Empty the Bench

First things first: congratulations Don Nelson, Baron Davis, and the rest of the Golden State Warriors. You just capped off a helluva late-season run to earn your way into the playoffs and a date with the Dallas Mavericks (whom they’ve beaten four times in a row). This is definitely one of the best first-round pairings in either conference.

Now, onto the not so positive. Let’s be honest, Scott Skiles: your team is the ONLY one that choked on this, the last night of the NBA’s regular season. With a few seeds still left to be determined in both conferences, it was one of the East’s best, most well-rounded teams, the Chicago Bulls, that laid a big, fat, stinky egg in the form of an embarassing 106-97 loss on the road to the New Jersey Nets.

Now, they’ve gone from a cakewalk in the first round against the toothless, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler-less Wizards to a grueling rematch with their foe from last year’s playoffs, the defending champion Miami Heat. If they should knock off the Heat, which isn’t out of the question whatsoever, they’ll then have to go through the Detroit Pistons in Round Two. Good times, Chicago, good times.

Let’s take a quick look at the other significant games from this evening (there aren’t many), then list the pairings for the first round. Saturday kicks off the best two months of basketball of the year, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Check back at Empty the Bench throughout the day tomorrow as we break down the matchups position-by-position, give you a few things to watch for in each series, and roll out our much-anticipated predictions. Because, ya know, the first round is always the most difficult to get a grip on…

Cleveland 109, Milwaukee 96: Little Earl Boykins did his very best to derail the Cavs’ hopes of making a last-second dash up the seeding chart, dropping 28 points on 11-15 shooting with 5 three-pointers and 7 assists, but it just wasn’t enough. Lebron had a strong overall night with 24 points, 9 assists, and 5 boards on 50% shooting, and Sasha Pavlovic chipped in 21 and 3 three-pointers in leading the Cavs to a final record of 50-32. For their efforts against an inferior Bucks squad playing without Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut, and Charlie Villanueva, the inconsistent Cavs get a major reprieve in the first round in drawing the Washington Wizards. Once they wrap up that series in four or five, they’ll face the winner of the Raptors-Nets series in the conference semi-finals.

Washington 98, Indiana 95: The Rick Carlisle firing squad has been put on notice because, finally, the Pacers’ felonious jig of pretending to be playoff contenders is up. Now, they’re just another lottery-bound team that, in our humble opinion, is much worse off than other teams in the same predicament such as the Bobcats, Blazers, Celtics, heck, probably even the Bucks. This team is/should be blown up this summer, and it will likely start with Carlisle rightfully being handed his walking papers. Oh, yeah, the game… six Wizards scored in double figures, with Antonio Daniels leading the way with 19 points in accomplishing a small victory in locking down the seven seed. That means that instead of a certain sweep at the hands of the Pistons, the Wiz will instead face certain demise in maybe five against the Cavaliers. Prove us wrong, Wizards, prove us wrong.

Orlando 94, Miami 68: The Magic needed a win and a Wizards loss to avoid the Pistons in round one, and they did their part in steamrolling a team that basically gift wrapped them the game in sitting Shaquille O’Neal, Dwayne Wade, Jason Williams, and Eddie Jones. Alas, the Wizards didn’t help out. The Magic will face Detroit this weekend, while the Heat are set to lock horns with the Bulls once again. “It’s going to be a challenge for us,” Magic guard Jameer Nelson said after the game. “But like I kept saying all season: We accept all challenges, and I think we can beat anybody in a seven-game series.” That’s very nice of you to say, Jameer; we applaud your bravado. Extra points if your team actually wins one.

New Jersey 106, Chicago 97: The title of this post says it all. In losing tonight to the Nets, the Bulls succeeded in making it ten times more difficult on themselves in the postseason. The Nets will head to Toronto for an intriguing pairing against the Raptors. I’m sure VC will be warmly received in Toronto.

The Golden State Warriors make the playoffs! The Golden State Warriors make the playoffs! At time of publication, the Warriors still had two quarters to go in their contest with the TrailBlazers. But, with an 18-point lead at the half, we’re going to call it and wipe away the drool over a Mavericks/Warriors match up in round one. This series is SO much more noteworthy than if the Clippers had stumbled their way to the eighth seed instead. To be fair, we’ll mention that as of now, the Clippers were in a close game with the Hornets. But since it doesn’t matter now whether they win or lose, we’ll leave it at that. Also, the Warriors make the playoffs! The Warriors make the playoffs! In case you weren’t keeping score, that’s the first time anyone can say that in TWELVE YEARS.

Here’s your pairings:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Orlando Magic
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Washington Wizards
(3) Toronto Raptors vs. (6) New Jersey Nets
(4) Miami Heat vs. (5) Chicago Bulls

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (8) Golden State Warriors
(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers
(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Denver Nuggets
(4) Utah Jazz vs. (5) Houston Rockets

The games begin on Saturday. Again, check back at Empty the Bench throughout the day tomorrow for more analysis, thoughts, and predictions for the first round.

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