Well, I think it’s safe to say Shane Battier was one of Planet Earth’s happier people yesterday. Not only did he score 10 points on 4-5, one of those four buckets was the game winner that gave Memphis their first playoff victory in franchise history…
“What do you want to know about it?” Popovich said. “It counted for three. He caught it. He shot it. And he made it.” Word… and in addition to that, the dude had a kid: “Single CRAZIEST day of my life,” he said via Twitter. You weren’t alone, Shane… it was a pretty crazy day for anyone involved with the NBA in any way, shape, or form. I will begin with the game which Shane iced with his three-ball…
After keeping it close early, Memphis had fallen behind by 10 late in the third. I figured it was over at that point… I mean, the uber-experienced San Antonio Spurs with a 10-point lead at the 16-minute mark? Game over, right? Apparently not. Memphis finished the quarter on a 13-7 run, closing to within four. They took the lead on a Z-Bo layup at the 7:45 mark, and had they been able to make a few freethrows they probably would’ve held onto it for the remainder of the night. However; as Memphis bricked four consecutive freethrows between 2:27 and 1:47, Matt Bonner was busy knocking down consecutive triples to make it 96-94 Spurs. George Hill made it 98-94 with a pair of freethrows with about a minute left, and it was surely in the bag… or not. San Antonio would miss their final three shots as Memphis scored the game’s final seven points. R-Gay (I’m not Kobe, so I can say sh!t like that for free), who was 2-2 from three to this point, had a beautiful look to tie it up at the buzzer, but he clunked it. San Antonio’s defense failed them in this one. They gave up 31 points in the fourth quarter, as well as 55.2 percent shooting in the game. The Spurs had a huge edge in freethrows (San Antonio at home against the Memphis Grizzlies results in an uneven freethrow count? I’m shocked), but that was about it. Memphis matched their threes, out-assisted them, nearly matched their boards, and scored more points in the paint. Big ups to Z-Bo and Marc Gasol for giving Timmy and Dice the business… the two of them combined for 49 points and 23 boards. That’s how you get the job done.
Let’s get to the two games that the refs kinda of botched, shall we? Alright… observe this clutch three-pointer by Walter Ray Allen that put the Celtics up two with 11 seconds to play…
Great shot, right? What the hell did the officials have to do with that? Well… watch it again, and keep an eye on KG. Yep, that’s one hell of an illegal screen he put on Toney Douglas. Now, I don’t expect illegal screens to be called in this situation… no one should. Like it or not, that’s the way it is. That being said, I don’t expect an offensive foul to be called on Melo on the previous possession… but it was. I’m not really that mad about the moving pick no-call… to be perfectly honest, I didn’t see it in live motion, so how mad can I be? I just think it’s unfortunate that Melo was called for a questionable offensive foul (yeah, he pushed Pierce a little, but Paul made contact too, and flopped) and then the ticky-tack stuff was missed on the following play. Anyway, give the Knicks credit for coming out and giving the necessary defensive effort to hold the Celtics to 87 points on 43.8 percent from the field, and give the Celtics credit for completing a valliant comeback (they trailed by double digits in the third). Jermaine O’Neal sparked the run, no joke. The dude was looking like his former Pacer self for a few minutes. He made consecutive buckets and swatted some shots as the Cs moved to within six. He finished up with four blocks in the game; here’s one of ‘em…
That’s vintage JO. If he can continue to do things like that and provide the type of offense he provided last night (12 points), that would be HUGE for Boston. Oh yeah, I meant to tell you all that I chose to watch the local Celtics’ broadcast of this game, and I did not come away disappointed. Tommy Heinsohn on official Tom Washington: ”I’ll tell ya, this Tom Washington, put your whistle in your mouth at that end of the floor! I don’t care if your name’s Washington, you didn’t chop down the cherry tree!” What does that even mean? …and I wonder… what does a Celtics game look like through the eyes of Tommy Heinsohn? I imagine that it’s a violent, UFC-like cage match where the opposition wears brass knuckles instead of gloves while using illegal techniques as the referee chooses to let it all go.
As for the non-call that came up huge late in the Thunder’s 107-103 win over the Nuggets… that one was a little more obvious…
…and equally costly. OKC took a 102-101 lead on the play, which was obviously an offensive goaltend. It was an unfortunate missed call because this game was nothing less than the battle I had hoped for. That being said, the Nuggets really shot themselves in the foot with poor decisions and regrettable shot selection in the final few minutes. They failed to make a basket in the final 3:04 while also giving up a crucial turnover up one with a minute left (The Rooster dribbled it off his on leg trying to force it baseline… not his best decision of all-time). The best thing about this game, though? Nene left his dainty finger rolls in Denver and was f@ckin’ posterizing people by the truck load…
Nick Collison looked like a sad puppy dog after Nene smashed it directly off of his dome. That’s some excellent stuff right there… he finished up with 22 points on 9-11. As great as he was, Kevin Durant was better–make that incredible–in this game. He hit a variety of impossible pull-up three-pointers at important times, and just generally crushed my hopes every time I thought Denver was going to win. He finished up with 41, and Westbrook wasn’t too far behind with 31 more. It will be tough for KD and Russ to match this type of performance again, and Denver fans should be encouraged by the fact that they still only lost by four.
I chose to take a TV timeout and go shoot some hoops rather than watch New Orleans get trounced by the Lakers. It seemed like a great plan until I came home early in the third quarter to find LA down damn near double digits. It looks like Chris Paul, who limped across the regular-season finish line, is feeling better than I thought he was. The dude scored 33 points… grabbed seven rebounds… dished 13 assists… and came up with four steals in the 109-100 upset. It took more than just CP to make it happen, though; guys like Jarrett Jack (15 points) and Aaron Gray (12 points) came up huge off of the bench. In fact, the entire Hornets’ reserve unit was excellent… they combined to shoot 16-22, led by a 1-1 effort from former Laker Champion DJ “Dacos!” Mbenga.
Way to welcome yourself back to Staples, DJ! As for the Lakers… it was pretty much Kobe Bryant and–as much as I hate to give this guy credit, I have to–Ron Artest who showed up to play. Kobe and Artest combined for 50 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists, while Pau Gasoft and Andrew Bynum racked up similar statistical production to that of Aaron Gray and Carl Landry. That’s not gonna get the job done, obviously, and Phil Jackson let Pau know by benching him for the final three minutes of the game. Said the pine-riding Gasol: “I’m disappointed, yeah. Stunned, surprised. But we were the ones responsible for that to happen, so we have to own up to that and come back to work in the next couple of days and get the series where we want it to be.” Said Kobe Bryant: “F@ckin’ f@ggots!” ……..I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Unfortunately for the Hornets, Aaron Gray (without whom NO would’ve lost this contest) went down in a heap late in the game with a nasty looking ankle roll. I thought the guy would be toast for quite some time, but miraculously, he’s listed as questionable for game two. New Orleans better hope he can go, because without his size I don’t see them winning another game. They may not win another one anyway. In fact, I bet they won’t… although I didn’t think they’d win the first one, either. The Lakers are usually good for a let-down or two.
