On The Sidelines 4.23.08: NBA Playoff Weekend Recap, Owners Approve Sonics' Move to OKC, and More

Posted by Porfirio Diaz on 04.23.2008

The NBA playoffs started last weekend and produced many memorable moments, including having one of the best first round games in years. Other moments included Gasol's coming out party and the Sixers upsetting the Pistons. Not to mention West punking Dirk, LeBron punking the Wizards, and the Jazz punking the Rockets. Also, the owners approve the move to send the Sonics from Seattle to Oklahoma City and why I think it will be a big hit for Oklahoma City.

The NBA finished having one of the best seasons the league has ever had, so it will be hard for the playoffs to live up to the same hype. But so far, so good. So let's go ahead and start from there.


Inside The Lines

Western Conference Weekend

Note: I made my predictions on Friday and are in parenthesis next to the scores.

Suns 115 Spurs 117 (2OT) (Suns in 7)
This was the best first round game in a long time. Great basketball, great clutch moments, great drama. I felt that the Suns were the best team on the court and should have won this game. The Suns gave the Spurs all that they could handle and almost stole home court, but the Spurs executed better down the stretch, with the help of a little luck. The Suns had the game won but it was taken away, much to my displeasure.

Seriously, how could the Suns not foul in both closing moments of the game? The first time was near the end of regulation, when the Suns had a three point lead and let Michael Finley hit that 3. Of course, it was a great play, as Finley caught the pass from Ginobili and shot it all in one motion. Then the second time, same situation and the Suns had the three point lead. Why didn't they foul? The Suns had plenty of time to foul before Tim Duncan had the ball.



After Tim Duncan made that lucky 3 point shot, it reminded me of Duncan's off balanced shot in the Lakers-Spurs series in 2004. You know, before Derek Fisher's even luckier 18-foot jumper with 0.4 seconds left. I was hoping for something similar here. Alas, the game continued and Suns this time tied it up near the end. Then in a brilliant move, Spurs didn't call a timeout, catching the Suns off guard and having the best sixth man in recent history score the winning basket. Gregg Popovich scored with a brilliant game plan and once again outcoached the clueless Mike D'Antonio. Here's to more basketball goodness from these two teams.

Mavs 92 Hornets 104 (Hornets in 6)
Chris Paul dominated in the second half, owned Jason Kidd ("He can't guard me!"), and had one of the league's better playoff debuts with 35 points, 10 assists, 4 steals, and 1 turnover. Can anyone stop CP3 at this point? That's how a MVP candidate should play. As Nelson would say, "That horse doesn't take no guff from no one." Unlike a certain MVP that was playing in the same game…

During the game, David West and Dirk got into it a little bit. Then West starting tapping Dirk's cheek and questioned his toughness. Dirk just looked intensely and deeply into his eyes...



Come on Dirk. I defended you when you came back from that injury near the end of the season sooner than people thought. But you just stood there and took it like a sissy. Someone like one of the two Charles, Barkley or Oakley, would have battered West. Others would have pushed his arm away. I don't think Dirk should punch him or do anything that would hurt his team, but to do nothing is worse. He's supposed to be the leader of the team and all he does is nothing? That was basically admitting your own softness and weakness to the opponent. Though that's always been Dirk's character and we shouldn't be all that surprised. Maybe we're all making a big deal out of nothing and it will become an afterthought soon enough. Still, it'll be interesting to see how the Mavs respond in Game 2. Wooooooooooo.

Update: Hornets just creamed the Mavs 127-103 in Game 2. Keep tapping that cheek West!

Jazz 93 Rockets 82 (Jazz in 6)
Rockets are already in trouble and after just one game. No Rafer Alston and Yao Ming was going to be tough for the Rockets and it showed. Stat wise, both teams were nearly even but Jazz hammered down the Rockets with defense and good team play. The Jazz were only 17-24 on the road this season, but the Rockets didn't stand a chance against the much stronger and much healthier Jazz team. T-Mac can't do it alone, he needed his role players to step up but that's always been the knock on T-Mac. He's a good player and plays hard, but he can't make players that much better and is just not the leader that he's making himself out to be. When T-Mac has the ball, it seemed like his teammates just stopped, stand around and watch him do his thing. Of course, how many excuses can one man get before being labeled as a big league choker?

Game 2 happened Monday, and while the game was closer and the Rockets played better, the Rockets couldn't close it out, losing 90-84 and now go back to Utah down 0-2. There was a moment in the game where Sacramento favorite Bobby Jackson hit a 3-pointer that would have tied the game 85-85 but Scola "pushed" Kirilenko for an offensive foul. In reality, Kirilenko exaggeratedly flopped in a way that would make Vlade Divac proud, pissing off the hot Houston crown. Korver hit an awesome one-handed shot and that was when the game was over. That might have been the defining moment of this series right there.

Nuggets 114 Lakers 128 (Lakers in 5)
The Nuggets actually kept it pretty close for a good portion of the game. But the lacking defense and the fact that they stopped hitting shots caught up to them. And that's the Nuggets in a nutshell. Make them miss and the game is pretty much over. Lakers cruised after three quarters behind Pau Gasol's 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 assists. That's what scary about the Lakers. Kobe doesn't need to be the center of attention for the Lakers to win games anymore. Now he has someone like Gasol to take some pressure off of him. Other than that, the only memorable thing was when the crowd chanted "D-U-I, D-U-I" whenever Melo shot free throws. I found that to be pretty clever. Now look for Nuggetfan to come up with something for Mr. Bean Consensual when the Lakers go back to Denver.



Oh, and one other note. It seems that Andrew Bynum is not close to coming back any time soon, according to Phil Jackson. Now the Lakers have a conundrum. It's obvious that they are having their best year since 2004, and that having Bynum would make them unstoppable. Of course, the risk is there for him to re-injure himself or risk team chemistry that's doing very well so far. So should the Lakers save Bynum for next year or risk bringing him back to better their playoff chances? It's unknown how successful the Lakers will be in the future, despite what many experts say. Might as well cash in this year's accomplishment and bring Bynum back as soon as possible.

Eastern Conference Weekend

Wizards 86 Cavaliers 93 (Cavs in 7)
If T-Mac wants to study some tape of playoff performances, he should go ahead and borrow some of LeBron's tapes. It was expected. After all, it was the Wizards (specifically DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas) who called out the Cavs, saying that LeBron was overrated and that they wanted to play against them. Maybe they should do less talking and more trying to put the ball in the hoop while stopping LeBron from doing the same. Wizards didn't attack the rim and their defense suffered late in the game. The Cavs seem to gel at the right time with their new makeover and are looking pretty good in reaching the Eastern Finals again.



Game 2 happened Monday, and it was worse for the Wizards. How much worse? Well, not only did LeBron get a near triple double (30 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists), but the Wizards also got pwned in a 30 point beat down, losing 86-116. Make room Mark Cuban, you might have a new sad panda blogging buddy soon.

Raptors 100 Magic 114 (Magic in 6)
I predicted that Howard would own Bosh and his overrated defense. That's what happened, as Howard scored a monster 25 point and 22 rebound game in a victory over the Raptors. Chris Bosh did alright (26 points, 6 rebounds) but was mostly guarded pretty well. Plus, he's no Dwight Howard, everyone's favorite incarnation of Superman. I can't give Howard all the credit. Jameer Nelson pulled a Tony Parker impression and slashed his way to the basket, with a touch of good defense. Hedo was able to bring his All-Star form as well. If the Magic continue to play like this, they could be the one's challenging the Celtics in the East, rather than our next team.

Update: Saw the final moments of Game 2 and it was awesome. Raptors got every break they got and still couldn't get the victory. That one high layup by Hedo was amazing and Howard continues to be a beast in the playoffs.

Sixers 90 Pistons 86 (Pistons in 4)
And here I thought that the Pistons would be the ones challenging the Celtics, yet they lost to a playoff newbie. The young, athletic Sixers weren't expected to do much against the experienced and defensive minded team like the Pistons but they pulled out the first upset of the playoffs. This is dangerous ground for the Pistons. They have given Sixers a reason for hope and a load of confidence that allows them to do this again. Of course, the Pistons are the only team to still be in cruise control. They won't play hard unless they really need too. So look for them to do so once they are down 0-3 in the series.

Hawks 81 Celtics 104 (Celtics in 5)
So I have the Hawks winning one game, thinking that they could run a Golden State style offense against a well built, but slow team. Hey, there are still three games left. The only thing to note is that Kevin Garnett is this year's defensive player of the year. 2 for 2 on my award prediction picks right now.


NBA owners approve move to OKC

The beginning of the end for basketball in Seattle is approaching, as NBA owners voted 28-2 in favor of relocating the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. Dallas owner, Mark Cuban, and Portland owner, Paul Allen, were the only ones against the move. The relocation will carry a $30 million dollar fee and could begin moving to Oklahoma City as early as next season. With the move, the Sonics would be the first NBA team since 2002 to change cities since the Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans.

I've already discussed my feelings about how this situation is handled and the sleaziness involved in my last column. So this week, I will discuss the move itself and whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for Oklahoma City.

When the Hornets had to move after the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina, it was Oklahoma City that took them in for the meantime. It was during the time when the Hornets were abysmal and attendance was low, ranking last in that category. But once the team was granted to play in the 19,675-seat Ford Center arena, interest started to rise on the team and fans were coming, resulting in a pretty eventful and loud place to be in. It was often referred to as the Arco Arena of the Midwest. It was eventually considered a huge success. Now that the Sonics are going to be moving there, I predict similar success. Now obviously, Oklahoma City is not near the market that Seattle is (which again questions the whole move in general), but people don't really care much about that. Plus, there are plans to upgrade the Ford Centerand many feel it can be filled on a nightly basis.

This was pretty much a winning situation for Oklahoma City. They brought in a team that was in disarray from tragedy, knowing that they couldn't keep them for long. But because of that, they now get to experience having their own NBA franchise, albeit a used one. As for the team itself, if Kevin Durant becomes the player that everyone think he will become, then the city will have their first professional and marketable superstar. Not to mention that the people can follow this young team where they can hopefully grow into playoff contenders someday.

Yes, it's very sad to see Clay Bennett throw away 40+ years of basketball history and kill Seattle basketball once and for all, but the loss turns into a great opportunity for Oklahoma City to experience growth, both from the team and from the city itself.


Out of Bounds

- Isaiah thomas fired from the Knicks. Knickfan rejoices while million others will miss the unintentional comedy that he brought to us every day. Now how are we supposed to get our daily dose of New York hilarity? Saturday Night Live? Great.

- More depressing news from Seattle, as the Seahawks cut former MVP Shaun Alexander. Man, that Madden Curse is really harsh. Really shocked this happened, as I though a running tantrum of Alexander and Julius Jones would work really well. I guess that's why I'm not a general manager of a professional football team.

- I was listening to my local radio sports station, KHTK, the other day and someone posed an interesting question: would you take Dirk Nowitzki in his prime or Charles Barkley in his prime?

- Speaking of KHTK, one of the station's radio hosts, Carmichael Dave, recently has been doing an 80s movie tournament. Final four included Breakfast Club defeating Better Off Dead and Beverly Hill Cops defeating Caddy Shack, the biggest sham ever to happen. I understand the popularity of Beverly Hill Cops, but over Caddy Shack? Over one of the best comedies of all time? Anyway, the tournament is now into it's final match: Breakfast Club vs. Beverly Hill Cops and I think Breakfast Club will win this one. Also, Ferris Bueller's Day Off not being in the Final Four at all is another big sham.

- I saw the three presidential candidates and their speeches on Raw. Hearing Barack say one of the Rock's catch phrases was pretty funny, albeit in a wooden manner. I don't know what the whole thing was supposed to accomplish, but the publicity for it seems pretty negative. Also saw the "wrestling match" between Hill-Rod and the Barack, and thought "Bill Clinton" was great.



- Emma Watson turned 18 and really, she does nothing for me. She still looks like a little kid. Plus, just look at that forehead. But now you, Johnny Q. Perv, can finally have your Harry Potter fantasy dreams fulfilled without acting guilty about it.



- Oh wait, there's still Hank Steinbrenner! Never mind.

Final Seconds

Suns vs. Spurs Game 2! Watch it! Also watch Game 3 and beyond for more great basketball.


And that's ball game. See you next time.