The Lakers Go Matrix On Us; Blake Griffin Ends In Style; And Call Chicago The Best In The NBA

It’s a wonderful thing when there is one meaningful game that affects the playoff picture on the season’s final night. But do you know what’s better? When there are six. After a regular season that was spine-tingling like ice cream cake on your birthday, we still had five Western Conference seeds in play on the 2010-11 regular season swan song. And oh yeah, that whole potential-to-have-definite-home-court-in-the-Finals may have also been on the line. No big deal … On a night where every team in the entire league played, there was plenty of opportunity for surprise. As it turned out, everything played out exactly like most assumed it would (outside of the Spurs). Where should we start? In Dallas, the Mavs used a murderous third-quarter run, highlighted by five threes and incredible defense, to wipe out the Hornets, 121-89. It was our first taste of playoff basketball, like that appetizer special at Applebee’s. In the third quarter, Chris Paul drew a foul on Shawn Marion as the Mavs’ forward was jogging down on offense. Paul ran right into his path and fell over. So the next time Paul touched the ball, an obviously frustrated Tyson Chandler keyed in on him and decked him. It was absolutely necessary; Paul has to be one of the league’s worst floppers … Besides the physical play, there was Dirk Nowitzki (32 points), showing off the full arsenal of jukes, drives and just plain stupid fadeaways. It’s like every time he’s on national TV, he wants to remind us that he’s Dirk and he’s really good … Dallas was playing for the two seed and home court in the second round, but had to sit back and watch the Lakers dangle it all right in front of their faces, L.A. barely surviving Sacramento 116-108 in overtime in what could’ve been the Kings final game in California’s capital. How do you dodge two bullets in one day? That’s some Matrix $%^&. But L.A. definitely did, first with the good news regarding Andrew Bynum, and then in Sacramento when they blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead. With 11 seconds left, they were staring a meeting with the hated Blazers in the face, down three after an explosion from Marcus Thornton (33 points), but Kobe Bryant (who scored 36 points after earning a $100,000 fine for a gay slur towards a ref earlier in the day) came up with the game’s biggest shot, a three, to send it to overtime. Once there, the Kings quickly unraveled and the Lakers closed them out and shut the building down … After hearing Kobe’s initial in-game rant, then seeing the NBA fine him and now after hearing Bryant’s “apology,” what’s your opinion on the whole situation?

Though we’re still not sure what Gregg Popovich‘s formula for starting/sitting his big boys for the last leg of the season has been, we are pretty sure he might be reconsidering after the Spurs lost in Phoenix by three, giving away the number-one overall seed to Chicago in the process. Watching Manu Ginobili writhing in pain on the floor in Phoenix was not what we tuned in for. We heard it was just a hyperextension (X-Rays negative) of his elbow, but we were nervous regardless after seeing Manu’s arm get trapped as he rounded a screen. If he can’t go or has trouble in the first round against Memphis, that series will have some serious drama … Back east, Chicago nearly blew their game as well, barely holding off the Nets by five. The Bulls led by 13 in the second quarter, but fell behind and had to rely on a three in the final minute from Rasual Butler to take back the lead. The Nets had a chance to tie it in the last 20 seconds, but Jordan Farmar‘s (21 points, 12 assists) three was wide left and the Bulls secured the game from there. Chicago finishes the year with the league’s best record at 62-20, a 21-game improvement over last year. Did anyone see that coming? … Quote of the night from Stuart Scott: “The last time the Bulls had the number-one overall seed, you know who played for them. That’s right, Dickey Simpkins” … And since the Grizzlies so blatantly sent a message (“We do NOT want to play the Lakers”) with their lackluster play in their 110-103 loss to the Clippers, they get all of one sentence. Actually, we will give them two: it would’ve been hilarious if their second team had been able to complete their comeback from a nearly 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force them into a playoff series against the Lakers instead of the Spurs. But Blake Griffin (31 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) on the other hand deserves a damn encyclopedia at this point. On the final night of the year, he didn’t disappoint with the triple-double and then had some more highlights to add to the reel. We will miss you this summer, Quake Griffin … Other headlines from around the league: Miami ripped apart the Raptors in the fourth quarter (27-10) in their 18-point win as Eddie House turned into another being, scoring 35 points with seven three-pointers; in a first-round preview where nearly every one of the usual suspects sat out, the Celtics and Avery Bradley (20 points) took out New York by 10; Dwight Howard (13 points, 13 rebounds) and the Magic ran over Indiana, 92-74; Detroit beat the 76ers by four behind Rodney Stuckey (29 points, 8 assists); the Bobcats extended Atlanta’s losing streak to six with an 11-point win as Gerald Henderson had 20 points; Chase Budinger (35 points) blew up as the Rockets blew out Minnesota, 121-102; Ramon Sessions (27 points) led Cleveland to a seven-point win over Washington; Milwaukee and Brandon Jennings (16 points) peeled out of Oklahoma City with a four-point overtime win; with the sixth seed wrapped up, Portland didn’t have a lot to play for and Reggie Williams (28 points) and the Warriors took advantage in their 110-86 win; and the Jazz followed the lead of Gordon Hayward (34 points) in a four-point win over Denver … With that, the Western Conference matchups are finally set: the top-seeded Spurs will play Memphis, the Lakers and Hornets will go at it from the two and seven spots, third-seeded Dallas will face the extremely dangerous, sixth-seeded Blazers and finally, the Thunder have the four seed and will wage war against the fifth-seeded Nuggets … We’re out like the regular season.

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