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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 16, 2009

Playoffs tip off this weekend

Associated Press

Dwyane Wade wrapped up his first NBA scoring title on the bench, sitting out the Miami Heat's last game on the final night of the regular season.

His closest competitor, LeBron James, also took yesterday off.

Wade finished the regular season with a 30.2 average to James' 28.4. Both stars sat out their team's regular-season finales to rest up for the playoffs, which start this weekend.

Miami, the No. 5 seed, will begin the postseason at Atlanta.

Cleveland is the top seed in the Eastern Conference and will play Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.

Southeast Division champion Orlando is the No. 3 seed and will face the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 76ers locked up the No. 6 seed by beating Cleveland, 111-110, in overtime, while the Bulls were losing at home, 109-98, to the Toronto Raptors.

The Bulls will face second seed and defending champion Boston.

In the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs won the Southwest Division and earned the No. 3 seed with a 105-98 overtime victory over New Orleans, which dropped to the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against Northwest Division champion Denver.

Portland beat Denver, 104-76, to earn the fourth seed and home-court advantage in a first-round series against Houston.

Houston, with a shot at the No. 2 seed, lost 95-84 to the Dallas Mavericks and fell to No. 5.

The sixth-seeded Mavericks will play the Spurs in the first round.

The top-seeded Lakers meet No. 8 Utah in the other Western Conference series.

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