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[av_heading heading=’ BUZZER BEATER | Indiana, Chicago or Miami?’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Thursday, April 13, 2017
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TODAY is the last day of the elimination round of the NBA and two seats in the Eastern Conference playoffs remained up for grabs for three teams — Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat.
The Pacers (41-40) can formally clinch the seventh seed if they defeated the Atlanta Hawks today. They can even end up as high as sixth place if the Milwaukee Bucks beats Boston Celtics and Hawks dropped its last two matches.
There is also a slim chance that the Pacers will miss out the NBA playoffs if it dropped its final elimination round match and the Bulls and Heat both defeated their final match this season.
As for the Bulls (40-41), they can capture the eighth seed with a win over cellar-dwelling Brooklyn Nets, which has curiously won four of its last six matches, including one against the Bulls recently.
The Bulls can also move up to as high as seventh place provided it won over the Nets and Pacers lose. A chance for them to get eliminated is if they lose to the Nets and Heat wins.
For the part of the Heat (40-41), the Eric Spoelstra-mentored squad is in a must-win situation against the playoff-bound Washington Wizards. But winning is not enough, they also have to pray that either Pacers or Bulls drop their game.
The Heat can climb to as high as seventh spot if they win against the Wizards and for the Pacers and Bulls to lose their final matches against the Hawks and the Nets, respectively.
Aside from the last two spots in the East, also remained unsettled is the No. 1 spot where the Celtics (52-29) and Cleveland Cavaliers (51-30) are vying for the top-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
However, there is a possibility that the Celtics will keep the top-seed in the East with the Cavaliers intending to rest Lebron James and Kyrie Irving in their elimination finale against the Toronto Raptors.
Over at the Western Conference, almost all seeding are already settled except for the 4-to-5 standings, where the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, both tied with 50-31 win-loss slate, are battling for the home-court edge in the first round of playoffs.
If ever Clippers and Jazz both win its final assignments against Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs, respectively, it is the Clippers which will clinch the no. 4 seat due to tiebreak.
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Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings were victorious in its last two games this past week and part of that was due to LA Tenorio, who has complemented their reinforcement Justin Brownlee early in their 2017 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup campaign.
Brownlee was surely the catalyst in the Kings’ wins over GlobalPort Batang Pier and Star Hotshots, but in the two games, the diminutive Tenorio also stood tall, supplying the offense and bringing in his usual steady leadership for the crowd favorites.
No wonder, the 32-year-old Tenorio’s heads-up play earned him the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week, beating a host of candidates led by Kings teammate Sol Mercado, TNT’s Jayson Castro, and San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo.
Against the Batang Pier, the former Ateneo Blue Eagle came up with an all-around effort of 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals as the Kings rallied from a 19-point deficit by posting a runaway 113-96 win last Wednesday.
Tenorio then repeated his role as Brownlee’s chief backup, firing a personal conference-best 21 points, including 8 in the final canto as the Kings reasserted its mastery over the Hotshots, 113-98 on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Tenorio, a former backup guard of the Gilas Pilipinas, is averaging a career-best 16.33 points, to go along with 3.67 rebounds and 3.33 assists in the Kings’ first three games this conference./PN
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