Thursday, April 13, 2006

Apparently some teams do want those playoff spots

Well it was a good day to be contending for a playoff spot in the East, as all teams slotted 6-9 won their games on Wednesday.

The Bulls defeated Atlanta 96-90 to improve to 37-41.
The Sixers defeated the Nets 116-96 to improve to 37-41.
The Pacers defeated the Celtics 117-112 to improve to 38-40.
The Bucks defeated the Wizards 100-97 on a late shot from Michael Redd to improve to 38-40. A side note is that this drops the Wizards to 39-39, so it is still possible for them to miss the playoffs.

And by the way, Philly would get none of the tiebreakers, though they are officially in 9th right now.

Tonight showed why I have a hard time putting Philly out, because even though this has not been a good season, and even though they can't play defense, they still have Allen Iverson, who scored 40 points and dished out 10 assists tonight. He's capable of doing this at any time, and if they get contributions from other guys like they did tonight (5 guys total in double figures) they are tough to beat.

Most impressive win of the night was for Milwaukee. Like Philly, they played a playoff team, but unlike Philly the team they played still has something to play for, because Washington is still fighting to hold on to the 5 seed. Redd hit a short jumper to put them up by 1, and then Ford stripped a driving Arenas late, and hit a couple of free throws to seal it.

After today, I feel more strongly that it will come down to Philly and Chicago for the last playoff spot. Regardless of who gets it, it should be a very interesting final week provided the teams play like they did on Wednesday.

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