This is not the way any team wants to go into the postseason -- even if they are resting their starters down the stretch.
Gerald Henderson netted 20 points grabbed six boards and had six assists to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 96-85 thumping of the Atlanta Hawks in the season finale for both teams on Wednesday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena.
D.J. Augustin posted 17 points and Dante Cunningham had 14 for Charlotte, which shot 50-percent (40-for-80) from the field and had 27 assists on 40 field goals.
The Hawks on the other hand looked like the team that wasn't going to the playoffs. The starters were terrible, posting just 10 first half points before the reserves and Kirk Hinrich took over in the second half. Hinrich finished with 10 of the 20 points by Atlanta's starting five.
Atlanta was putrid in the first quarter, allowing Charlotte to shoot 65-percent from the field en route to building a double-digit lead in the first 12 minutes. They extended the edge to 18 by halftime.
Atlanta came back a bit in the third quarter, but couldn't really make it a ballgame.
The end result is that the Hawks will go into their first round matchup with the Orlando Magic with their longest losing streak since Feb. 2008.
Josh Powell had 16 points and Jamal Crawford and Damien Wilkins added 14 each for Atlanta, which opens up their playoff run in Orlando on Saturday night.