Ballin': Jazz Beat Suns, Lock up Playoff Berth. Can They Give San Antonio Problems?
By Jason McIntyre
Phoenix 88, Utah 100: The Jazz are playoff-bound. Utah overpowered Phoenix inside – Derrick Favors (13-11), Al Jefferson (18-16) and Paul Millsap (26-15) all had double-doubles – and locked up a playoff seed. Utah will play San Antonio in the first round. Who would have thought the Jazz would reach the playoffs the season after losing their legendary head coach and trading away their best player? The Jefferson/Millsap/Favors trio could give the Spurs some trouble, but the Harris/Hayward combo will have its hands full with Parker/Ginobili. The Jazz are the 4th worst 3-point shooting team in the league; the Spurs are the best (39 percent).
Boston 78, Miami 66: Nobody played. Really. LeBron/Wade/Bosh all sat out.
Atlanta 109, LA Clippers 102: Potentially costly loss for the Clippers, who can’t catch the Lakers for the 3rd seed and might get passed by Memphis for the 4th seed. Blake Griffin (36 points) and Chris Paul (34 points) showed up … too bad nobody else did (rest of the team shot 13-of-37). Also, Nick Young made the mistake of trying to challenge Ivan Johnson at the rim.
Oklahoma City 118, Sacramento 110: James Harden didn’t play (brain injury). Russell Westbrook is 7-for-35 shooting in his last two games.
New Orleans 83, Golden State 81: Warriors lose! Warriors lose! Fans tossed confetti after the loss. With the defeat, Golden State could still possibly keep its lottery pick. If the Warriors lose to the Spurs in the regular-season finale, they’ll tie the Nets or Raptors (who play in the season finale) for the 7th worst record. A coin toss will determine who gets the 7th spot in the lottery. They need to finish in the top seven to retain their lottery pick. Remember UConn’s Jerome Dyson? This could be his career NBA highlight.