The NBA regular season concluded over the weekend, and former Michigan Wolverine Jett Howard finished the regular season on a high note:
Six former Michigan Wolverines made the NBA playoffs, with most of them being on the Orlando Magic. However, Tim Hardaway Jr.’s Detroit Pistons were the only ones to avoid the play-in tournament. To wind down the regular season, several guys had breakout games, and some of those performances mattered a great deal.
Jett Howard and Caleb Houstan burst onto the scene
Having locked up the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and the top spot in the play-in tournament, Orlando decided to rest its starters for the last two games of the season. In stepped Jett Howard and Caleb Houstan.
On Friday night in Indianapolis, Houstan started while Howard came off the bench, but both were given more than 30 minutes each. Houstan had 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Not to be outdone, Howard scored 17 points and had a block and an assist. Howard’s 17 points was the second-most of the season for him and the most since Jan. 5.
Against the Hawks on Sunday, both Howard and Houstan came off the bench, but both were again given 30+ minutes. Houstan had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Howard had 16 points, one assist, and one rebound.
Caris LeVert scores 31 in just 30 minutes
Prior to Atlanta’s season finale against Orlando mentioned above, the Hawks beat lowly Philadelphia in their penultimate matchup, 124-110. Coming off the bench as usual, LeVert poured in 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting. Only 12 of his 31 points were from three, and Trae Young was the only player on the court to outscore him.
LeVert sat out the season finale against Orlando but has been a major addition for the Hawks this season.
Duncan Robinson preps for the playoffs
Robinson’s Heat snuck into the playoffs as the No. 10 seed and the last team in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. However, they didn’t have much competition as the other five Eastern Conference teams behind them were clearly tanking. As Miami prepped for the playoffs, Robinson rounded into form.
On Friday night in New Orleans, Robinson scored 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting from three and 7-of-13 shooting overall. On the season, his shooting percentage from three (39.3 percent) hovered around where it was last year (39.5 percent) but was still well above where he was at in 2022-23 (32.8 percent).