D-Wade’s one last dance

Only two games remain in the 2018-2019 NBA regular season and with the Brooklyn Nets and the Orlando Magic securing the 6th and 7th slots in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the battle for the last remaining spot will be contested by three teams who are still all in the race mathematically – Detroit, Miami and Charlotte.

The Nets with their win over the Indiana Pacers secured a post season berth after five years.  Brooklyn has to beat Miami today to secure the sixth spot.  The Magic after seven years, earned another spot with a road win over the Boston Celtics.If they win over the Hornets and the Nets loses to the Heat, Orlando gets the sixth seeding.

The top five EC teams are locked into their seeds (Milwaukee, Toronto, Philadelphia, Boston and Indiana) but the Bucks, Raptors and Sixers still have to officially know who they will be facing in the first round.  The Celtics and Pacers battle each other when the playoffs begin next week owing to their 4th and 5th seeding.

Currently, the Pistons unofficially sits at the 8th and final playoff spot.  All Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and company needs to do is to win their last two remaining games against Memphis and New York to make their post season entry official.

Kemba Walker and his swarm of Hornets also needs to win against Cleveland and Orlando and hopes the Pistons lose either one of their games.  Miami is in a tighter spot as it needs to win against Philadelphia and Brooklyn and hopes Charlotte loses either to the Cavs or Magic and then the Pistons drops both of their games.

The Heat lost their last four assignments and had they won their last two games versus Minnesota and the Raptors that were both two-point loses, they would have been in the Piston’s position and could have extended to the post season their team’s all-time leader in points, assists and steals.   The overtime thriller against Toronto was specially a heartbreaker.

Picked 5th after LeBron James, Darko Milicic, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh during the 2003 NBA Draft, Dwayne Tyrone Wade, Jr. will finally be saying goodbye to his active basketball career after 17 seasons, which is surely Hall of Fame bound.

If the basketball gods would favor D-Wade, he would be carrying his Heat team to post season victories against the Milwaukee Bucks, who had breached the 60-win mark for the first time since 1981.  That would be a fitting end to his incredible but injury plagued career.

Gone is the Flash and the fourth quarter scorer that we used to know.  We missed his aerial ballets, those twisting lay-ups and slam dunks over taller and heftier opponents.   Age has finally caught up with him, he who had become one of the greatest post season scorers of all time.  Yet, at 37-years old, he still submit decent numbers off the bench with 14.7ppg and 4apg in 26 minutes.

Dwayne Wade and his crew needs to win versus the Sixers today and with Detroit playing the Grizzlies about an hour ahead of them, the Heat will know if they still have a chance to nail a spot.  Maybe the Sixers will cooperate and let D-Wade move closer to his one last dance.