Basketball Daily Dose: Dose: 'Mamba Out' & GSW win 73
The Warriors and Stephen Curry made serious history, Kobe Bryant went out with a bang and 60 points, and the Hawks squandered an opportunity and will face the Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs. Dose breaks the busiest night of the year down. Follow me on Twitter here! And check out the Playoff Player Rankings if you have a playoff draft tonight or tomorrow. And maybe bump Festus Ezeli up a bit.
Warriors 125, Grizzlies 104 – The No. 1 Warriors will face the No. 8 Rockets in Round 1 after trouncing the Grizzlies en route to an historic 73-9 record, surpassing the Bulls’ classic record of a 72-win season. Stephen Curry racked up 46 points and hit 10 3-pointers, finishing with an all-time high 402 of them in an unreal season. A shout out to my buddy Yuri Ono, who is the biggest Dubs fan I know personally, and I’m so happy she was in the house for the historic night.
The No. 7 Grizzlies will face the No. 2 Spurs in Round 1. Tony Allen sat out for the Grizzlies with a hamstring injury, leaving him a little iffy for the playoffs. The Grizzlies tried to stop the Warriors, but only Zach Randolph with 24 points really showed up for the starters. Lance Stephenson had 22 off the bench and the Grizzlies are just too injured to do much in the playoffs. A sweep is likely coming.
Lakers 101, Jazz 96 – Kobe Bryant rained on the Warriors’ parade by going off for 60 points and leading the Lakers to a comeback win in his final game. He attempted 50 shots to do it, but it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever watched live in a sporting event. “Mamba out,” indeed! And if he wasn’t 6-of-21 from downtown, his shooting would have been much more respectable, but his fourth quarter was amazing and a blast to watch. Goodbye and best wishes, Mamba. Shout out to my buddy Brian McPherson, who is the biggest Kobe fan I know. I’m sure he had an incredible and emotional night at Mamba’s magnificent finale. Don’t get those kicks dirty, my friend.
Derrick Favors (knee) and Rudy Gobert (knee) were both out and it didn’t matter, as the Rockets slammed the door closed on their playoff hopes by crushing the Kings earlier. Trey Lyles led the way with 18 points, Gordon Hayward scored 17 and the Jazz are going fishing.
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Raptors 103, Nets 96 – The No. 2 Raptors will host the No. 7 Pacers in Round 1. The Raps started their bench, with the exception of Norman Powell, who went off for 30 points, nine boards, five assists, a steal and five 3-pointers on 12-of-18 shooting. He’s a waiver-wire MVP candidate for what he did for his fantasy owners down the stretch.
The Nets started some scrubs and got 29 points, six boards and seven triples from Bojan Bogdanovic, so good job if you played him tonight. The Nets secured the third-worst record in the league, so tanking congrats are in order.
Hornets 117, Magic 103 – No. 6 Charlotte will get the No. 3 Heat in Round 1. The Hornets starters played extremely limited minutes and still got an easy win. Al Jefferson had 26 on 11-of-15 shooting off the bench and is playing well again.
The Magic got 22 a piece from Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon, while Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja were disappointing for the Magic. They’re ‘going fishing.’
Rockets 116, Kings 81 – The No. 8 Rockets will face the No. 1 Warriors in Round 1 of the playoffs. They played to win and James Harden dropped 38 on the Kings, Dwight Howard double-doubled and Patrick Beverley had a career-best 12 assists to go along with six steals. Good luck against GSW, guys.
One of the stories of the night will be the struggles of Seth Curry for the Kings, who hit just 3-of-18 shots for 10 points, six boards, five assists and five turnovers. Ouch. He got me in most of my DFS leagues, but Kobe and Curry carried me through to some wins. Kosta Koufos double-doubled and Ben McLemore scored 24 as the Kings’ disastrous season mercifully came to an end. And it appears that George Karl has been, or will be, fired by the Kings.
Pacers 97, Bucks 92 – The No. 7 Pacers will get the No. 2 Raptors in Round 1. They started the bench and Solomon Hill had 25 points, seven 3-pointers, six boards, three assists and four steals, so props to you if you used him last night. Myles Turner started, but had just four points in 22 minutes.
The Bucks played some of their guys, but Greg Monroe lasted just 13 minutes and Khris Middleton played eight minutes. That hurt in any league you used them in, but Giannis Antetokounmpo at least came through with a decent line. And despite the benchings, the Bucks’ bench did nothing.
Timberwolves 144, Pelicans 109 – I guess the big news coming out of Minnesota is that Sam Mitchell will be fired by the Wolves. I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do, as this is the guy who basically taught Kevin Garnett the ropes. But his old-school style doesn’t work with the kids and I was not a huge fan of how he messed with Zach LaVine this season, but I’m still a Sam Mitchell guy, and would have liked to see him continue to develop these kids next year. Gorgui Dieng, Karl-Anthony Towns, LaVine and Andrew Wiggins all went off in Sam’s finale, while Shabazz Muhammad hit 12-of-16 shots off the bench for 28 points. If you played Ricky Rubio last night, he overcame the seven points with 10 dimes, five steals and three 3-pointers.
The Pelicans got 28 from James Ennis, 24 & 11 from Omer Asik and 22 and a full line from Toney Douglas. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more injured team, and they’re all just glad it’s over. Look for the Pelicans to bounce back next season.
