Celtics defeat 8) Hawks 99-65: Kevin Garnett had 18 and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 22, and the Celtics finally advance to the second round. Joe Johnson had 16 points for the Hawks, and Al Horford had 8 points and 12 rebounds to close out a solid rookie campaign, and the Hawks should be proud of their playoff accomplishment and build upon it next year.
Lakers defeat 4) Jazz 109-98: Kobe Bryant had an MVP-like 38 points and 7 assists, and the Lakers take a 1-0 series lead. Mehmet Okur had a monster game with 21 points and 19 boards, and all five Jazz starters scored in double figures, but it was not enough.
Stud of the Night: Kobe Bryant. 38 points, 7 dimes, one MVP on the way, and a 1-0 series lead. All in a day’s work for the best in the game.[/quote]
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
Sunday, May 4th Recap:
Celtics defeat 8) Hawks 99-65: Kevin Garnett had 18 and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 22, and the Celtics finally advance to the second round. Joe Johnson had 16 points for the Hawks, and Al Horford had 8 points and 12 rebounds to close out a solid rookie campaign, and the Hawks should be proud of their playoff accomplishment and build upon it next year.
Lakers defeat 4) Jazz 109-98: Kobe Bryant had an MVP-like 38 points and 7 assists, and the Lakers take a 1-0 series lead. Mehmet Okur had a monster game with 21 points and 19 boards, and all five Jazz starters scored in double figures, but it was not enough.
Stud of the Night: Kobe Bryant. 38 points, 7 dimes, one MVP on the way, and a 1-0 series lead. All in a day’s work for the best in the game.
Fixed that for ya.[/quote]
Thank ya sir. After all, he wouldn’t be MVP if he wasn’t the best, right?
Tonight will be interesting in SA - NO matchup. Duncan was 1 of 9 on Saturday. West had 30 points. Everytime West goes over 30 the Hornets blow out the Spurs. Will Pop put Tim on West for part of the night? Will NO double teams continue to put Duncan in a funk? Will Bowen and Chris Paul go mano a mano?
I think its interesting that Bowen is the bad guy even though all he did was a little bump on the shoulder to Paul yet Bonzi Wells grabbed Bowen by the face and threw him to the ground when he was going up for a layup. I’m not saying Bowen is a saint. But this idea that he is another Karl Malone or Bill Lambeer is a bad rap.
[quote]deputydawg wrote:
I think its interesting that Bowen is the bad guy even though all he did was a little bump on the shoulder to Paul yet Bonzi Wells grabbed Bowen by the face and threw him to the ground when he was going up for a layup. I’m not saying Bowen is a saint. But this idea that he is another Karl Malone or Bill Lambeer is a bad rap.[/quote]
I think Bowen really straddles that line between a physical but clean player and a dirty cheap-shot artist. Now, I didn’t get a chance to see the play that you’re talking about; I’m speaking about Bowen more generally, given his past.
He’s the type that’ll give a little extra elbow and shoulder into his picks, lead with his knees when running through screens, and has an uncanny habit of “accidentally” sticking his feet underneath airbourne opponents.
That sort of stuff sometimes isn’t technically prohibited by the rules, but it is clearly aimed at inflicting pain and occasionally injuring an opponent. Whether that runs opposite of the spirit of basketball is a matter of opinion. Truthfully, few teams win championships without a guy like Bowen that is unafraid of bringing the pain.
Bowen isn’t just a thug, he’s more like Rodman. A niche player that’s very talented at what he does, but has no qualms about doing anything, so long as he beats his guy and his team wins.
Pistons defeat 3) Magic 100-93: Chauncey Billups scored 28 points, including a questionable three-pointer at the end of the third quarter, and the Pistons go up 2-0 in the series. Dwight Howard had 22 points and 18 boards as all the Magic starters scored in double figures, and now head home to try to get back into the series.
Hornets defeat 3) Spurs 102-84: Chris Paul had 30 points and 12 assists, and the Hornets dominate the Spurs at home again and go up 2-0. Tim Duncan had 18 points and Brent Barry added 14 off the bench for the Spurs, who see themselves in a very unfamiliar position: down 2-0.
Stud of the Night. Chris Paul. 30 points, 12 dimes, 2-0 lead, making it look easy. He looks like a vet the way he is playing, but is only in his third year, and first playoff appearance. Not bad for a guy who will reportedly finish second in the MVP voting this year.
I told ya’ll that the Spurs have a disturbing history of cratering in the second half this season. It doesn’t look good and frankly after last night’s game I’ve lost faith. The Hornets are too young and fast. I think Ginobli got hurt against the Suns but the Spurs won’t talk about it. He certainly hasn’t had a great game since early in the Suns series.
Pop doesn’t believe in excuses so they won’t mention it. I’m impressed with Paul. Not only does he have the physical skills but he has the mental toughness. His head is always in the game and he doesn’t let Bowen’s shirt grabbing get to him. After two 20 pt. blowouts in a row the Spurs will be lucky to avoid getting swept.
Spurs stat. The Spurs are 0 - 10 when they go down in a playoff series 0-2. This goes back to the 1970’s when they had shorter series in the early rounds. Although past performance is no guarantee of future performance it is still pretty bleak.
I don’t think Tyson Chandler gets enough credit. His stats might not show it every night but he puts in WORK on the floor. In the first half you could tell when he was and wasn’t playing.
[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Told Ya’ll Kobe was the MVP.
It wasn’t even close.
of course that was just about the only thing I got right with my first round predictions.[/quote]
I had some sort of magical power whereby all series that I considered “over” gained new life and started going the other way. All series that I thought had some intrigue came to an abrupt end.
After a game or two, I thought BOS-ATL, SA-PHX, and UT-HOU were all over, while LAL-DEN and ORL-TOR were interesting series. When I had decided that Detroit was the better team and was farting around, Philly went up 2-1 with a blowout win in Game 3. About the time I decided that maybe Philly was a better matchup than we thought, Detroit reeled off 3 straight easy wins.
SAS-PHX and CLE-WAS were the only two series that I had a good handle on, apparently.
Celtics defeat 4) Cavs 76-72: Kevin Garnett scored 28 points, and Rajon Rondo added 15 as the Celtics go up 1-0 in the series. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 and 12 boards, and LBJ had 12 points on 2-18 shooting as the Cavs only shot 30 percent as a team.
Stud of the Night: Kevin Garnett. 28 points, 8 boards, and a 1-0 series lead makes him an easy choice. My favorite player looking solid, as usual.
[quote]deputydawg wrote:
Spurs stat. The Spurs are 0 - 10 when they go down in a playoff series 0-2. This goes back to the 1970’s when they had shorter series in the early rounds. Although past performance is no guarantee of future performance it is still pretty bleak.[/quote]
Yeah I remember reading that last night. Any team coming down from 0-2 is tough, but they are going home, where they are usually good, so we’ll see if the Spurs can work their magic.
As the Spurs big 3 go, so does the team. If they are off, the whole team is off. Finley, Horry, Barry, Oberto and Co. need to step it up to save the season for the defending champs.