Last Place Update - April 18

We have a winner! Congrats to the 2013 Kings of the Cellar Champions, the 20-62 Orlando Magic. All of the beer in the cellar is yours. They edged the 21-61 Charlotte Bobcats by a game. The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their sixth game and secured third place at 24-58.

   The Magic overtook the Bobcats, who once led by 4.5 games on March 11, by going 2-16 since March 12. Orlando also ended the season with a three game losing streak.

   So what  happened to the defending champs? Charlotte did some winning and went 8-11 since March 12. Cleveland made a move of their own and went 3-16 during that same stretch.

   The 2013 Honorable Mention goes to the 33-49 Portland Trailblazers, who just ended their season with a 13 game losing streak. The Trailblazers actually had a winning  record on February 4, at 25-23. Then they went downhill, going 8-26 the rest of the way. It was almost as bad as the 6-28 record Orlando posted during that same stretch.

The Last Place Updates are a tongue-in-cheek look, from a fan's perspective, at the worst teams in whatever professional sport is featured. However it's important to remember that only a tiny percent of our population is even good enough to play for a professional sports team. It doesn't matter if that team wins it all or dwells in the cellar, the vast majority of us, myself included, could never make the first cut for a professional sports team, including those in last place. These players on their worst day could easily beat a team of fans on their best day. It's also important to remember and appreciate that it takes a special kind of athlete to earn the privilege to play for a professional sports team, whether it's for only a season or a long, Hall of Fame career.

Other Stuff...

Congrats to the Los Angeles Lakers for winning their last game in overtime against the Houston Rockets, 99-95. That win not only clinched the Lakers a playoff berth, it propelled them into the 7th seed. They will play the San  Antonio Spurs on Sunday. If they continue to play well, the Lakers can do some damage in the playoffs.

   The 8th seeded Houston Rockets will also play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. It will be interesting to see James Harden play his former team.

   Except for the blurb, my ebook, The Curse, is ready. It is also ready for Createspace. Once I write a satisfactory blurb, the novel will be published on Amazon for the Kindle and paperback.

Congrats to all for another successful NBA season. Good  luck to all the teams in the playoffs. May my New Orleans Pelicans contend next year.

Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to the last installment of the Last Place Update for the 2012 NBA season.  Well, they did it!  After clinching the 2012 Kings of the Cellar title, they tied the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers for the worst all time record after 66 games at 7-59.  However, the Sixers still hold the all-time record for futility at 9-73, so maybe this shortened season is a blessing for Charlotte.  Now after going 0-23, it would be ironic that Charlotte got the 14th pick in the draft lottery.

   The 20-46 Washington Wizards are this year's bridesmaids, with the 21-45 New Orleans Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers each a game behind.  The Wizards finished the season with a 6 game winning streak and the Hornets went 8-5 in their last 13 games.  Unlike the Bobcats and Cavaliers, it appears the Hornets and Wizards may be on their way to not being mentioned in the 2013 Last Place Updates.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  The once playoff bound Rockets had a late season collapse and fell from contention by losing to teams they should have beaten, including the Hornets.  After going 8-3, Houston went 3-7 in the last 10 games of the season, getting eliminated from the playoffs.  The Cavs had a collapse of their own, going 5-22 since March 13.

Next Losses

That will have to wait until next season.  Until then...

Have a great day!!