I love the last day of the NBA’s regular season. On what other evening are you virtually guaranteed to see D-League call ups exploding for 35, ten-win teams destroying playoff squads, and guys you’ve never heard of dropping triple-doubles? I’ve got fond memories of the season’s final day that range from an Ike Diogu 28-point, 13-rebound game to a self-alley-oop by Stromile Swift. Yesterday, I got a bit distracted by the discovery of a ping pong table in my garage. However, I still watched a few hours of basketball, and I was sure to sift through all of the highlights, box scores, and recaps. Without further ado, here are 11 interesting things that happened on the last day of a crazy NBA season…
As you can see, JJ Barea wore a headband. Not to turn this into a matter of race, but headbands don’t tend to look normal on white guys… especially 5’10 ones with beach-ball-sized heads. Seriously, I’m surprised Barea could even find a headband capable of stretching around his massive cranium. I bet he can’t even walk into Lids and buy a fitted hat.
Brad Miller and Ben Wallace probably played their final NBA games. Miller was unable to contain his emotions as he received a standing ovation upon being taken out of the game for the final time. It was a pretty powerful moment, I thought. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to walk away from the game after beating the odds as a second-round pick and playing professionally for nearly 15 years.
As for Ben Wallace, he hasn’t ruled out a return to the league next season, but his career is on hold for the time being.
My main man Nikola Pekovic set two obscure franchise records in Minnesota. The Balkan Bulldozer scored 18 points in a loss to the Nuggets, boosting his PPG to 13.9. That makes him the highest-scoring center in franchise history, passing the mark of 12.3 set by Mark Blount (I’m sorry, but LOL) in ’06/07. No wonder KG couldn’t quite get that team over the hump. Pekovic also finished his sophomore season shooting 56.4% from the floor, another franchise best.
Patty Mills scored a career-high 34 points. He dished 12 assists, too. He did this one night after setting his previous career mark with 27 points. Phoenix and Golden State don’t present the biggest defensive challenges in the world, but to have a third-string point guard capable to exploding for 61 points in two games… I’d say the Spurs are the deepest team in the league.
Terrence Williams threw down one of those right-handed dunks that only Terrence Williams throws down. Hopefully T-Will has found a good home in Sacramento. Highlight reels could use more of this.
Ben Uzoh, who recently played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, posted a triple-double for the Toronto Raptors. Uzoh needed 19 shots to produce 12 points, but he added 11 boards, 12 dimes, and 4 steals while committing just a pair of TOs. Oh, and the Raptors won, 98-67. It could be considered a revenge game for Uzoh, as he spent last season riding the pine for the same Nets team Toronto beat last night.
Avery Johnson made the following quote: “This is our farewell, for good. Now we embark on a new opportunity, and it starts when the clock strikes midnight tonight.”
If Avery’s coaching career ever goes down the tubes he should consider writing movie scripts.
Jonny Flynn dropped 18 points–the most he’s scored in over two years. He also had 11 assists, but he did that last year too. Flynn and Blazer teammate Hasheem Thabeet are leading candidates to become the first jobless lottery pick from the ’09 draft (excluding Terrence Willams, who went unclaimed for a week or so), so his big game couldn’t have come at a better time.
Brian Scalabrine made an inspirational speech to Bulls fans. I want you to watch it and try to tell me you don’t feel like you can conquer the world.
Ben Gordon made seven threes… in one quarter. The Pistons made 11 threes… also in one quarter. That quarter was the second, and it tied an NBA record.
Shaq dropped a couple of things on live TV, including one F Bomb and a couple of freestyles. One of his rhymes was absolutely brilliant… it included a reference to Ron Artest’s elbow as well as Ernie’s pastiness.
