After a season-long battle to see who would end up with the eighth and final seed of the Western Conference, the Memphis Grizzlies proved to be the winner of the coveted position – relatively speaking – on Monday after beating the Phoenix Suns 97-91.
Unlike teams in the East, where some barely over .500 or even under it made it into the playoffs, the Suns will go home early despite an impressive 47-34 record – good enough to be the fifth best team in the East. They overcame many odds to get to this point, but none bigger than a whopping 40 games missed from Eric Bledsoe. In all likelihood, another team would be on the outside looking in had the speedy guard not been out for so long. The same can arguably be said of the Grizzlies, who had to play without their defensive anchor Marc Gasol for 23 games.
At least Memphis is healthy going into the playoffs, which is a luxury that the Golden State Warriors, who clinched the sixth seed after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, suddenly don’t have after learning of Andrew Bogut’s devastating rib injury.
At the end of the day, though, the players are taking it one step at a time, and that means they are now taking the time to reflect and enjoy what they were able to accomplish this season – playoffs or not. See what some of the players around the league had to say about how their season is ending below:
50 Wins! Wow! Thanks 2 my Guys and my GOD!!! #Warriors
— Mark Jackson (@MarkJackson13) April 15, 2014
50 wins what’s good!!! Hahha #dubnation!!!
— Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16) April 15, 2014
#50win season @warriors! #keepbuilding
— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) April 15, 2014
S/O to #dubnation @MarkJackson13 and all my teammates. 50 wins is special & can’t wait to start this playoff journey. One more game to win!
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) April 15, 2014
Back in the playoffs! It wasn’t easy by any means, but our fans stuck with us through it all! One more game left! #gng #believememphis
— Mike Conley (@mconley11) April 15, 2014
Thank you all so much. This season has by far been the most fun of my career. Ups n downs we battled and our fans continued to support us.
— Channing Frye (@Channing_Frye) April 15, 2014
We played every game as a team and it was awesome. Thank you to the fans who came out every game you made it easy to play our hearts out!
— Channing Frye (@Channing_Frye) April 15, 2014
Well all we do is win win win no matter what. @memgrizz back to the playoffs with a gutsy win against a fiesty @Suns team
— Brevin Knight (@brevinknight22) April 15, 2014
Damn suns eliminated with 47 wins ,out of playoffs !
— Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1) April 15, 2014
Somebody at ESPN made a formula that gave us a 0.2% chance of making playoffs in mid-December. Would hate to be that guy.
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) April 15, 2014
(That would be Mr. Hollinger himself)
Seriously, major props to our players and coaches for turning it around. Went 34-13 after 15-19 start. Work’s not done yet….
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) April 15, 2014
Yo mama RT @MEdwardsILP: @EBled2 YOU’RE THE WORST PLAYER IN THE NBA
— Eric Bledsoe (@EBled2) April 15, 2014
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