So we finally come to the conclusion of the regular season.
In terms of who’s making the playoffs, anyway.
With only one spot – the eighth seed of the Western Conference – still left for grabs, the Utah Jazz sealed the deal on Tuesday night by defeating the Phoenix Suns for their fourth consecutive victory, on national television, and clinched the final available seed.
They are not done either, as they still have a chance to move up to the seventh seed, albeit a slim one.
Utah trails Denver by one game and would have to win their final game of the season against Portland at home, while the Nuggets would have to lose their final two games against Oklahoma City and Minnesota on the road.
Who would have thought?
Going into the season, not many had the Jazz making the playoffs after their meltdown last season when long-time head coach Jerry Sloan resigned and franchise point guard Deron Williams was traded to the Nets.
The team went 8-17 without Williams last season and missed the postseason for the first time since the 2005-2006 campaign.
It made the accomplishment an emotional one for Al Jefferson, who had previously made the playoffs just once in his career – his rookie season back in the 2004-2005 season as a bench player for Boston.
In fact, he had never even played for a team with a winning record since his rookie season.
He made sure there would be no meltdown in the self-described most important game of his life, overwhelming Marcin Gortat and the Suns down the stretch as he scored eight of his 18 points in the final period to go with a game-high 16 rebounds.
From Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune: “Playoffs, baby. On the back of Paul Millsap. From the power of Derrick Favors. Through the perseverance of Devin Harris. Because of Al Jefferson. The Jazz are returning to the NBA postseason, and Utah’s back where it belongs. Carried by Millsap’s game-high 26 points and 15 rebounds, the Jazz held off the Phoenix Suns for a season-defining 100-88 victory on Tuesday at EnergySolutions Arena. With the win, the Jazz (35-30) earned their 25th playoff appearance in franchise history. The victory cemented an unexpected resurgence by a small-market Utah franchise that went 39-43 during the 2010-11 season, failed to make the postseason, and lost coach Jerry Sloan and All-Star guard Deron Williams. “It’s a tremendous achievement for a group of guys that laid it out there every night,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “Whatever happened, good or bad, they stayed together. That’s the most rewarding thing — to see them rewarded for all the hard work they put in.”… Against the Suns, Big Al formed a Big Three with Millsap and Favors, and they pounded in a combined 57 points and 42 rebounds. “Seven long years since I been in the playoffs. It’s a blessing,” Jefferson said. “It’s a great opportunity to get here. A lot of people counted us out. Nobody thought this team would be in a position to get in the playoffs and we made it. It’s a great group of guys and everyone on our team deserves it.”
For the Phoenix Suns, it was a bitter end to an unlikely run that saw the team win 19 of their last 31 games.
Their beat writer put it the best to wrap up the loss and the season.
It marked the third time in the last four seasons in which the Suns failed to make the playoffs, and it may have been their final run with Steve Nash, who becomes a free agent after this season.
More from Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic: “Tonight could have been a night that lit US Airways Center ablaze with desire for the Suns to play their way into the postseason with a win in the season’s final game. Instead, it is meaningless. The only thing being lit is a candle for the idea that Two-Time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash might be playing his final game in Phoenix tonight with free agency available to him in July. Even with Nash at the helm, the Suns missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons for the first time since 1988 by losing 100-88 Tuesday night at Utah. The Jazz (35-30) clinched the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff seed by snapping a seven-game losing streak to Phoenix and holding the Suns to 40.5 percent shooting with 15 turnovers… The Suns had to fight from behind nearly all night in Utah because of a sloppy first half. They were already missing Channing Frye, who was present but out due to Saturday’s shoulder subluxation, and then Grant Hill’s comeback was cut short after a brief first-quarter appearance. “We didn’t deserve it tonight,” Nash said. “Without Channing and Grant, it was just too much to ask.”
Their doom was heavily attributed to the ineffectiveness of Gortat, who finished his career season with an absolute dud of a game.
More from Coro: “The problems up front were further complicated by center Marcin Gortat, who made his first shot from the perimeter and then had his next five shots in the lane blocked and missed his final seven shots in all. “You can’t afford to not play well in a game like this,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “They did a good job overall on screen-and-rolls. They took Marcin out of the game. We have to shoot the ball better from the perimeter. They outplayed us.” In the past 11 days, Gortat has posted shooting games of 1-for-8 at Utah, 2-for-13 against Oklahoma City and 3-for-12 at San Antonio. “Some possessions, I should finish harder and stronger,” Gortat said. “I understand that. Some possessions, I was going hard and it’s impossible that you’ve got three guys blocking a shot at the same time. I don’t care if I get (expletive) fined for that. One guy would block the shot and the other two guys would hit me in the arm and I wasn’t able to go up. It’s just frustrating. Many situations were my responsibility. I take the blame for that.”
Meanwhile, the Clippers – looking for their first division title ever – visited the Atlanta Hawks but suffered a lackluster 109-102 defeat to ensure that the best they can do now is to clinch home court against the Grizzlies.
In order for that to happen, they must either beat the Knicks or have the Grizzlies lose to the Magic, both difficult scenarios.
From Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times: “Chris Paul limped out of the Clippers’ training room Tuesday night, his mild left groin strain causing as much pain as his team’s inexplicable performance against the Atlanta Hawks. He took the blame for the Clippers’ 109-102 loss to the Hawks at Philips Arena, saying it was his job to have his teammates ready for a game that had so much importance. Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro was upset his team didn’t play better, knowing it would have clinched at least fourth place in the West and the home-court advantage over the Memphis Grizzlies, whom they now will face in a first-round Western Conference playoff series… And the Clippers will need to do it with Paul not being 100%. He had 34 points against the Hawks and Blake Griffin scored 36, his season high. The Clippers official listed Paul as questionable for Wednesday. “I’m all right,” Paul said. “At some point, something didn’t feel right, but I’ll be OK. I’ll be ready to go as soon as they throw that all up.”
Joe Johnson helped seal the deal with this improbable 3-point make, en route to a team-high 28 points. With the win, the Hawks are closer to clinching home-court advantage against the Celtics. They must win their final game against the Mavericks, or hope for Boston to lose to Milwaukee on Thursday.
And finally, the Heat – with their seeding set in stone at second place in the Eastern Conference – let the Big Three take the night off.
The Celtics did much of the same, sitting out Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
That turned this into an ugly game, with Boston coming out on top 78-66.
Pay Riley was seen watching the game, but he didn’t travel to Boston to witness the greatness of Dexter Pittman, who scored a team-high 12 points.
From Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald: “Riley traveled to Boston to watch the Heat practice Tuesday morning. As far as the Heat is concerned, the regular season is over. The team is using this week to prepare for the playoffs and Riley, as is his custom, watches every playoff practice. He sat next to Andy Elisberg, the Heat’s assistant general manager, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra prepped his team for postseason. The Heat (46-19), the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed in the fast-approaching playoffs, worked on its defensive fundamentals Tuesday and will likely continue preparing that way until it knows its first-round opponent. With three days left in the regular season, it’s still possible the Heat could play the Knicks, Sixers or Magic. All three teams play back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday. The Heat’s Big 3 participated in the morning practice but watched the game later that night in suits. Heat forward Chris Bosh missed his fifth game in a row. Dwyane Wade sat out his second game in a row, and LeBron James missed his second game in three days. The three players will sit out Thursday’s game against Washington as well. If Tuesday’s game was a preview, they will fight the urge to fall asleep in their chairs.”
There were two other games in the Association:
- With news that Metta World Peace would be banned for the next seven games for putting James Harden out of commission due to a concussion, the Thunder moved forward to beat the Kings 118-110. Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds despite sitting out the fourth quarter. Durant, in a tight race for the scoring title with Kobe Bryant, upped his average to 27.97 points per game to Bryant’s 27.86. DeMarcus Cousins led five starters in double figures with 32 points.
- Klay Thompson was benched in the fourth quarter, Chris Wright goaltended a Marco Belinelli layup with 1.5 seconds remaining, and the tank job continued for the Warriors who lost to the Hornets 83-81. Belinelli led all scorers with 23 points while Carl Landry added 14 points off the bench. New Orleans has won eight of 13 games in April while Golden State has lost 12 of 15 games.
James Park is a regular contributor to Sheridanhoops.com. You can follow him on twitter @NBATupark.