The 2014-2015 regular season finally came to a conclusion on Wednesday, perhaps fittingly, with the Golden State Warriors celebrating their league-best 67 wins over the Denver Nuggets in the final game of the night.
Plenty of wild things happened on the final day: San Antonio Spurs dropped from the No. 2 seed to No. 6 after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans, who clinched a playoff berth with the victory and promptly sent the Oklahoma City Thunder packing for the summer thanks to holding the tie-breaker from their regular-season series; Memphis Grizzlies beat the Indiana Pacers and landed themselves a date with the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round instead of the Los Angeles Clippers (who are now set to face the Spurs with homecourt advantage), while unintentionally sending the Pacers home; Brooklyn Nets squeaked past the Pacers with a victory over the Orlando Magic (again, thanks to a season series tie-breaker).
The season will obviously continue for all the teams that made the playoffs, but the rest can now go home and reflect on what could have been. All the reactions of players around the league about the final day of the season can be seen below:
Wizards vs Toronto & Spurs vs Clippers will be the best 1st Round (my opinion)
— BRANDON JENNINGS (@BrandonJennings) April 16, 2015
W/ all the highs & lows in life 1 cant worry about what just any1 thinks, focus on what matters, which is improving & representing Realness — Cleanthony Early (@Clearly_BallLyf) April 16, 2015
Photo: I just wanted to say thank you to Indiana as a whole .. The people/fans and the organization for the… http://t.co/b28sf2M51u
— C.J. Miles (@masfresco) April 16, 2015
For everyone who supported this team this year….Thank You…Ups and downs…Good times and Bad…We are grateful — David West (@D_West30) April 16, 2015
Couldn’t be more proud of our team tonight! That’s how you finish the regular season! Time to get right for the playoffs! #BelieveMemphis
— Mike Conley (@mconley11) April 16, 2015
I’ve grown so much this year and learned a lot.. And I WILL grow again! — Paul George (@Yg_Trece) April 16, 2015
Thank you Memphis and all my fans!! It’s been my toughest year by far but looking forward to my greatest summer ahead!
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) April 16, 2015
Love this squad! Never stopped fighting! detroitpistons @andredrummondd @realtuffjuice @rjokcson_15… https://t.co/fUiU0gVIe3 — Anthony Tolliver (@ATolliver44) April 16, 2015
Looks like we got the Rockets. Second season begins now! @dallasmavs #stayingintexas
— Devin Harris (@Dev34Harris) April 16, 2015
The Squad!!! #Playoffs #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/8nIkEJBCS1 — Anthony Davis (@AntDavis23) April 16, 2015
Playoff Bound !!!!!! #LetsGo #WeAreBrooklyn
— Darius Morris (@dariusmorris4) April 16, 2015
Wanna say thank you Suns fans for your great support this year — Alex Len (@alexlen) April 16, 2015
Playoff !!!! #GoSpursGo #itsallaboutwinning
— Marco Belinelli (@marcobelinelli) April 16, 2015
I’m gonna wander the streets and try to find the one person who’s psyched that Brooklyn made the playoffs instead of OKC. — Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) April 16, 2015
This is why the west is incredible: the Spurs were 7th three weeks ago, won 11 straight, moved up to second, lost one game–and fell to 6th.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) April 16, 2015
Playoff Time…Real Season Starts Now !! — John Wall (@JohnWall) April 16, 2015
Important win over the #Hawks tonight! Proud of our team. We are resilient and now it’s time to get… https://t.co/1xUoYJBygw
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) April 16, 2015
Toronto it is…. — Marcin Gortat (@MGortat) April 16, 2015
Grateful
— Maurice Harkless (@moe_harkless) April 16, 2015
Squad!!! #playoffbound We just getting started fellas! @AntDavis23 @jeffwithey rjanderson33… https://t.co/M2v2qUA7SF — Quincy Pondexter (@QuincyPondexter) April 16, 2015
It’s tough knowing our season is over. But there are many positives to take away from the year. First… https://t.co/I8OGlwcEjg
— Tobias Harris (@tobias31) April 16, 2015
PLAYOFF TIME !! — Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) April 16, 2015
“@YouthGroupGBC: This is why @landryfields is awesome. That wink though…..when you see it. https://t.co/MTrRPfdLt0” Playoff-trot.
— Landry Fields (@landryfields) April 16, 2015
Can’t believe I just finished my 17th NBA regular season and played in my 1000th game. Blessed beyond… https://t.co/hOn5JJpAyw — Nazr Mohammed (@NazrMohammed) April 16, 2015
PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!
— Omer Asik (@AsikOmer) April 16, 2015
Great Regular Season!!!#ATLHawks Now it’s time to GRIND!!! We Believe… Do You..#ATLHawksNation https://t.co/AWt3Q5Lavl — DeMarre Carroll (@DeMarreCarroll1) April 16, 2015
We earned it nothing was given too us… Hardwork & Dedication #TakeFlight #Pelicans https://t.co/m8k9gtiUQY
— Tyreke Evans (@TyrekeEvans) April 16, 2015
Playoffs . Only this matters , let’s do it #RipCity — Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 16, 2015
Good win fellas, now let’s get ready for the playoffs! #CsUp
— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas) April 16, 2015
Hate it had to end early but great year to build off of for the future…. shout out to that boy @35_Fitz lol — Derrick Favors (@dfavors14) April 16, 2015
Great regular season #hawknation. Let’s have a great #2015Playoffs. #ATLHawks #hawksrising
— Paul Millsap (@Paulmillsap4) April 16, 2015
GREAT WAY TO END THE SEASON.!!! GOOD WIN FELLAS.!! #CELTICSNATION #99PROBLEM — JAE CROWDER (@CJC9BOSS) April 16, 2015
Great way to finnish the regular season. Thanks to all the Celtics and NBA fans. Now the fun starts! #NBAPlayoffs @celtics
— Jonas Jerebko (@JonasJerebko) April 16, 2015
Loss tonight but I guess playoffs concentration is starting now. Let’s get ready Spurs fans as last year! Thanks for all again. Good night — Boris Diaw (@theborisdiaw) April 16, 2015
50 Wins! I BELIEVE in my brothers @dallasmavs. #believeindallas Full Video:… https://t.co/HEmW6qgcMD
— Charlie Villanueva (@CVBelieve) April 16, 2015
Playoffs!!!!! @ajincaalexis42 @AntDavis23 jrue_holiday11 tyrekeevans @jeffwithey @dlamarc33 @pg30_mia… https://t.co/d1e8IkDgjA — Ryan Anderson (@ryananderson33) April 16, 2015
The squad i run with trill Way to get that 50th win Might play that “get rich or die trying”… https://t.co/ILJZM7nr37
— Al-Farouq Aminu (@farouq1) April 16, 2015
I hope its the last time i feel this way in my career — Evan Fournier (@EvanFourmizz) April 16, 2015
I’m excited to make some changes to my game this off season and come back next year a different player. Just wait on it! #SacramentoProud
— Nik Stauskas (@NStauskas11) April 16, 2015
Not bad fellas… — Andre Iguodala (@andre) April 16, 2015
Sucks not to be out there with fellas tonight but they fought hard. Tough year with all the injuries but no … http://t.co/6RaUohaDBl
— C.J. Watson (@Quietstorm_32) April 16, 2015
Great regular season thanks warriors fans yall been great for us all season!!! #dubnation
— Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16) April 16, 2015
Our greatest strength is that we have a lot of weapons and anyone can score on any given night! #BeepBeep https://t.co/ROpkF2tYA1
— Leandro Barbosa (@TheBlurBarbosa) April 16, 2015
Thank you guys for the love & support throughout this season… disappointing ending but once again THANKS… I love y’all!
— Ian Mahinmi (@ianmahinmi) April 16, 2015
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.