Saturday, May 17th Recap:
No games 
Stud of the Night: nobody.
Some of you Western conference fans have talked about not watching the Boston-Cleveland. While you didn’t miss much for the first four games, the last three were great games.
Game 7 was just incredible. Pierce goes for 41, LeBron for 45. But, naturally, the guys who came up with big shots in crunch time to help the C’s ice Cleveland were P.J. Brown and Eddie House. Boston escapes by the skin of their teeth to move on to Detroit in the conference finals.
A big move by Doc Rivers late in the series was to put Eddie House back in the rotation. Sam Cassell was struggling, but House comes in and injects instant offense and loads of hustle. He turned out to be a nice weapon that Boston held in their pocket until they needed him.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Some of you Western conference fans have talked about not watching the Boston-Cleveland. While you didn’t miss much for the first four games, the last three were great games.
Game 7 was just incredible. Pierce goes for 41, LeBron for 45. But, naturally, the guys who came up with big shots in crunch time to help the C’s ice Cleveland were P.J. Brown and Eddie House. Boston escapes by the skin of their teeth to move on to Detroit in the conference finals.
A big move by Doc Rivers late in the series was to put Eddie House back in the rotation. Sam Cassell was struggling, but House comes in and injects instant offense and loads of hustle. He turned out to be a nice weapon that Boston held in their pocket until they needed him.[/quote]
Good point. I had some family stuff going on and was only able to watch the first quarter and the last minute of the fourth. Good game, though I am now convinced the Pistons will win the East.
[quote]Xeneize wrote:
tGunslinger wrote:
Some of you Western conference fans have talked about not watching the Boston-Cleveland. While you didn’t miss much for the first four games, the last three were great games.
Game 7 was just incredible. Pierce goes for 41, LeBron for 45. But, naturally, the guys who came up with big shots in crunch time to help the C’s ice Cleveland were P.J. Brown and Eddie House. Boston escapes by the skin of their teeth to move on to Detroit in the conference finals.
A big move by Doc Rivers late in the series was to put Eddie House back in the rotation. Sam Cassell was struggling, but House comes in and injects instant offense and loads of hustle. He turned out to be a nice weapon that Boston held in their pocket until they needed him.
Good point. I had some family stuff going on and was only able to watch the first quarter and the last minute of the fourth. Good game, though I am now convinced the Pistons will win the East.
[/quote]
I think the Pistons should definitely be favored at this point.
However, as much as is being made over Boston’s 0-6 road record, it’s worth noting that Boston actually played really well for about 42 out of 48 minutes in Game 6. Those six minutes absolutely killed them, but Boston outplayed Cleveland for the large majority of that game. That absolutely ludicrous charge call on Pierce with 40 seconds left certainly helped Cleveland a great deal.
The C’s also played pretty well until the final three minutes of Game 4. It’s possible that their trial by fire in rounds 1 and 2 has readied them for Detroit more thoroughly than two routs would have.
They need to take that next step on the road, but they really haven’t been stinking up the gym on the road like they did early in the playoffs.
That infamous 0-6 might be a bit overstated considering that they’ve actually played two straight pretty solid road games, and seven solid games out of the past eight overall.
That said, Detroit is an entirely different animal from Atlanta and Cleveland, and Boston certainly got all they wanted from those two.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Xeneize wrote:
tGunslinger wrote:
Some of you Western conference fans have talked about not watching the Boston-Cleveland. While you didn’t miss much for the first four games, the last three were great games.
Game 7 was just incredible. Pierce goes for 41, LeBron for 45. But, naturally, the guys who came up with big shots in crunch time to help the C’s ice Cleveland were P.J. Brown and Eddie House. Boston escapes by the skin of their teeth to move on to Detroit in the conference finals.
A big move by Doc Rivers late in the series was to put Eddie House back in the rotation. Sam Cassell was struggling, but House comes in and injects instant offense and loads of hustle. He turned out to be a nice weapon that Boston held in their pocket until they needed him.
Good point. I had some family stuff going on and was only able to watch the first quarter and the last minute of the fourth. Good game, though I am now convinced the Pistons will win the East.
I think the Pistons should definitely be favored at this point.
However, as much as is being made over Boston’s 0-6 road record, it’s worth noting that Boston actually played really well for about 42 out of 48 minutes in Game 6. Those six minutes absolutely killed them, but Boston outplayed Cleveland for the large majority of that game. That absolutely ludicrous charge call on Pierce with 40 seconds left certainly helped Cleveland a great deal.
The C’s also played pretty well until the final three minutes of Game 4. It’s possible that their trial by fire in rounds 1 and 2 has readied them for Detroit more thoroughly than two routs would have.
They need to take that next step on the road, but they really haven’t been stinking up the gym on the road like they did early in the playoffs.
That infamous 0-6 might be a bit overstated considering that they’ve actually played two straight pretty solid road games, and seven solid games out of the past eight overall.
That said, Detroit is an entirely different animal from Atlanta and Cleveland, and Boston certainly got all they wanted from those two.[/quote]
It’s safe to say that the final four teams left are definitely the cream of the NBA crop. Whoever wins the title will certainly have earned it.
Sunday, May 18th Recap:
- Celtics defeat 4) Pistons 97-92: Paul Pierce scored 41 points, and the Celtics move on to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Pistons. LeBron James had 45 points in defeat, and basically traded buckets with Pierce all game, but it wasn’t enough to advance.
Stud of the Night: Paul Pierce. 41 points, including 2 free throws at the end to seal the deal, and his Celtics will face the Pistons with a chance to go to the NBA Finals.
Monday, May 19th Recap:
- Spurs defeat 2) Hornets 91-82: Manu Ginobili scored 26 points, including 4 free throws in the final minute, Tony Parker added 17, including a crucial jumper in the last minute, and the Spurs overcome a 3-2 deficit and win on the road to advance. Chris Paul had 18 and 14 assists, and David West led the Hornets with 20 points.
Stud of the Night: Manu Ginobili. His 26 points, including four huge free throws, sealed the deal for the Spurs as they advance to play the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
…
Man, what a game!!! The Spurs, coming back from 3-2, win game 7 on the road, in a series where all games were won by the home team. The Spurs are the true mark of a championship team, and they showed it tonight.
The Hornets have nothing to be ashamed of. They had a fantastic, took the defending champs to seven games, and will be back even stronger next year.
Oh man Lakers, Spurs match up will be good they have gone up against each other many many times in playoffs as well as finals. I think Lakers have the upper hand yet its going to be a good series, I say Lakers in 6.
Boston over Detroit in 6 games.
LA over SA in 6 games.
Boston over LA in 7 games.
These two series are going to be great.
There will probably not be a lot of scoring during the Detroit vs. Boston series.
GO C’s!!!
Man I can let out a huge sigh of relief. After the Spurs went down 0-2 and really looked old and creaky I was already mentally preparing myself for the end. The word in the SA papers is that Popovich coached the game of his life with game 7. Throwing multiple defenses at the Hornets, riding his team like he rarely does anymore, trusting Tim to play with 5 fouls at the 4:00 minute mark. Etc.
Off to LA as the underdogs, it's deja vu all over again.
I would like to give a nod to Jannero Pargo. He really gave that game all he had and nearly came out huge down the stretch. He missed a couple attempts to equalize, but he was also responsible for closing much of the deficit in the 4th quarter.
The Hornets have no one to blame but themselves. They had so many excellent looks that they missed. They should be immensely proud they made it as far as they did, they should also be pleased that game 7 was as close as it was, considering how poorly the Hornets shot. They forced a lot of turnovers and generally played really good defense.
Spurs took them down with a barrage of 3-point shooting, and sealed the deal with offensive consistency.
A very good series, and a good way to end it.
[quote]Power GnP wrote:
Boston over Detroit in 6 games.
LA over SA in 6 games.[/quote]
No way! That would mean Boston wins a road game.
That’s more like it.
As far as the Lakers v. Spurs. I am rooting for LA, but the Spurs are no push-over.
Last time they met, the Lakers crushed the Spurs so badly. This was also the first(and only) time they met with Gasol in the line-up. So I think Gasol will be an X-factor for the first two games. But if the Spurs have proven one thing, it is that they are capable of adapting and overcoming whatever is going wrong.
Additionally, Boston never played LA with Gasol in the line-up, so even that series is difficult to call.
Let’s go LA! Time for a new dynasty!
[quote]Xeneize wrote:
It’s safe to say that the final four teams left are definitely the cream of the NBA crop. Whoever wins the title will certainly have earned it.[/quote]
Yeah. All those interesting potential playoff matchups that might have been, and yet here we are once again with the usual suspects.
Great performance by SA last night. It’s only fitting that the road to the Finals still goes through them. Also, did you guys hear about the Spurs’ charter jet having mechanical troubles and how the team was supposed to fly straight to LA after Game 7 but ended up spending last night on the tarmac in NO? Let the latest conspiracy theories commence!
That seems silly. Couldn’t they have just rented a different plane?
That is the second time this post-season that a visiting team has had mechanical issues getting to LA. The Nuggets had a bus break down during the first round.
Tuesday, May 20th Recap:
- Celtics defeat 2) Pistons 88-79: Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 9 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 22, and the Celtics win at home and go up 1-0 in the series. Tayshaun Prince had 16 points, and Rip Hamilton added 15.
Stud of the Night: Kevin Garnett. 26 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, and a 1-0 series lead over the Pistons.
What’s up with Ray Allen shooting poorly as of late?
I suggest he watches a movie titled ‘He Got Game.’ That might help him out.