A very disappointing New York Knicks (third) against the Detroit Pistons (sixth) and a rematch between the Indiana Pacers (fourth) and the Milwaukee Bucks (fifth) are the matchups already set in a Eastern Conference with its entire ‘play-in’ and ‘playoff’ bracket decided on Friday with one game to go.
In the ‘play-in’, the Orlando Magic (seventh) will face the Atlanta Hawks (eighth). The winner will face the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics (second), in the first round.
The loser of that Magic-Hawks duel will have one more chance against the winner of the game between the Chicago Bulls (ninth) and the Miami Heat (tenth). The winner will advance to the playoffs to challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers (first).
KNICKS 102 – CAVALIERS 108
To certify their third place finish, the Knicks only needed to beat a Cavaliers team at Madison Square Garden with nothing at stake and with very important absences (Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter).
But the New Yorkers offered a lamentable image, they squandered a +23 against a team with no incentive to beat them and land in the playoffs against the Pistons (sixth) with worrying feelings and as third in the East already assured tonight only thanks to the stumble of the Pacers.
In addition, the reborn Pistons have taken their matchups this season against the Knicks by 3-1.
Darius Garland (26 points and 13 assists) was the captain of Cleveland’s comeback, which shook the New Yorkers with a 16-30 scoreline in the last quarter and dominated the rebound completely (49 to 35). Max Strus contributed 19 points (5 of 12 in three-pointers) in a Cavaliers team with six players in double digits.
Jalen Brunson (27 points) was the best of a Knicks team with the only absence of Dominican Karl-Anthony Towns. Tom Thibodeau’s team is still unable to compete with the best teams in the NBA, so much so that they have finished the regular season with a 0-10 record against the Cavaliers (0-4), Celtics (0-4) and Thunder (0-2).
PISTONS 119 – BUCKS 125
In a direct, high-voltage, high-voltage face-off in which sparks flew, the Milwaukee Bucks sealed their fifth place in the East thanks to a huge Giannis Antetokounmpo triple-double (32 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists).
Six players scored more than 10 points for Milwaukee, who in the first round of the playoffs will face the Pacers, who finished fourth and eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Cade Cunningham (36 points on a fabulous 15-of-21 shooting, six rebounds and 12 assists) and Malik Beasley (21 points on 7-of-14 three-point shooting) were two of the six Pistons players with 10 or more points.
PELICANS 104 – HEAT 153
The Heat head into the Play-In Tournament after setting a new franchise scoring record in a game. In this offensive festival, 10 Miami players reached double-digit points led by Bam Adebayo (23 points and 12 rebounds).
Mexican-American player Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists for Miami, while Puerto Rican Jose Alvarado had 14 points and three rebounds and Dominican Lester Quinones had nine points, one rebound and three assists for the Pelicans.
In the other Eastern Conference games, the Magic defeated the Pacers (115-129) in a game without the stars of both teams, and the Celtics crushed the Hornets (130-94) with Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard becoming the first trio of teammates to make 250 or more three-pointers each in a single NBA season.
In addition, the Hawks defeated the Sixers (110-124) and the Bulls beat the Wizards (119-89).
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