On The Sidelines 05.14.08: Semi-Final Weekend games, Stern and Pyrotechnics, and More
Posted by Porfirio Diaz on 05.14.2008
Results and storylines from over the weekend, including a disappearing act by the Magic, Celtics' road woes, Kobe's hurt back, and the Spurs being back to championship form. Plus, David Stern wants to tone down the fireworks and pyrotechnics at NBA games. Does he have a point? You're a click away from finding out.
The NBA playoffs continue to drag along over the weekend, so let's see the results and storylines from each series.
Inside The Lines
NBA Playoff Semi-Finals Weekend
Pistons 90 Magic 89 (Pistons lead 3-1)
Magic had a golden opportunity to tie the series while Chauncey Billups sat out with a hamstring injury and what happens? They choke under pressure.
I thought Orlando was good enough to beat Detroit in a seven game series, but this game shows that the Magic are not quite to that level just yet. I mean, they lost to a team that didn't have their leader on the floor and who was replaced by Rodney Stuckey. So the Magic lost to a team with a point guard who started for the first time of his career and that nobody but Pistonfan knows. To the Pistons credit, they alternated between Stuckey and recently activated Lindsay Hunter, and still managed to pull out with the win. They also became the only team in the second round to win a game on the road. With Billups gone, Rip Hamilton stepped up as the go-to guy and scored 32 points on 12-24 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Magic go back to Detroit thinking about how this one got away. Now that makes 10 loses out of 11 games to the Pistons in the playoffs. Howard had a poor offensive performance, Jameer Nelson couldn't guard anyone, and Hedo missed a game winning, series tying shot. Though to be fair, Hedo was the reason they had the opportunity to win the game in the first place but even so, they shouldn't have been in that position at all. The Magic should have won this game, but got outplayed by the better team that night. While the talent level between the two teams are close, Detroit's combination of experience and ability to play better as a team were too much for the Magic to handle and the result shows.
Nelson guaranteed a win for game 5 on Tuesday, so of course look for the Pistons to beat the Magic by a 20 point margin, whether Billups plays or not. I just can't see the Magic going back to Detroit and winning a game there, not after a frowny-face performance like that. But the Magic still have a bright future ahead of them. Howard is a superstar in the making but he can't carry the team by himself. The fact that Orlando has a great young core means that they don't need to change many things around, except maybe add a veteran player to tutor the youngsters. Look for Orlando to really make some noise come next year.
Boston 84 Cleveland 108 (Boston leads 2-1)
Another road game, another lost for the Boston Celtics, and a blowout at that. This team really needs to practice on how to win their away games, and this coming from a team that won the most road games during the regular season (31-10). It's a fact that no team has ever won a NBA title without winning at least 3 games on the road, so maybe it's time for the Celtics to do so. Of course, they can win every home game, go 16-12 in the playoffs and still manage to win the title since they do have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Besides their road problems, they don't have someone to close out and take over games. The Celtics have three all-stars who have great talent, but neither of them are a closer. Cleveland has LeBron (to a point) and the best the Celtics have is KG, who is questionable at best. Besides that Game 7 where he took over the game against the Kings in 2004 (sad panda moment), I can't remember him ever demanding the ball and carrying his team to victory. He didn't do it much in Minnesota, is not doing it here, and is making people question is desire to win.
LeBron James scored 21 points but shot 5-16 from the floor. In fact, his 22.4 field goal percentage for the first three games against the Celtics is the worst percentage of any three-game stretch in NBA playoff history, beating the likes of Allen Iverson's 23.5 in 2002 and Bonzi Wells' 23.7 in 2003. James should be thankful of his teammates, who combined to shoot 32-54 (59 percent), exploded to a 32-13 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. As inconsistent as they might be, James has a supporting cast that can once in a while help him out. Can they be better? Definitively, but they are not so bad that if Kobe was on the team he would throw them under the bus. Also give credit to the Cavs' defense, which people tend to overlook from time to time. They are not a great defensive team like the Spurs or even the Pistons, but they get the job done and held the Celtics under 90 points for the third straight time.
All that said, this series has been soooooooooo boring. Major yawn.
Monday: Celtics 77 Cavs 88 (Series now tied 2-2)
Now that's more like it. Easily the best game of this series, but that's not saying much. It was actually close until the Cavs pulled away in the final minutes of the game. Kevin Garnett disappeared in the second half of the game (15 points with 2 in the second half and thus further proving that he may not be a closer), while James scored 21 points on 7-20 shooting (35 percent, which is a great percentage for him compared to the last couple of games). James also got the last laugh in the game by posterizing the defensive player of the year.
Plus, did you see LeMom James yelling at Paul Pierce? Garnett looked like he had to use all of his strength to hold her back. Unfortunately for him, that was his best defensive play of the game. She just wanted to teach Pierce a lesson for disrespecting her son, and apparently also wanted to teach LeBron how to shoot again, but LeBron didn't want any of that and told her to sit down. Good stuff. Back to Boston they go and if things stay as they are, Boston will surely win the next game.
Lakers 115 Jazz 123 OT (Series tied 2-2)
Jazz almost let this one slip away by wasting a 12 point lead in the last four minutes of regulation but shot 9 for 9 in overtime to get the victory and tie the series. It was in overtime where the Jazz played their best defense in the series, forcing Kobe to 2-13 shooting in the fourth quarter and overtime..
The Jazz do have the ability to play on the same level as the Lakers. And no, you cannot use the excuse of Kobe having back spasms as the reason why they lost. He decided to stay in the game and shoot horribly at the end of regulation and overtime. To be fair, his teammates didn't exactly help him out. First, it was Odom and Fisher, not Kobe, who actually helped the team come back and go into overtime, but things went downhill from there. They kept passing the ball to Kobe in overtime when he's out there hurt and when there was little left time on the shot clock. Everyone depended on Kobe to bail them out and win the game once again, but Kobe with a hurt back can't do a lot, much less take over a game. It was obvious that he was really fatigued and shouldn't have been jacking up those 15 foot shots, but his desire to win kept him in the game and ironically lost the game for his team. Reports have surfaced that Kobe will indeed play in Game 5 despite his injury. Kobe is a gamer, so everyone figured he would play but be worried Lakerfan. Kobe may do more to hurt his team rather than help them.
Oh and Turiaf went air assault on Ronnie Price.
First off, I want to say that Turiaf is not a dirty player (or at least I don't think so), but that was a dirty play. This is very similar to when Marvin Williams unintentionally took out Rajon Rondo. Both plays had non-dirty players committing dirty plays. Unintentional I'm sure, but dirty nevertheless. Because Price stole the ball from Turiaf before the foul, Turiaf decided to act on retaliation and send a message. He probably wanted to go for that "hard playoff" foul that everyone loves to use so much but that was not it. It was the right idea; he wanted to be more physical and I applaud him for that. He put a little too much physical force in that foul though. If Haywood's foul on LeBron deserved a one game suspension, then Turiaf also deserves it.
Hornets 80 Spurs 100 (Series tied 2-2)
Everyone should have seen this coming. You just knew the Spurs were not going to go down easily and they didn't. They are just too good to get swept and took care of business at home. It was a brilliant coaching decision on Pop's part to put Bowen on Peja. While Peja can shoot the lights out, he is slow and having Bowen all over Peja limited him a lot, including missing layups! Err....
Man, the presence of Bowen sure scared Peja straight.
The Hornets join the Lakers and Celtics as the third team to get beaten twice on the road over the last few days and they could not have looked any more interested. Chris Paul, who scored 23 points and 5 assists, did his best to try to carry the team, but it's pretty much impossible to do so against the defending champs. They couldn't match the toughness and intensity that the Spurs displayed in the last two games. However, it's hard to see if the Spurs can maintain that level of passion. While the Hornets did get blown out, this series is just too even to try to determine the team with a clear cut advantage. Of course, the Spurs right now have the momentum but the Hornets have home court advantage and they have been very dominant at home.
So who is going to win? A Hornets team filled with athletic yet inexperienced players or a Spurs team filled with savvy yet old veterans? I'll still stick with my prediction, which was Spurs in 6. They are just too tough, too experienced for the Hornets. Spurs will win in a close game on Tuesday and will blow the Hornets out in game 6 to move on to the next round. Chris Paul is still a beast though.
David Stein wants to scale down pyrotechnics and noise at NBA games
Stern went on a tirade about the noise and pyrotechnics at NBA games on Monday night before the start of Game 4 of the Celtics-Cavaliers series. When asked if the trend toward loud, fiery in-arena entertainment gimmicks had gotten out of hand, he said that "they're ridiculous. I think the noise, the fire, the smoke is a kind of assault that we should seriously consider reviewing in whether it's really necessary given the quality of our game". Ben Wallace was affected by the smoke from the pregame fireworks in Boston prior to Game 2, which made him dizzy enough to knock him out of that game after just four minutes. He also stayed in the locker room prior to Game 3 in Cleveland so he would not have a parallel reaction during the pregame introductions.
Out of all the things that happened during the playoffs, this is the one that he has a rant about? Not about clock malfunctions, the inconsistent officiating, or even about the Sonics situation. No, it had to be fireworks.
Now, Stern does have a point. Fireworks and pyrotechnics don't add anything to the game of basketball, other than getting the fans pumped up. That's not a bad thing, some people like getting pumped up by the cannons, fireworks, and lights. I, myself, don't really like them since they give me a headache. But then people don't go to NBA arenas to watch a Las Vegas show; they are there to see basketball and its respective stars. For the safety of the players and fans, I say tone down the pyrotechnics. Keep the loud noise, but get rid of the flames and sparks. We already witnessed the hazards that fire and fireworks can bring if not properly dealt with. Ben Wallace got dizzy from the smoke of the fireworks, the ring of fire malfunction during Game 1 of the Spurs-Hornets series and going outside the NBA, let's not forget what happened at Wrestlemania this year. If you're a basketball fan, then the lack of pyrotechnics won't hinder your experience of watching a live NBA game, nor would it take away the effect of having home court advantage. You want fireworks and explosions? Watch Kobe, LeBron, Paul, and the rest tear it up on the basketball court. Or go to a circus. I may not like most of Stern's decisions, but he's right on with this one.
Now Stern, instead of ranting on a bunch of lights and noise, how about ranting on how you're screwing the Sonics or how to fix the NBA's officiating, hmm?
Out of Bounds
- Once in a while, you may see something great or even remotely exciting during a baseball game. This is one of those times.
- KISS RICKROLLS JOO~!
- I know that the economy and real estate market are in bad shape right now (as well as the rise of gas prices, war on Iraq, rise in unemployment, bah, bah, etc.) but just how bad is it for certain cities? This article on MSNBC.com shows the six scariest real estate markets in the United States. And look who comes in number 5.
Sacramento, CA: "One in 55 homes is in foreclosure in Sacramento, the fifth highest rate in the country. Median home prices have dropped 18.5 percent to $297,600. Unemployment is 6.5 percent…Worse still, Sacramento has the highest concentration of homeowner debt in the country according to Forbes.com. More people here have combined their mortgages with home equity loans, second loans, or both."
Expect future columns from me to be from a box somewhere floating alongside the Sacramento River.
Final Seconds
I'm very interested to see how Kobe with his hurt back responses in Game 5. Either Lakerfan will point out how Kobe is a hero for fighting through the pain and getting the win all because of him because he is the greatest player of all time and how he deserves your praise and bah bah Kobe!....or he just had a bad day.
