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Manila Bulletin devider devider NBA playoffs loom for 16

NBA playoffs loom for 16

Published Apr 11, 2018 12:00 am
Minnesota Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler, top, gets off a pass as Memphis Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks defends. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) Minnesota Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler, top, gets off a pass as Memphis Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks defends. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) MIAMI (AP) — The end has arrived. Actually, for Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Charlotte, the end came in their season finales Tuesday. There are nine teams who know Wednesday is the last day of their season. Another 15 teams have already clinched playoff berths. Then there’s Minnesota and Denver. Game 82 for both teams will have a Game 7 feel, which is a fitting way to transition from the regular season to the postseason. Nuggets at Timberwolves, winner to the playoffs, loser to the offseason. It’s the first time since 1997 — and only the third time since the NBA went to this postseason format in 1983 — that two teams will play on the season’s final day in such a situation. Minnesota is trying to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2004 — the longest current drought in the NBA. Denver — winner of six straight to give itself this chance — is trying to get to the postseason for the first time since 2013. So there’s only one spot left in the 16-team tournament that will decide whose fingerprints get to put the smudge of a championship celebration on the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. Much like the race between Minnesota and Denver, the entire tournament bracket itself is going down to the wire. There will be eight first-round matchups.
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