The Three Point Play 05.11.08: D'Antoni Heads to New York, Plus Tons of Weekend Playoff Action

Posted by Blake Lovell on 05.11.2008

Mike D'Antoni has officially left the highly talented Phoenix Suns for.....the 59-loss Knicks? Also, the Pistons steal Game 4 in Orlando, while the Cavs hammer the Celtics in Cleveland. All of that and more in this action-packed edition of the Three Point Play!

Hello again everyone, and welcome to another playoff edition of the Three Point Play. What a weekend thus far in the NBA, with lots of on the court action, as well as off the off the court action. The coaching carousel is certainly in full swing now, with the Knicks grabbing a coach, which leaves the Suns (and Bulls) looking for a coach. There have been several good games the last couple days, which is better than a few of the blowouts we saw in previous days. And finally we saw a team win on the road in this round. I was starting to wonder if that was ever going to happen, as the home teams have pretty much been a lock until this point. But again, as the series get longer, games will be closer because there is even more on the line. That's when it gets fun. When you've teams battling in a sixth or seventh game, with a trip to the Conference Finals on the line. The game doesn't get much better than that. With all that aside, it's time to get to the big stories in the NBA, as there's quite a bit going on. There's so much going on that I've had to talk about the Celtics-Cavs and Spurs-Hornets in the Bonus section. Yeah, that's how crazy it's been this weekend in the league.

1. Worlds Collide

It's official Knickerbocker fans, the Isiah Thomas era is officially over now that the organization has found a new coach in Mike D'Antoni. Let the debate begin in New York City as to whether or not this was the right guy for the job. Here's what I think. D'Antoni has been one of the better coaches in the league the last few seasons, and did a great job in Phoenix, and it was inevitable that he would leave there after the first round playoff loss this year. But New York was not the place to go for him. Chicago was the much better fit for D'Antonio in my opinion. The pieces were in place in for Chicago to make a deep run in the playoffs soon, but that is not the case in New York. The Knicks have talent, don't get me wrong. But they are not as talented as the Bulls, and D'Antoni's preferred style of play doesn't really blend well with the current players in the Big Apple.

The fact of the matter is, Donnie Walsh is going to have to make some significant roster moves this off-season if he wants this team to be a winner under D'Antoni's system. I find it hard to figure out where guys like Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph will fit into the new style of play. D'Antoni tried to slow it down in Phoenix with Shaq, and that got him nowhere. I just don't see the Knicks moving Randolph anywhere, so it will definitely be interesting to see where he fits into the run-and-gun basketball. Jamal Crawford was made for this type of system, so it shouldn't be too much trouble for him, and he has the potential to be a huge asset for the Knicks next season. David Lee and Renaldo Balkman could be useful as well, as they could be similar to the way Boris Diaw was used in Phoenix, although they don't quite have the shooting ability that he did. Those two guys play hard, and can get down the floor well for big men, which is clearly stressed in D'Antoni's system.

I think it's safe that it could be a busy offseason for the Knicks. Things have officially changed now that Thomas is no longer the coach, and steps have to be taken to ensure that D'Antoni has the personnel to succeed. There will be some big free agents on the market, so the Knicks need to land a top guy if they are going to turn things around in a hurry. I'm not sure a quick fix is possible considering what Thomas did to the organization, but you gotta start somewhere. Now this brings about other questions, specifically for Chicago and Phoenix. Who do they turn to now? Avery Johnson is still on the market, and if defense is what they want in Phoenix, Johnson is certainly a defensive-minded coach. He would also be a good fit in Chicago though. If Johnson does indeed go to one of these two teams, then the one who doesn't get his services may find it difficult to find a proven coach. We'll see what happens. All I know is that it should be interesting to read some newspapers in New York concerning the D'Antoni hiring.

2. Prince Tayshaun

Boy what a bad loss for the Magic. They grab a 15 point lead in the third quarter to go up 63-48, then proceed to let the Pistons score 15 straight to tie it up at 63. This is the kind of loss that ends a series. After something like this, it's going to be hard for them to rebound and pick up a must-win in Detroit. I just can't see the Pistons allowing this to go back to Orlando. Although there probably isn't a large following for these two teams despite in their home city, this was actually a pretty good game to watch. One of the better playoff games this year probably (but nothing has yet to come close to Spurs-Suns Game 1). It was back and forth game until Orlando took the big lead in the third, but of course the Pistons answered and made it a ballgame. While it wasn't in the great category, it was still good basketball, and again, this loss has to hurt for Stan Van Gundy and the Magic. Detroit was without their leader, Chauncey Billups, yet they still found a way to finish the game and head back home with a secure lead. The Pistons weren't really in a must-win situation, yet they won anyway, and now have some breathing room.

Richard Hamilton had a big game, going for 30+, and Tayshaun Prince hit the game winner for Pistons with around nine seconds left. Prince is a very underrated player, and the guy just finds ways to get the job done. He's not flashy, and he doesn't have an excellent shot, but he figures out how to score. Even without Billups to run the show, guards like Lindsey Hunter and Rodney Stuckey found ways to get the ball in the hands of Wallace, Hamilton, and Prince. You have to give a lot of credit to those guys as they didn't make mistakes that cost their team the game, despite having played limited minutes in the playoffs thus far. For the Magic, Dwight Howard couldn't get anything going offensively. Hedo Turkoglu heated up late, but couldn't get the final shot of the game to drop. All in all, it was just the kind of game the Magic will look back on if they lose the series, and wonder what might have been.

3. Ingredient for Playoff Success = A Home Game

Friday night, the Jazz did something they had to do. Win. Now they have a chance to even the series up in Game 4 (Sunday, 3:30 PM ET, ABC), and send things back to L.A. all even. Despite the matchup problems we've talked about the Jazz having, they but those aside and really just took it to the Lakers for four quarters. Mehmet Okur had a good shooting night, Deron Williams had a double-double with points and assists, and Carlos Boozer had a monster night, scoring 27 points and grabbing 20 boards. Those kind of nights are a necessity from that trio if the Jazz want to have a chance of winning this series. The crowd was hot all night, and that definitely had something to do with the five point win as well. It's clearly one of the toughest places to play in the NBA, if not the toughest. I can tell ya one thing, the Lakers really want to take Game 4, because they want to try and finish this series out in L.A. so they don't have to make the trek back to Utah. It's just not an easy place to win. Period.

Intensity was key for the Jazz on Friday night, as they were totally pumped up, and looked like they had some life in them. We didn't see that type of determination in Los Angeles, as it just looked like they were playing a regular season game that meant nothing. The Lakers were steps quicker than them in L.A., but it was a different story in Utah. The Jazz were quicker to loose balls, and were very physical in the paint. That's exactly what they have to do in order to beat the more athletic Lakers. The matchups just aren't favorable in several positions, but that's bound to happen when an MVP like Kobe is on the opposing team. You can't shut him down, but you can limit what he does so that he doesn't get others involved as well, and allow them a chance to have a big game.

If the Jazz can come out with the same type of intensity they had in Game 3, you would have to believe they are the favorites heading into Game 4, since it is once again in Utah, and the home teams are having excellent success in the Semi-Finals. Just as the Lakers don't want the series to have a possibility of going back to Utah, the Jazz don't want to go back to Los Angeles down 3-1 and face elimination. Kobe will continue to be Kobe, so if the Jazz can just find a way to contain the role players of the Lakers, they can really make this an intriguing series that could go the distance. And the Jazz must continue to pass the ball well. At times they put on a passing exhibition in Game 3, and if they can keep the ball moving to keep the Lakers defense off guard, they can really gain some advantages. I was really looking forward to this series before it started, as these two teams have had some good games in the past, and should keep providing us with some entertainment this post-season.

THE BONUS

- And the Celtics have yet to win on the road in the playoffs. Heck, at times, the Celtics just look awful on the road. Kinda like they did in Game 3 in Cleveland. The Cavs jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back, as they hammered Boston, and put up over 100 points in the process. At home, the Celtics barely allow 75 points. Now they allow 108 on the road. That's not the way champions play. If the Celtics want to be considered a favorite to win the NBA crown, they better figure something out in a hurry. Even Joe Smith got in on the scoring for the Cavs, and Lebron had a much better night. He made a couple of blocks off the glass that were just amazing. He's a freak of nature. Hopefully the Celtics will treat us to a better showing in Game 4, but given their road woes so far in the playoffs, I wouldn't count on it.

- The Spurs had a huge win Thursday night, and they get ready for another huge game tonight (8 PM ET, TNT). Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had big-time games the other night, and if the Spurs want to send this back to New Orleans tied, they have to be effective once again. Parker makes these guys go on offense, and he needs to be able to keep Chris Paul in check defensively. But speaking of Chris Paul, this guy is just pure money. He's a big time player, and the playoff stage has not bothered him one bit. He's going to continue to get better, and that's just a scary thought. Game 4 should be another great game to watch between these two teams, and the pressure is on the Spurs, because they need this one bad. Defending the more athletic Hornets will once again be a huge task, but the Spurs have shown that they are capable of shutting down guys like Peja Stojakovic, especially when Bruce Bowen gets the assignment.

- The Rick Carlisle deal is official in Dallas for him to become the next head coach. Ok Mavs fans, good move, or bad move?

- On a side note, it was good to see Tiger Woods at the game in Orlando. Now if he could just get back on the golf course, maybe I could start watching some golf again.

That's all for this jam-packed edition of the Three Point Play. Tune in next time for more playoff coverage. Let me know what you think about the coaching moves and the playoff action by leaving a comment, or dropping me an email.