It was such an excellent weekend of NBA playoff basketball. I don’t even know where to begin. The weekend had great dunks, massive comebacks, plenty of overtime and elite teams taking care of business. We have to bid farewell to the Lakers, who just seemed like a failed experiment from the beginning of the season. The Spurs were simply the much better team, showing it last night as they won the game 103-82 to complete the sweep over the Lakers in the first round. The Heat, looking every bit like the favorite, took care of business in Milwaukee by beating the Bucks 88-77 and also completing the sweep to advance. They were led by a typical LeBron performance (30pts, 8 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl) so for now, the Heat and Spurs can join the rest of us in watching the other teams continue to battle in their games.
How about that Bulls win over the Nets on Saturday afternoon? It tied for the second longest postseason game in NBA history and while the second OT was frustrating to watch, it was still a very entertaining game overall. I’m trying to decide if it was more of a Nets meltdown or a Bulls comeback. If you ask Nate Robinson, it was definitely a Bulls comeback and he was the catalyst (34 pts) for the Bulls on offense as Chicago came back from 14 point deficit with just over 3 minutes left in the game. The action now heads back to Brooklyn as the Nets try to keep the series and their season alive. The Pacers and Clippers, both leading their series, seem to have taken a step back after Saturday’s games. It might more true for Indiana, who looked terrible from the start and only managing to score 30 points in the first half so they have plenty to figure out. It’s scary to see how good the Grizzlies are when both Gasol and Randolph are on point. I have a feeling that this Clippers-Grizzlies series is once again going to finish with a game 7. The Celtics showed lots of heart, taking the victory over the Knicks in overtime to avoid getting swept. I don’t see the Celtics extending the series past game 5 but it was nice to see plenty of fight from a their group.
More trouble this weekend deciding the best performance. LeBron is always a candidate because he’s the best player in the league and his stat line speaks for itself. But we’ll give it to someone not named LeBron and i’m caught between Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Durant’s performance was great because it came shortly after receiving devastating news of Russell Westbook’s injury. The Thunder needed a big performance from their superstar and Durant delivered, scoring 27 points in the first half and also matched his playoff career best with 41. How about this for a shooter’s touch/bounce in such a critical shot? Absolutely ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, Stephen Curry’s 3rd quarter last night was simply must watch basketball. The Nuggets were hanging around in that game, led by Ty Lawson’s own amazing play but Curry was simply too good too often. Curry’s performance ignited the Warriors’ crowd and led the way as they took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. I’m giving Durant’s overall game performance the slight edge on this one even though I think “pound for pound” Curry’s stretch there in the 3rd quarter was the best.
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With Teenage Mutant Ninja Westbrook out its going to be SA/MIA Finals.
Hopefully the Warriors can make some noise though.
Heat and Spurs getting so much rest will make them very dangerous