- WEEK 12 RECAP -
Week 12 pretty much finishes off the regular season (Warriors have one last game this Sunday). Wildcard games are this Sunday at 8pm and 9pm and it should be very exciting to say the least. Quarter-finals will be on June 10th starting at 6pm, semi-finals will be June 17th at 8pm, and lastly the Finals will be on June 24th at 8pm! It's all one game win or go home style playoffs and thus the pressure will be on every time. Now, let's find out what happened this past Sunday!
RAPTORS vs BULLETS: This turned out to be a very important win for the Bullets! They were able to use their size on the boards and really punish the Raps for not boxing out. They moved the ball well and got GM Patrick some wide open looks for 3 and he buried four of them in this game! Raps continued to give Patty the open looks and he absolutely torched them. This huge 10 point victory would end up getting them a top 6 seed as the Jazz suprisingly lost to the Spurs on this night. They will avoid the 'Wildcard Round' while the Raps will finish with the 9 seed and face the Celtics this Sunday. Raptors got another 24 point explosion from Mr. Somi Ravin which makes it 2 games in a row with exactly 24 (which is also his jersey #). He is averaging just under 20points in his last 4 games and they will need his production in the Wildcard game in order to advance to the Quarter-Finals. Harrison had a solid game with 14pts/6rebs/5asts and a steal but he was met with resistance on many of his drives to the basket. Mayuran and Thileep came late to the game which meant they had to come off the bench. They didn't have a chance to warm up and stretch which obviously is important and they combined to score 6 points in this one. Prabath, Sam and Javan all scored in double figures and it was a complete team effort for the Bullets.
Final Score: Raptors 50 - 60 Bullets Player of the Game - PATRICK Lawrence 12pts/1reb - 67% Shooting - 4 Triples
JAZZ vs SPURS: Finally!!! It took till the last regular season game but the Spurs finally got a much deserved win over the defending champs of all people! Even more impressive was the fact that they only played with 5 once again but this time they were able to make some big buckets down the stretch and overtime to pull this one out. Joshua had his best game of the season with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks!! He brought alot of energy and made some big plays for this team as he ran the point forward role. Ajevan was amazing as well as he had 10/7/8 with 3 steals! He was dropping some sick dimes and was a big reason why they got this victory. If it wasn't for their turnovers...the game would not have been close but the Jazz capitalized and kept the game close throughout. JT with a couple big freethrows in OT to give them the lead and then a clutch basket by Josh to seal it for the grey squad. It has been a rough season but the Spurs never quit and battled each game...they only had their full squad for 1 game this season and spent most of their games playing with 1 or no subs. With different circumstances they could have been a playoff team and GM Pirasaanth will now have to reevaluate and see what type of players he will need to draft in order to be successful for the next season. The Jazz have also had issues themselves of getting a full team consistently and thus they have now dropped to 7th seed and will play in the wildcard round. This is similar to what happened to the Warriors last season but they still ended up making it to the finals. The Jazz get the Lakers this Sunday with a chance to go to the Quarter-Finals and they will be heavy favorites in that one.
Final Score: Jazz 59 - 60 Spurs Player of the Game - JOSHUA Dykopf 14pts/8rebs/4asts/2stls/2blks - 2 Triples
CELTICS vs TIMBERWOLVES: A huge second half by the Wolves and they destroyed the Celtics in this one. Thuva and Manveer combined for 39 which almost equalled the C's total. This pairing has been tough for teams to try and keep them down as their range and shooting ability presents problems as well as their size. The rest of the team is filled with role guys and they do their job really well. Athavan is there to grab the boards...Johan provides a spark off the bench...Ragu is tough on defence against other star guards...Manish is another ball handler and 3pt marksmen...and finally Suthan is the coaching guru. GM Suthan has his team well prepared...makes smart adjustments during the game and is always in tune with foul situations and rotations. They finish 7-4 on the season and could finish either 3rd or 4th in the standings depending on what happens with the Warriors last regular season game. The Celtics on the otherhand finish in the 8th seed and face the Raps in the Wildcard round. It should be a great game and they have already beaten the Raps previously but that was with Randy Cho in the lineup. Without Randy it is going to be an uphill climb for these C's but I can certainly see them winning a couple rounds with the talent they currently have. In a one game knockout anything can happen and the green machine will certainly be a tough out for whoever faces them.
Final Score: Celtics 40 - 61 Twolves Player of the Game - MANVEER Boyal 19pts/10rebs/2asts/1TO - 4 Triples
PISTONS vs BULLS: Another forfeit by the Pistons concludes their miserable season. Half the guys wanted to play and the other half did not including GM Sugee who was coming back from a bachelor party in Montreal. Looks like he may have gotten more action than the Pistons did in the last couple weeks. Rumor has it that their first rounder has already left the team and will be exploring other options. The team will get the 2nd overall pick in next season's draft so it's not all bad I suppose...GM Billal wanted to take out some frustration on the Piston's squad but unfortunately things haven't gone the way he has hoped this season.
Final Score: Pistons 0 - 25 Bulls Player of the Game - TICKET MAGNET (GM BILLAL)
LAKERS v NUGGETS (written by 6.5 Fan)
Both teams had solidified their playoff positions but seeding was on the line. Nuggets hoped to get the top spot while the lakers had an opportunity to get a better seed in the Wildcard round. On paper the Nuggets have more talent and should have blown them out from the start. Especially considering the Lakers only had 5 players. From the very start the Nuggets looked flat and bored to be in the gym. The Lakers on the other hand took it to the Nuggets early and jumped out to an early lead. 10 minutes in and it looked like the Nuggets had played a game before this one. They were being out hustled, out worked and looked more exhausted compared to the Lakers. With that being said the score was tied at half time. In the second half things started to change as the Nuggets defence started to dominate the game. Some of that was the fact that the Lakers were tired and the other was that the Nuggets point guard, Glenn Ting, arrived to give them a boost. Eventually the talent level showed and the game was over as the Lakers couldn't score and the Nuggets started to. If the Nuggets want to make a deep run this year but they will have to play a full 40 minutes as their play tonight will only get them bounced out by the lower ranked teams. As for the Lakers, they will have to play in the play in game vs the defending champions (Jazz).
Final Score: Lakers 39 - 53 Bulls Player of the Game - DWAYNE Lubin 10pts/17rebs/5asts