5/9/11: OKC Defeats MEM In Epic Battle, Cs Fall To MIA In Slightly-Less-Epic Battle

“You better stop forcing so many goddamn jumpshots if you expect any more postgame hugs from me, Russell.”

There was an average of two overtimes per NBA game played on the night May 9th, 2011.  That made for a wonderful night of watching basketball, but it also made for about four hours of sleep and an overwhelming amount of topics to write about.  I saw so many things I felt the need to point out in this post… I don’t think there’s any way I will be able to include all of it.  Hopefully you got to watch both games yourself.  I feel bad for any NBA fan who had to miss the conclusion of either contest. 

In some ways, last night’s early game was just like old times, what with Paul Pierce and LeBron James leading the charge for their respective squads down the stretch of a tight game that required five extra minutes.  In other ways, it wasn’t like old times, because LeBron’s team won (98-90), giving Miami a commanding 3-1 lead in the series with game five to be played in South Beach, home of the King’s talents.  Looks like LeBron will finally get that pesky green monkey off his back and advance past the Boston Celtics… but it will never be forgotten that he had to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to get it done.  LeBron led the way with 35 points and 14 boards (including nine straight Heat points in the fourth and OT), but D-Wade and the game three goat (Bosh) each stepped up with 20+ points and 9+ boards.  Miami’s bench was back to it’s usual suckiness (seven points) after two straight games of major overachievment, but they weren’t needed in this one… the big guns scored Miami’s final 31 points. 

This game was probably the most promising display of clutchness that–with the exception of Eddie House–Miami has shown all season long.  Seriously, I think they made more big shots in this one game than they’ve made all goddamn season long.  LeBron did have one laughable turnover with about 20 seconds left that gave Boston a chance to win it in regulation (if Pierce made that jumper, oh my…), but other than that they were able to steer clear of any crunch-time humiliation.  With three minutes to go and a three-point lead, Miami gave up consecutive triples to Delonte West and Ray Allen, which put them down three and obviously swung the momentum in favor of the home team.  However, LeBron James would immediately put an end to the frenzy with the following silencer…

 

…and he had more ice-water left in the tank; those were only his 29th, 30th, and 31st points.  He couldn’t make another long jumper on the following possession, but he took it hard to the hole and converted a layup on the possession after that…

 

…and then he opened OT with his final bucket…

 

Yes, he did travel on the layup, but please ignore the dolt who made that video.  The guy is clearly an angry Celtics fan… he counted LeBron’s gather step as step number one.  Learn the rules of the game, son.  I bet you wouldn’t have made a slow-mo video of Pierce traveling before he missed what would’ve been the game-winning J!  I’m ok with each non-call… they weren’t obvious violations in live motion, and the players ultimately decided the outcome of the game. 

So, LeBron was done scoring for the night, and Miami only had 88 points.  Where’d the other 10 come from?  Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.  Bosh was the one who made the bucket that really put it out of the Cs’ reach for good…

Big ups to Chris Bosh.  He was, what, 1-6 in game three?  Whatever he was, 20/12 on 8-17 with nine fourth-quarter/OT points is a huge improvement.  You can also give him some credit for Kevin Garnett’s major dud.  KG followed up a 28/18 effort with seven points on 1-10.  Boston will go on to lose this series, and KG can take a look right in the mirror if he’s wondering why.  Kevin has had one good game in the second round, and not coincidentally, it was Boston’s win.  Two of the Celtics’ biggest advantages over the Heat should be their bench and their bigs, but they haven’t really capitalized on either one of those edges to this point.  You may recall that James Jones had that big night in game two… do you recall anything from Big Baby?  Shaq?  Jeff Green?  Delonte West?  West had a few moments in game three, but none of those dudes have made a mark on the series.  Neither has KG.  Rajon Rondo can also give himself the mirror treatment.  Yeah, he made a motivational statement of toughness by playing a quarter with one arm, but other than that he hasn’t done a damn thing.  He had 10/5/3 TO last night, and has only been effective in one game thus far (not the one where he hurt himself; he wasn’t even good in that game.  He was alright in game two.  That’s it).  So, next time you try to tell me he isn’t overrated (as I’ve argued for years), think back on this series and how he couldn’t even step up and give Mike Bibby the business.  It’s 2011.  Mike Bibby isn’t good anymore.  The other team has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to counter your three best players.  You gotta step the f@ck up in that situation.  Sometimes I think fans just get way too gassed up over Rondo’s occasional, freakish statistical games and crazy highlights.  For instance, this is probably what people remeber from Rondo last night…

Yeah, that’s a really nice finish; the guy makes a spectacular play on a nightly basis… it’s the regular plays that he can’t seem to make.  He drives into the paint and refuses to take open layups and five-footers, resulting in turnovers and bad shots.  He still can’t shoot, and the fact that he’s once again made first team all-defense is downright laughable.  So, when you think of Rajon Rondo and this series, don’t judge his play based on a few highlights and his comeback from a busted arm, because the fact of the matter is that he hasn’t been able to make an impact against one of the league’s worst defenders at his position, and he was out-played by Delonte West in the elbow game up until a point when the outcome was already decided. 

Numbers… uh, let’s see… Paul Pierce led Boston with 27 points on 10-20.  Ray Allen had 17, and the Delontinator had 10.  I think I gave you LBJ/Wade/Bosh’s numbers already.  The Heat pounded the Cs on the glass (45-28), but they only had 10 assists on 35 made buckets.  They’re like Atlanta, only so much better that they can get away with doing that.

The game of the year went down in Memphis last night; I hope you didn’t miss it!  If you did, here’s my brief summary of the insanity: Memphis got off to a great start with an 8-0 run right out of the gate, and Zach Randolph came out looking like a man on a mission with 15 points in the first 18 minutes.  The Grizz held a 44-27 lead at that point, and the Thunder were continuously shooting themselves in the foot with turnover after turnover after turnover.  They coughed it up seven times in the first quarter, then opened the second quarter with another one, which resulted in a Shane Battier three-point play.  That’s pretty much how those first 18 minutes went, but some aggressive offense from Russell Westbrook got the the defecit down to four by halftime.  Westbrook forced the action all night long, and it worked out during some stretches, and during others… not so much.  I’ll get back to that later.  Anyway, Memphis suddenly cooled off, and the Thunder built up a 10-point lead by the time the six-minute mark of the fourth rolled around.  They still held that lead at 4:37, but a 7-0 Memphis run made it a one-possession game just a minute later.  Buckets and freethrows were then traded, guys made big shots, sh!t was crazy… and it eventually ended up being 96-93 Thunder (Memphis ball) with 13 seconds to play.  Mike Conley would end up having to heave a hopeless-looking shotput-type-launch towards the rim, and it was all over as far as I was concerned. 

Or maybe not!  That’s in ya grill, Kendrick!!!!!!!!  …sorry, please excuse that outburst.  So, anyway, OKC still had three seconds to try to win it, and they’ve got that Kevin Durant fella, who has a history of coming up big on possessions like this… but a combination of denial by Memphis defenders and a lackluster effort to get Durant the ball landed the rock in Russell Westbrook’s hands, and he fittingly clunked a jumper (dude shoots WAY too many jumpshots).  On to OT numero uno…

It wasn’t looking good for the Grizz.  They turned the ball over, James Harden made some FTs, and a KD three-ball left ‘em down seven with two minutes to go.  OJ Mayo, who was clutch as f@ck all night long (until he fouled out), would hit a life-giving three, though, and then following a KD two-pointer, he dropped another one.  Still, Memphis ended up in a similar position to the one they were in at the end of regulation: down three, nine seconds left… except there was no Mike Conley (or OJ Mayo) this time due to the need to commit intentional fouls in order to catch up.  So… who would it be?  Did Z-Bo have another magical shot left in him?  Shane Battier, maybe?  How about Greivis Vasquez?

Remeber how I compared these Grizzlies to the ’07 Warriors after their first-round victory over the Spurs?  I think I said something along the lines of this Grizzly team being better and more complete, but not quite having the “magic” that Golden State had.  Well, at this point, I was feeling like they just might be able to match that magic, because this shot was ABSURD.  I thought Conley’s shot was a prayer… this thing was a straight-up hail mary. 

Just like at the end of regulation, the Thunder had a chance to win it, and they actually got the ball to Kevin Durant this time.  It took them most of the nine seconds they had available just to find him, though, and Tony Allen forced him to take a contested three from a solid five feet beyond the line.  No good, OT #2.

Nick Collison stupidly gave the Grizzlies the first point of the second OT with a techinal foul, but Russell Westbrook had another one of his surges.  He dropped eight points in the second OT, including the pullup J (finally, he made one!) that tied it up at 119.  He toasted Tony Allen on a crossover (TA went for a steal; insanely stupid play) and had an open foul-line J to win the damn thing, but he pulled the string on it… and it was triple overtime. 

In the third OT, Memphis simply ran out of gas, and luck.  They were only able to muster four points, and they really choked the game away with a pair of missed layups.  Tony Allen missed a bunny early on, and then Zach Randolph missed one that he normally makes that would’ve tied it up with two minutes to go.  It was all Thunder from that point on.  Memphis didn’t score at all, and OKC took it 133-123. 

First of all, let me assure you that this was one of the strangest games I’ve ever seen in all my years of watching NBA basketball.  First of all, both teams held double-figure leads at one point or another.  Secondly, you had Russell Westbrook come through with the most confusing 40-point night I’ve ever seen in my life.  The dude dropped 40 on 15-33, including some big individual runs and clutch buckets, and still, I almost felt like he was hurting the Thunder.  He was forcing the action for himself all night long; he didn’t even consider differing to Durant.  Kevin was virtually invisible throughout the end of regulation and the first OT because of Westbrook’s decision making.  Russ was out there isolating and hoisting Js like he was Kobe Bryant (not the one that you saw against the Mavericks… the prime one).  At one point, the camera zoomed in on KD’s face, and he looked completely dumbfounded.  He was talking to Mo Cheeks, an assistant coach, and you could tell he was asking why he wasn’t getting the ball.  To be honest, I think OKC wins this game a lot quicker if Westbrook doesn’t put up his 40 on 33 shots.  While he hit buckets that kept OKC afloat, his over-aggressive was also a reason that the ship damn near sunk.  Kevin should be getting the 33 shots, and Westbrook should take his 20.

Thirdly… I don’t even know how to describe it, to be honest… it was just a really weird game.  There was a play in one of the OTs where OJ Mayo bounced the ball off James Harden’s head to keep possession, but the refs gave it to OKC.  After a video review they gave it to the Grizz, but they shouldn’t have because Mayo stepped on the sideline before he threw it off of Harden.  There was one play where Shane Battier bricked the sh!t out of a wide open three, but it bounced right back to him and he made a strange-looking floater.  Grievis Vasquez launched a few bricks and air balls, but also made a ridiculous three-point play as he fell to the floor in the second OT.  Kendrick Perkins had a chance to ice it in regulation after he got an offensive rebound, but he choked both FTs.  I thought Marc Gasol had blown it in the first OT after he over-passed twice and allowed Perkins to tip a loose ball into the basket, but they made a miraculous comeback.  Basically, both teams appeared to have blown it and won it multiple times.  Just when you thought it was over, it just wouldn’t end. 

One of the major keys to this game was foul trouble.  Memphis went without Mike Conley and OJ Mayo for most of the extra periods because they each had to commit intentional fouls during the comebacks, and that ended up hurting Memphis in the end.  Tony Allen’s missed layup?  OJ Mayo makes that.  Grievis Vasquez also missed some shots that Mike Conley may have been able to hit, although I thought he filled in pretty well.  They missed OJ for the most part… he had 18 points, many of which were huge buckets. 

Overall, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph were excellent in this game.  The two of them combined for 60 points and 37 boards on 20-45.  James Harden came up big for OKC with 19 points off the bench, and Daequan The Chef nailed a couple of big three-balls.  There were a whole sh!tload of guys who stepped up in this game; most of the ones who played contributed in some sort of way. 

This is a HUGE win for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and a devestating loss for the Memphis Grizzlies.  Had Memphis held onto that massive first-half lead they’d be up 3-1, which would put them in a spot that only eight teams in NBA history have failed to advance from.  Instead, they’re tied 2-2 heading back to Oklahoma City for a crucial game five (a situation which historically gives them just a 26.1% chance to win the series).  If OKC wins game five, they win the series.  If Memphis wins game five, they might win the series.  Had Memphis won last night, they do win the series.  It would’ve been a crushing blow to OKC seeing as not only would they have been in the aforementioned 1-3 hole, but it would’ve been the second time they’d choked a big second-half lead… in a row!  I don’t think they could’ve bounced back from that.  Unfortunately, Memphis didn’t quite have it in them to pull out two miracles in a row, and I don’t think they’ll be seeing the Dallas Mavericks.  Said Zach Randolph, philosophizer: “We thought it was destined for us to win, but ain’t nothing given to you in the NBA. You’ve got to go out and take it.”

I wish you took it, Zach.  I really do.

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