MIAMI – If this was Pat Riley’s final game, it was a victorious one.
Jason Williams scored 17 points, Mark Blount and Daequan Cook each added 16 and the Heat ended their disappointing season with a 113-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
Miami finished 15-67, matching the 1988-89 expansion team for the worst record in franchise history.
The Heat had seven players in double figures, including Ricky Davis (15 points, nine assists, seven rebounds), Earl Barron (13), Stephane Lasme (12) and Chris Quinn (11).
Josh Smith scored 20 points for Atlanta, which got 17 points and five assists from Mike Bibby. Zach Pachulia and Salim Stoudamire each scored 14 for Atlanta.
The Hawks know where they’re heading next; they’re in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 and off to Boston for what looks like a monumental first-round playoff mismatch. The Heat, though, begin an offseason of uncertainty, starting with whether Riley will be back for a 26th season as an NBA coach.
Riley, a 2008 Hall of Fame enshrinee, will meet with Heat owner Micky Arison in the coming days and presumably make a decision.
“I’m a very proud man,” said Riley, who ranks third on the league’s all-time coaching wins list. “But I’m not proud of what we accomplished this year.”
Indeed, it has been a fall from grace unlike almost any in NBA history.
AP-ES-04-16-08 2208EDT
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