NBA highlights on Apr. 10: Emotional good-byes; prep for playoffs

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The 2018-19 NBA regular season finally came to an end on Wednesday with the brackets for the upcoming playoffs confirmed. The night was also emotional for long-time NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat playing their last games before heading into retirement.

Are the Rockets the only loser in the West?

James Harden of the Houston Rockets /VCG Photo

The Denver Nuggets claimed a comeback victory against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 99-95 at the Pepsi Center, locking the No.2 ranking in the Western Conference. Nikola Jokic dropped 29 points and 14 rebounds, followed by Jamal Murray and his 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Andrew Wiggins scored Minnesota's team-high 25 points while Gorgui Dieng dropped a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Though the Timberwolves weren't desperate for a win – evident in sitting Karl-Anthony Towns, who hasn't missed a game in the first three seasons of his career –the Nuggets still couldn't get it together thanks to their careless passing and bad shooting choices.

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets in reacts to fans in the game they win against the Minnesota Timberwolves 99-95 at the Pepsi Center, April 10. /VCG Photo

Fortunately for Denver, Will Barton, Paul Milsap and Murray buried three shots from the 3-pt line in the last few minutes of the game, helping the Nuggets pocket their 54th win of the season.

By contrast, the Portland Trail Blazers did not seem to care about their ranking, though they defeated the visiting Sacramento Kings 136-131 at the Moda Center. Head coach Terry Stotts utilized six players in the game and none of them came from their usual starting line-up, not mention that five of them played over 40 minutes. Anthony Simmons Gary Trent Jr. and Jake Layman did not rest for even one minute and they scored respectively 37, 19 and 19 points.

Seth Curry (L), Damian Lillard (C) and Enes Kanter (R) of the Portland Trail Blazers sit on the scorer's table during the game they win against the Sacramento Kings 136-131 at the Moda Center, April 10. /VCG Photo

Since neither team showed much interest in playing defense, the game became a scoring buffet. The Kings dropped 87 points in the first half, but suddenly grew cold in the second, especially in the fourth quarter when they only had 18 points. The Trail Blazers managed to put down 30+ points in every quarter and took the final win which helped them remain the No.3 in the West.

The Houston Rockets might not like the news because after everything they had done, the team still slipped to No.4 in the conference. In their last game on Tuesday, the Rockets lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder as Paul George sank a game-winning three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left. That loss cost Houston their chances at grabbing the No.2 spot in the West and after Wednesday, the Rockets will not only take on the league's best defensive team, the Utah Jazz in the first round, but if they make it to the next round, are likely to meet the Golden State Warriors.

Gregg Popovich (R) and Lenny Wilkens (L) share the NBA's most 1,245 regular-season wins as head coaches. /CGTN Photo by Zhang Xuecheng

Both the San Antonio Spurs and OKC got what they wanted. The Spurs beat the Mavericks 105-94 at the AT&T Center, giving coach Gregg Popovich his 1,245 regular season win, tying him with Lenny Wilkens, for the most regular-season victories in NBA history. If Popovich continues to coach the Spurs next season, he will have that record for himself and more importantly, he will have done it with a single team.

Russell Westbrook (R) and Magic Johnson (L) share the NBA's second-most 138 triple-doubles. /CGTN Photo by Zhang Xuecheng

The Thunder sealed their No.6 position in the West after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 127-116 at the Fiserv Forum. Russell Westbrook helped the team win with a triple-double of 15 points, 11 rebounds and 17 assists. That was the 138th triple-double of his career, tying Magic Johnson as No.2 in NBA history, only after Oscar "Big O" Robertson who did it 181 times.

Real competition may not come until semi-finals in the East

Nikola Vucevic (L) of the Orlando Magic, Blake Griffin (C) of the Detroit Pistons and D'Angelo Russell (R) of the Brooklyn Nets /VCG Photo

The Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons finally saw got their rankings solidified in the Eastern Conference. All three won: Nets 113-94 against the Heat, the Magic 122-114 against the Hornets, and the Pistons 115-89 against the Knicks. their rankings remained the same: the Nets at No. 6, the Magic at No. 7 and the Pistons at No. 8.

Entering the playoffs should be a reward for the qualified teams, especially for young squads like Brooklyn and Orlando. However, the playoffs this season may seem too cruel for them (and Detroit) because their opponents are the Philadelphia 76ers, the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks. All three teams make big moves to increase their chances of winning this season, so they'll be putting in extra effort in the postseason.

The only series that may not be a foregone conclusion is the matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers. On one hand, the Celtics haven't been able to find an effective solution on offense; on the other hand, Marcus Smart, Boston's best defensive player, will miss the first two rounds of the playoffs thanks to a torn oblique on the left side of his body, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wade, Nowitzki's emotional last games

Carmelo Anthony (L1), Dwyane Wade (L2), Chris Paul (R2) and LeBron James (R1) take photos together. /VCG Photo

Wade and Nowitzki played the last NBA games of their careers on Tuesday.

LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, the other three members of the Banana Boat Crew were in the stadium, to witness Wade's farewell game.

Wade played to the moment, getting his first triple-double (fifth in his career) of the season with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists at the Barclays Center. The Nets' home court became Wade's home court, with fans hailing every time the Flash scored and booing every foul called on him.

"This is an Oscar-worthy script for my last game in my last season," said Wade in a postgame interview.

"For me, I wanted to make that night memorable for him. What other way than to be the guy that knocked down that last shot to give him the triple-double. I swear when I shot the ball, it felt like a game-winner. I felt the pressure, I felt the pressure of a game-winning shot. I was happy I was able to come through for him. He's come through for me in so many different situations. (It was) probably the best way I could end it for him," said Udonis Haslem, who will also retire after this season.

Dirk Nowitzki (R) of the Dallas Mavericks greets Gregg Popovich (L), head coach of the San Antonio Spurs in Nowitzki's farewell game, April 10. /VCG Photo

Nowitzki received something different, but also very touching in San Antonio. Before the game started, the Spurs played a clip of highlights from the past games between the Spurs and Mavericks as a tribute to Nowitzki. As the announcer thanked him on the speaker, the 40-year-old German legend shed tears.

Things changed in the game, as San Antonio chose to double-team Nowitzki when he had the ball – just like they did in games where Nowitzki gave the Spurs a hard time with his unstoppable offensive performances.

In response, Nowitzki again put up many of his signature, and dropped a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. When he was shooting free throws in the third quarter, Spur fans even chanted "MVP" for him. Nowitzki took his last shot in front of the outstretched arm of Drew Eubanks who later told Mike Finger from San Antonio Express-News: "(Poppovich) had told us in the timeout, 'Don't double, back off him.' I got confused…Really good for me he made it."

"My family's here for a couple more days, friends from all over the world. I'm gonna enjoy that, and it'll probably start slowing down by next week. Get up in the morning, take the kids to school, pick them up, in-between a lot of laying around and just letting go a little bit," said Nowitzki in the postgame interview.

Other games on Wednesday included: (away teams listed first):

Indiana Pacers 135-134 Atlanta Hawks

Chicago Bulls 109-125 Philadelphia 76ers

Golden State Warriors 117-132 Memphis Grizzlies

Utah Jazz 137-143 Los Angeles Clippers