NBA BeatDown FastBreak 05.07.08: Pistons, Hornets Take Game 2, Celtics take Game 1 Over Cavaliers
Posted by BL Anderson on 05.07.2008
Remember when I said that Duncan would come back with a big game two for the Spurs? Well...he did, it's just that everyone else wearing black and silver sucked the meat missile...
NBA BeatDown FastBreak 05.07.08
HEllo everyone I'm BL Anderson and this is the BeatDown FastBreak. I took another day's hiatus yesterday due to just being tired, try to to disappoint again, though I didn't exactly receive a billion emails about how I missed it, and I better not again or I'm going to get the hook, or get a cake with a bomb in it sent to my house or anything.
Let's not dilly-dally, and get right to the three big Semi-Final match-ups that occurred on...
BL's Take: Orlando should have won this one, and it's due to the shot clock malfunction, which occurred on a big play in the 3rd quarter. For those of you that missed it, the Pistons inbounded the ball, rushed it down court, with the shot clock stuck at 4.6; the shot clock never moved, and time SHOULD HAVE expired, but no buzzer...and Chauncey Billups hits a three after time SHOULD HAVE expired.
I think that, due to the refs not just STARTING THE PLAY OVER, and also considering that, in NBA Playoff basketball that every possession counts, this sucked the life out of the Magic, who were playing the Pistons in a very close contest.
Otherwise, the story of this game was the Pistons doing what they were supposed to, and that is win their home playoff games. The Magic figured out how to get past the Dwight Howard ball denial issue, and he obviously brought his A-game; they even got a good game out of Jameer Nelson; it's a shame they couldn't utilize that to get a victory.
Orlando will continue to remain focused and make this a series at home. If they do not, they will be another disappointing sweep in the playoffs due to lack of focus by every member of their team. But if I had to point to one glaring reason why the Magic lost this ballgame, I would definitely say that the shot clock stuff was it. NEXT.
BL's Take: It's almost a case of 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't' with the Hornets this year in the playoffs; it seems like every game where a team is able to limit the number of possessions that Chris Paul has a positive affect on, David West steps up and creates opportunities to stretch the defense. In games where West is off, Chris Paul looks like the MVP of the league! I think that Chris Paul is putting together a pretty amazing body of work for the playoffs, and I for one underestimated his ability to get the job done at this level.
And the Spurs got blown out...AGAIN! They are playing like a team that just doesn't want it bad enough. Assuredly they come back and take care of things in game 3, right? RIGHT?!?!?! I mean...won't they? Maybe the Spurs don't have the tools to beat the Hornets, who have every offensive aspect covered. Got a rebounder? Check (Tyson Chandler). Got a drive-and-dish guy who can create his own shot? (Chris Paul) Check. Got a deadly 3-pt shooter, one of the best ever? (Peja Stojakovic) Check. Got bench scoring contributors that, even if they have a bad game, still have to be considered offensive threats? (Bonzi Wells, Mike James, Jannero Pargo) Check!
I fear for the Spurs at this point, and I am scared to jinx this any further by sying that the Spurs are going to win game 3 at home, because I just don't know. I just...don't know.
BL's Take: This one was a friggin slugfest, all the way down to the fall-asleep pace. Man, we had all-stars who stunk up the joint (Ray Allen 0-4 FG and Paul Pierce (2-14! FG) on both sides of the court LeBron James 2-18 FG!!!!!), we had a large lithuanian man doing what he does best (Ilgauskas hits mid-range J's, yo), and we had Kevin Garnett dictating the tempo of the contest (highly unusual).
And LeBron kept chucking them up, trying to take the responsibility for the issue at hand, and this merely proved what happens when LeBron is not a factor; Paul Pierce had a terrible game too, but played really good defense on James, that I know. LeBron was forced shots over Pierce's outstretched hand. LeCrybaby will bounce back in the 2nd game, I'm sure, but the C's will have an easy time of that, too. C's are just too much, too many threats; too many guns.
I'll be back tomorrow night with more playoff thoughts.
Hornets are shocking us all. I mean I figured it would be a long series but I didn't see even ONE blowout coming. I don't even know what to expect next. Chris Paul is one of the top five players to watch hands down. Is it a changing of the guard in the West? Magic got robbed. That Boston-Cleveland game was hard to watch. LeBron cannot shoot 3's I don't know why he keeps taking them. I think if the Cavs lose that series they will look back at last night, that was the road game to take and they blew it.
Posted By: JM (Guest) on May 07, 2008 at 10:06 AM
oh come on, blaming shot clocks for the loss?
Posted By: swanson (Guest) on May 07, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Well....sure I am. Not totally, but it certainly took the wind out of their sails. When they say that every possession counts in the NBA...by God they MEAN it, and so do I.
Posted By: BL Anderson (Registered) on May 07, 2008 at 02:04 PM
