EAST
Atlanta 2 - Indiana 1
Miami 2 - Charlotte 0
Brooklyn 2 - Toronto 1
Washington 2 - Chicago 1
WEST
Dallas 1 - San Antonio 1
Memphis 2 - Oklahoma City 1
Clippers 2 - Golden State 1
Portland 2 - Houston 0
WAS-CHI just ended, POR-HOU just started.
Bulls needed that one; teams down 0-3 are 0-108 in the series all time. So far the road team has won all 3 games in this series. Getting Nene ejected killed the Wizards. Trevor Booker is just not a sufficient substitute for Nene. Having him out the next game does not bode well for Washington either. Even if he’s not scoring, just having his big body in there to bang around with Noah is an advantage for the Wizards.
I kinda dislike “having” a team in the playoffs. It’s much less stressful when your team is effectively eliminated from the playoffs before the All-Star break.
The East is pretty bad overall, but still it’s fun to see some teams we haven’t seen in a while doing well. The Wizards going Twin Towers (Gortat and Nene) was really working for them (and Ariza contributing a lot); having Nene gone for a game after he stupidly grabbed the other dude’s head will now make that a very competitive series.
Even Charlotte has been giving mighty Miami a run for their money. A few points here and there, Charlotte could have been up 2-0 by now!
A few months ago, it sure looked like a fun OKC-Indiana finals was a possibility. Now, Indiana has had an epic month-long meltdown, and OKC looks somewhat vulnerable as well.
I think the best first-round series – it has a built-in potential rivalry, and lots of eager young talent – is Clippers-Warriors. (Memphis-OKC is a close second). Blake Griffin is starting to show that he can be more than just a monster dunkfest.
Nice to see Brooklyn settling into being a good-but-not-great team – maybe Jason Kidd has the makings of a decent coach after all. Paul Pierce still has some quality minutes in him – impressive.
I’m still pretty confident Washington takes the series. Even with Nene out, where are the points coming from for the Bulls? Mike Dunleavy’s not going to put up 30+ a game. Take him away and that game is not even close.
Moving west…let’s not count San Antonio out. They are crafty, and know how to expend their energy wisely. As a recent Slam article points out, Tony Parker is one of the most underrated point guards in recent memory.
Don’t expect much. Pretty sure golf is more popular on this board than the NBA.
Troy Daniels who?
For all around competitiveness this is probably the best first round I’ve seen in my life. How many OTs have there been? I’m enjoying the Harden-Lin-Dwight and Durant-Westbrook mini-chemistry meltdowns. Also all the big men stepping up. Always a fan of big men working the post and mid-range.
As for the Pacers, well…damn. I didn’t think they’d have a realistic shot at beating the Heat, but I thought they’d at least get to the ECF. Haven’t seen a team this good collapse this hard before. At least, not without an injury. Hibbert always had confidence issues, hot/cold stretches, and I know he was seeing a sports psychologist a couple years back, but good lord! He’s a bonafide scrub now. Did he get that threatened by Bynum? Did the pressure and expectations get to him?
I know Paul George let the hype go to his head. Dude turned into a preening primma donna chucking up Kobe shots. And Lance is always a bit of a bonehead but at least he always tries hard. And their point guard situation is dubious at best but that was the case all year. We seriously gonna lose to a Horford-less Atlanta? smh.
It’s official, Nene is suspended.
The problem was Nene instigated the entire thing. The head but wasn’t too bad but he crossed the line when he grabbed Butler by the back of the head and tried to push him to the ground.
Worth a suspension? Maybe, maybe not, but the refs can’t afford to lose control of the game and if you pull that kind of nonsense you’re gonna get bit.
Is there a free, legal way to stream radio coverage of the playoffs to my iPhone? I work until 8 PM Central time Mon-Thurs and often have to leave work right in the middle of a good game!
Last year Nate Robinson had one of the best playoffs of any player ever, at points he carried the Bulls entire offensive load by himself. He took over quarters and looked like prime Iverson out there. And the Bulls let him go, because apparently you only need one player who can score per team.
