I said Paul Pierce would have 40 points—close…the City of Brotherly Love has been holding suit in my crazed NHL/NBA playoff scenario—in fact, they’re the only one—Flyers lose, Sixers win; uh oh…Greg Popovich wins Coach of the Year, Tyson Chandler Defensive Player of the Year, Ryan Anderson Most Improved: What separates the first one from the other two? Pop most-likely will be around for Round Two; sorry, but I liked Serge Ibaka and Ersan Ilyasova in those two spots, so I couldn’t help myself.
I Love LA
Game Two of Lakers/Nuggets taught us a lot—and Game Three will as well, but more on that later.
First…
I love that video because Kobe dropped 38 on Denver, yet the line from my notebook reads, “Video of Kobe blocking Al Harrington…throwing it out there” right after my rough idea of the lead for this piece; that’s how important plays like that are: They get brought up from now on in these playoffs to get the Lakers fired up. Good stuff
Another thing good about Game Two was that Ty Lawson showed up, and the Lake Show still won. Game One Lawson was MIA, but with 25 points and 7 assists (leading the Nuggets in each statistical category), Mr. Ty was impossible to ignore.
Game Three is in the city a mile high, so we’ll see if Denver’s luck changes, because Aaron Afflalo is yet to show up—even if the first two games of this series had to feel like a kind of coming home for the young man out of UCLA—and him having a good game offensively, which we’ve all seen during the regular season, could shift Game Three or Four in Denver’s direction.
The Sweep is on…
Two series are at 3-0 as I write this, and they’ve shared the night thrice, so why not put them into the same segment at least once?
The Miami/New York series has been a real downer, but its shined light on something that makes me smile. Sure, the Knicks have looked a step behind, and game after game is just one more contest in which you could be thrown into a Why Am I Even Watching This Anymore? tizzy, yet no worries. Why?
Because something is quite evident when watching the sidelines in this series: Heat Coach Eric Spoelstra lets his team run wild—coaching by trust, or coaching lack thereof; your choice—but coach of the Knicks Mike Woodson can’t push his players hard or far enough.
This creates quite a quandary if you ask me…or is it? Wait until the Heat plays a team that listens to their coach and enacts his practices; then, we’ll watch Super Bron Bron sulk off the court once again, watching the NBA Finals on television with the rest of us.
[caption id="attachment_956" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Photo Credit: Ron T. Ennis/Star-Telegram"]
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OKC/Dallas, however, has been all smiles, all the time. And last night made it ten times better.
Rick Carlisle had a temper tantrum—man, I wanted him to attack an official; that would’ve been great—Mark Cuban and his cursing while sitting in the stands on live television and (the best part) the only game that wasn’t a nail-biter thus far was in Dallas; get out the brooms people…
Celtics Celtics Celtics
They scare me, short-handed or not; it just doesn’t matter.
Boston hosts Atlanta tonight, and with Rondo back, I like them big in this one. Paul Pierce is one fire; he led the Celtics with 36&14 in Game Two. And there’s Avery Bradley playing ball like a big kid now. Ray Allen’s coming back.
Prediction: Rajon Rondo posts another triple-double tonight or in Game Four; this guy was mad that the NBA made him sit out a game, so make up for lost time number nine.
Get Busy Watching
ATL/BOS on ESPN
CHI/PHI on ESPN2
LAL/DEN on ESPN
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