2008, April 15: ESPN.com Daily Dime - Warriors Last Team Out, Nuggets Last One In

April 15, 2008 -- Welcome to the playoffs, Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets. Both teams qualified for the last two postseason spots by virtue of the defeats sustained Monday by the Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors, respectively. Never mind that the Hawks currently have 11 fewer wins than the Warriors, pointing up the disparity in the quantity of quality teams between the East and West conferences. The Warriors will be missed. The feel-good story of last season's playoffs found themselves on the outs after a 122-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Even if Denver were to lose its finale to Memphis and Golden State were to win against Seattle, Denver gets in by virtue of its superior head-to-head record with the Warriors. "The teams we have left in the West are balanced teams," ESPN analyst Jalen Rose explains. "The Warriors' style is exciting, but they just weren't balanced like the rest of the contenders." No more Baron Davis heroics. No Monta Ellis moves to make you say "what?" No Stephen Jackson excitement. "We Believe" falls short with 48 wins. They could still tie the NBA mark for best record without making the playoffs with a win over the Sonics, who might be preoccupied renting a fleet of moving vans and rustling up some Styrofoam packing peanuts. The mark of 49-33 is held by the 1971-72 Suns. Davis' ending was tough. The man who spearheaded the Warriors magical upset of the Mavs in last year's playoffs was on the bench after failing to find the range in the first half. Look for plenty of Davis and coach Don Nelson stories in the days ahead. Not pretty. Denver is in. Facing New Orleans might not be a bad thing. "Denver has players with significant playoff experience," Rose says. "Not as much for a young team like the Hornets." The East pairings were all nailed down as a result of Monday's games. The West pairings are mostly still up in the air. Another important development on the court was Utah's 105-96 win over Houston that assured the Jazz would have the tiebreaker if the two teams finish with the same record. If these two end up squaring off as the 4-5 seeds carrying the same records, that would give the Jazz home-court advantage. Nobody wants a piece of a home-court advantage Utah team that seems unbeatable in Salt Lake City. Over in the East, Indiana's loss to the Wizards took any pressure off the Hawks. They needed a win against either Orlando on Tuesday or Wednesday in Miami. Imagine if Atlanta needed those wins, lost to Orlando and couldn't get it done against the NBDL Heat? That would be rich. "I'm happy for Atlanta and their fans. They haven't seen the playoffs since the days of Mookie Blaylock," Rose said. Instead, Atlanta can now get ready to face Boston in the first round. The playoffs start Saturday. Andrew Ayres is an NBA editor for ESPN.com By Andrew Ayres - ESPN.com