By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Chicago Bulls took the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings after their blowout victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Nikola Mirotic was once again a starter and finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 steals.
Goran Dragic and Miami Heat were left out of the playoffs, despite beating the Washington Wizards 110 – 102. The Slovenian guard, who scored a game-high 28 points, dished out 5 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds vs the Wizards, had a superlative season, one of the very best in his career so far but the Heat didn’t get the postseason ticket.
This was also the last game of the season for the Euro-trio of the Orlando Magic. Nikola Vucevic (18 points, 11 rebounds), Evan Fournier (12 points) and Mario Hezonja (8 points) managed to defeat the Detroit Pistons 113 – 109, and at least finish a quite dissapointing year for the team with a positive result.
Boban Marjanovic dropped 14 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pistons.
Before meeting Giannis and the Bucks, the Toronto Raptors (Jonas Valanciunas 13 p. 7 r., Jacob Poetl 7 p. 5 r.) defeated the minus Lebron and Irving Cavaliers 98 – 83. Marc Gasol had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in Grizzlies‘ 100 – 93 loss by the Mavericks for whom Dirk didn’t play.
WIth Mindaugas Kuzminskas scoring 11 points off the bench, the Knicks beat the Sixers 114 – 113. Willy Hernangomez added 7 points plus 10 rebounds and Sasa Vujasic scored 7 and dished out 6 assists. For the Sixers, neither Dario Saric (sore left foot) nor Sergio Rodriguez (left hamstring) were able to play.
The Hawks lost 86 – 104 to the Pacers with Ersan Ilyasova scoring 15 while Clint Capela dropped 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Rockets 123 win over the Timberwolves (Omri Casspi 4 points).
Meanwhile in Oklahoma, Nikola Jokic had a fantastic season finish, despite the Nuggets not making it to the playoffs.
Eastern Conference:
Boston Celtics – Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers – Indiana Pacers
Toronto Raptors – Milwaukee Bucks
Washington Wizards – Atlanta Hawks
Western Conference
Golden State Warriors – Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs – Memphis Grizzlies
Houston Rockets – Oklahoma City Thunder
Here is the program for Game 1 of the playoffs (via ESPN)
