Well, it looks like the Bulls' chances of getting out of the East just took a huge hit with Rose's injury, and on the flip side the Heat's chances just improved (barf).
That is too bad about D Rose. I really liked he and the Bulls. Great Dal/OKC game last night. Really thought (and hoped) the Mavs were going to win.
Yeah, the Thunder-Mavs game was a good one. I haven't watched that much Western hoops this year since the games start about 4.30 AM here so I didn't realize how STACKED Oklahomas roster is. One could make a case that the trio of Durant-Westbrook-Harden is as good as James-Wade-Bosh (I wouldn't but it's not a crazy idea) ) and add to that the athletic monster Ibaka and a very solid center in Perk. They also have solid defensive role players in Sefolosha and Collison. James stuck to the 11-12 finals script and took the 4th quarter off. I'm pulling for Denver, Boston, and Clippers tonight. I'm indifferent to the Spurs - Jazz game.
OKC has an awesome roster. But if we take this idea on, who matches with who in the big three? Harden is a 6th man. He doesn't play big minutes, and he has a specific role. Even if he was a starter he isn't as good as Wade. Bosh can be an animal aswell. The reality is that no bunch of players can be compared to one with LBJ in that bunch. He is, far and away, the best basketball player in the NBA right now - and even then, DWade throws up+25PER. There is not a single, useful, logical argument against that fact which isn't some baseless homer rant about 4th quarter choking - especially now that it is known that a rookie is the best finisher in the league. I feel terribly sorry for Rose. I wanted to see another CHI-MIA CF. Maybe we will. Who knows. Personally rooting for the Heat and OKC this year. I want LBJ to get a ring.[/quote][/quote]
Awesome unbelievable comeback by the Clippers tonight as they close the game on a 28-3 run to win the game 99-98. For those of you that were sleeping, the Clippers were down by 27 with less than 8 minutes left in the game before CP3 and Blake teamed with bench mob> Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Evans and Nick Young to play their best defensive sequence of the season...in history and edge the Grizzlies by one. This was the largest comeback in playoff history as the Clippers take back home court advantage that they basically had held on to all season until the last game of the season. (They just need to take care of business at home...) Despite the miracle comeback, I am betting dollars to donuts, the Lakers game over the Nuggets will get the first sports story line on tonight's local LA sportscasts...
Wow, that Clips-Grizz game must've been an amazing one. I was going to watch it, but then when I saw the score at half-time I didn't bother. Wow. Just wow. Celts just took a big hit as Rondo idiotically chest bumped the referee in the 4th and got thrown out of the game. He's certainly going to get suspended. I would be very surprised if Rondo's wearing the green next year. I hate the fact that Yahoo! sports' headline when reporting Rose's injury was "The King's road to the ring just got easier". OKC's roster is better balanced than the Heat.
Knew that Clips-Grizz series would be good. Impressive stuff from Drew though, I mean, tying an all-time playoff blocks record and setting a Lakers playoff record given all the great big men that have worn the purple and gold is no small feat. Denver didn't help themselves much with the way they were playing, though to be fair, their team is TINY compared to the Lakers, especially with Pau and Drew inside. My favorite game was Spurs-Jazz; Timmy's still got it and Tony + Manu were great to watch on offense. I'm certain that one's going to be another competitive series. Rondo's love affair with the refs continues. This one's going to be very costly.
Clips Grizz game was amazing. For 3 1/2 quarters, the Clippers played the worst NBA playoff defense I have seen in years, then, they played great defense and just came alive offensively. What a game.
It certainly helped that the Grizz got complacent. Still just one game though, will be interesting to see how Memphis responds. As George Karl said: "This is a series, not a game." Wasn't suprised that despite large leads, both Pop and Mike Brown had starters in until only 2 minutes left either.
Saw the Clips-Grizz game when I got home from work on LP. Even though I knew what happened it was still exciting to watch. Can the Grizz recover I wonder? That 4th quarter was sloppy iso basketball. Credit the Clips D though. I'm bummed the Thunder and Mavs are playing each other in round 1. Both are good enough to make the Finals.
This was despite the Bulls having a 12 pt lead with 75+ seconds left and they lose the franchise player in Rose. Sure a player can go down hurt at anytime during the game, so any time a principle starter has a major injury in a game that is probably already decided, the coach will be second guessed...
The King's road to the finals may have gotten easier, the now there is probably more pressure as now everyone will expect it..... Bulls will stive give its a go and probably still get to the ECF, before succumbing. I am thinking Knicks, Celtics and Magic injuries will eventually catch up with them and Indiana maybe questioning their own issues losing to the Howard less Magic. The unknown factor in the east are the Hawks.
At least one Piston makes the playoffs: Tayshaun Prince will be guest analyst on NBA TV Tuesday night - Detroit Bad Boys
I think Tayshaun set the stage for this early in his career with his solid work on the Wallside Windows commercials. I'm looking forward to seeing if Rip can have some big games now.
Artest- out for buffoonery Staudemire- out for buffoonery Rondo- out for buffoonery Lin- injury Billups- injury Rose- injury Allen- injury Dwight Howard- injury Nash- had great year, but missed playoffs Chandler- traded from defending World Champs Pistons- out of the playoffs due to GM malpractice I'm actually finding this year's playoffs to be a major letdown on many levels... especially after the blow to the Bulls. We had 2 contenders in each conference and now we will see LeBron in the Finals almost without question. Bulls vs Sixers- At this point, even I don't care about the outcome. Heat vs Knicks- Would like to root for the Knicks, but there is zero point. Heat beat them by 40 in game 1 when they were trying. Magic vs Pacers- Without Howard? I could care less. And they still beat IND? That makes it worse. Hawks vs Celtics- At least BOS has Garnett back or this would be a total waste of time for them. I'm mildly interested, but not enough to tune in... maybe just check out a box score before bed. Thunder vs Mavs- Again, killed by the Chandler move. Still somewhat interesting, but sucks that it is 1st round and 2-0. I'd watch this series over all others. Spurs vs Jazz- Boring for 1st round. I'll warm up to the Spurs and root for them if they make a run for sure. Lakers vs Nuggets- This one is a fun match-up. The Artest flare up sort of taints it for me as it overshadows the series at hand and creates annoying drama. Otherwise, this would be my 2nd series to watch. Clippers vs Grizz- I'd watch this if I thought the Clips were a contender. But I don't. They needed Billups to remain in his post prime for this post season in a big way. Overall, I can't ever remember a playoff year with more injured and/or suspended stars. It makes it worse that our home team had a dud of a year (as they were busy tooling).
