Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament fixtures are set! The Brooklyn Nets retain home rights thanks to the Kyrie show in front of home fans and a career high from Kevin Durant, while Jalen Green ends his rookie season with a bang.
Since all play-in teams of the Eastern Conference won their games at the same time on Sunday evening German time, nothing changed on the last day of the regular season in places 7-10 in the east.
The Nets (7) host the Cavaliers (8) in the 7th-place game, while the Hawks (9) and Hornets (10) battle it out in Atlanta to see who enters the 8th-place game. So that’s where the Hawks-Hornets winner meets the Nets-Cavs loser in Brooklyn or Cleveland.
Charlotte Hornets (43-39) – Washington Wizards (35-47) 124:108 (BOXSCORE)
- In a long and closely fought game, the Hornets’ strong backcourt made the difference in the end, but the good performances of LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier were no longer relevant for the play-in places. Charlotte finishes the season in tenth place in the Eastern Conference.
- Ball ended the regular season well with 24 points in 6/7 threes, 10 rebounds and 9 assists, but he also managed 8 turnovers. Terry Rozier contributed 25 points (5/9 threes) and 6 assists.
- After an early lead from the Wizards, the Hornets held a long midgame lead but never really pulled away. That only happened in the last eight minutes, when Washington might no longer keep up with Charlotte’s three-pointer ratio (18/33, 54.5 percent).
- For Washington, Rui Hachimura (21, 9/19 FG) and Corey Kispert (20, 4/8 3P) put up the most resistance, all twelve available Wizards were used for at least four minutes at the end of the season.
Cleveland Cavaliers (44-38) – Milwaukee Bucks (51-31) 133:115 (BOXSCORE)
- There wasn’t an exciting basketball game to watch in Cleveland, but most fans should have been aware of that before the game even started. Milwaukee rested almost all rotation players, Jrue Holiday only started to get a bonus in his contract and was substituted once more following eight seconds. The win leaves the Cavs in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
- Nevertheless, the game was entertaining at some moments, also because two veterans, Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo, put on a show. Love slammed 8 of his 11 three-pointers en route to 32 points and 10 rebounds, Rondo played 13 assists, none more spectacular than this pass from the wrist across the field – with the hand under the ball!
- Giannis Antetokounmpo also proved himself once more as an entertainer in street clothes when he Popcorn slipped by a fan and promptly asked the referee on the touchline if he wanted some of that too. His brother Thanasis, meanwhile, shone on the floor with 27 points at 9/14 from the field in just under 40 minutes.
- Since Milwaukee only let six players play, these bucks had to tear down every minute, Jordan Nwora (24, 7/23 FG, 10 rebounds) even ran up and down the field for 44 minutes. Milwaukee’s top scorer was rookie center Sandro Mamukelashvili with 28 points (10/18 FG). 13 rebounds and 4 assists, all career highs.
Houston Rockets (20-62) – Atlanta Hawks (43-39) 114:130 (BOXSCORE)
- The Hawks didn’t give up either, fending off all of the Rockets’ comeback attempts to secure a comfortable win and maintain their position as ninth place in the East. On the other side, there was one resistance in particular: Jalen Green!
- The second pick of this year’s rookies improved significantly following the all-star break and is reminiscent of Anthony Edwards last year. At the end of his debut season he let it rip once more and set a new career high with 41 points at 14/26 from the field and 4/11 from downtown! Of course, one or the other highlight dunk might not be missing.
- Trailing 18 points early in the second quarter, the Rockets kept the game exciting until the final five minutes, but the Hawks just didn’t cool down from downtown. Atlanta sunk 21/38 distance shots (55.3 percent), Danilo Gallinari leading the way there with 6/8 for 26 points.
- However, his team’s top scorer was Trae Young with 28 points (4/7 3P) and 11 assists, and Clint Capela also got his double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds (7 offensive) in just 23 minutes. Dennis Schroeder was only on the Rockets’ bench for the seventh game in a row.
Brooklyn Nets (44-38) – Indiana Pacers (25-57) 134:126 (BOXSCORE)
- The duel between the Nets and Pacers delivered what it promised, namely a lot of points. In addition, the Pacers said goodbye to the offseason with strong resistance, which made the race for the play-in places particularly exciting. In the final stages, however, the Nets stayed cool and thus secured seventh place in the East and thus home right for the play-in.
- Kyrie Irving made sure of that in one of his few games in front of the home fans in Brooklyn. There he was in top form with 35 points at 15/20 from the field and 4/6 from distance. Kevin Durant barely shot (20, 5/17 FG) but knew he might help his team in other ways. With 16 assists he set a new career high and made the triple-double perfect with 10 rebounds!
- The Nets were leading early in the second quarter by +18 and looked set for a comfortable win following the first half, but Rick Carlisle’s Pacers coaches had come up with something exciting at the break! Indiana suddenly set up a zone defense in the third quarter and immediately marked eleven unanswered points because Brooklyn was visibly surprised.
- The Pacers even equalized the game before Brooklyn pulled away once more with an 8-0 run. The Nets adjusted to the zone by the fourth quarter, but still mightn’t shake the Pacers outright. Led by Oshae Brisett (28, 5/10 3P), Indiana continued to score well, with a total of seven pacers scoring double digits.
- Tyrese Haliburton once more conducted very well with 17 (7/14) and 10 assists without making many mistakes (1 turnover), Duane Washington Jr. (18, 4/6 3P) supported coming off the bench. On the other side, Bruce Brown impressed with an all-around performance of 21 points (8/13 FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Andre Drummond (20, 13 rebounds) and Nic Claxton (14) hit all 15 of their throws from the field together.
