Ah, those sweet, sweet words in this country’s professional sports leagues: game 7. Is there anything more interesting or greater than seeing the ultimate do-or-die game? Thanks to last night’s games, we’re going to see three in a row on Saturday. I’ve actually been feeling under the weather for a few days now but if there are even MORE game 7s this weekend after tonight’s games, I’ll be last person complaining about having to stay in all weekend propped up on my couch. As usual, i’m getting ahead of myself so let’s just get back to last night’s action. The Pacers survived a thriller in Atlanta last night, getting the victory on the road and forcing a final game 7 in Indiana. Is this the turning point for Indiana in the playoffs? I don’t think the Pacers should even be in this position to begin with but if they’re going to use something to fuel their postseason run, a nice game 6 victory on the road would be a good start. Indiana’s win last night was required to extend the series but that doesn’t mean it was impressive in any form. Atlanta made crucial mistakes and allowed Indiana to control the tempo when it came to crunch time. We still haven’t seen Roy Hibbert for what seems like two weeks now and we still haven’t seen the Pacers play dominant basketball since game 2. That seems like ages ago. What do the Hawks have to change so that they can complete the biggest upset of the playoffs? Well, for one they need to do a better job of running plays and controlling the clock in crunch time. Indiana can still turn on the defense to an elite level. Atlanta needs to lean heavily on their game 5 performance and use that as their stepping stone if they plan on winning in Indiana tomorrow night.
Right now, NBA fans are as fortunate as they can be because tomorrow will feature (not 1, not 2…) another 7th game. Thanks to Kevin Durant, or “Mr Unreliable” apparently, and the rest of the Thunder team, we’re going back to Oklahoma City for the final game of the series after their victory over the Memphis Grizzlies last night. Durant was quick to shun the negative headlines that were surrounding him and put on a show last night, right when the Thunder needed it most. Sure, #35 on the Thunder still hasn’t found his rhythm from beyond the arc but he was still effective last night, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The game started with some back-and-forth action but right before halftime, the Thunder went on a nice run and controlled the game from there. Impressive because Memphis is usually the kind of team that controls the pace of the game with their post play. But last night it was all OKC from nearly start to finish. The biggest problem for Memphis last night was their outside shooting. If you’re going to keep up with the Thunder, only making three 3-pointers is not going to cut it. I’ll be interested to see which team comes out with more fire under them in tomorrow’s game. It seems like whoever controls the tempo in this series ultimately goes on to win once the final buzzer sounds. And once the final buzzer sounds tomorrow night, we will have a winner to this series. Is it too much to ask for one more overtime between Memphis and OKC?
Maybe we’ll get an overtime as the series between the Warriors and Clippers heads back to sunny southern California. It wasn’t the most exciting of games but in the end, Golden State was just a little better than the Clippers last night as the action heads back to Los Angeles for a big game 7. The game still came down to the final minute but it wasn’t a game like we’d seen in the rest of the series. Plagued by some not-so-impressive shooting and plenty of foul trouble, this great match up just didn’t live up to the reputation. Was it because of the bad shooting that we saw so many fouls? Or were the officials just making sure that nothing would get out of the hand. Quickly: the refs haven’t been great in the playoffs so far and if the level of play goes down, we could see them get more attention. But the Warriors did have a big positive last night and his name was Draymond Green. Sure he only managed 14 points but his 14 rebounds and his defense in all spots on the floor made such a big difference. It was “grown man playoff basketball” as most would like to call it. Green was impressive and the rest of the Warriors did enough to put their team on top. Was has to change for the Clippers? Well, for one, they can’t have Blake Griffin fouling out before we even get into the final minutes of the game. Last night’s game wasn’t so great but I have a strong feeling we’re going to see an excellent game 7 between these two teams.
What do you know, we also have a chance to see even MORE game 7s if the victories fall in place once again tonight. Things kick off in Brooklyn, where the Nets are trying to force the series to go to the max and the Raptors are trying to advance and square off against Miami. Can the Raptors end the series early or will Brooklyn force it back to Toronto? Dallas will also be trying to send the series back down I-35 as the Spurs are in town, trying to end the postseason dreams for the Mavs. Can my Mavericks spark another victory or will San Antonio do away with their in-state rivals? Finally, we head back out west to Portland where the Blazers will get their second chance to close out the Rockets. Can Houston bring the series back to their place or will Portland win it in front of their fans? No surprise here: i’m rooting for all series to have a 7th game.
View All Photos ›
