Nash era in PHX shortly.

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