Spoken Thought

Day 2 of the NBA Playoffs has passed, and all Game 1’s are over. There wasn’t much hype surrounding these games for their matchups, just a couple overlooked teams, and the favorites.

Orlando Magic - 114
Toronto Raptors - 100

All I really have to say about this game is that Dwight came to play. That’s really all there is to it. His dominance of the paint is simply unfair to his opponents. In one quarter alone, we watched him swat 3 field goal attempts like he was playing volleyball. If he touches up his offensive game, and continues to dominate defensively, there is no one in the league who can stop him. Ever since those olympic games…

The Raptors’ Rasho Nesterovic and Chris Bosh carried the load in the first half for their team, while Jason Kapono helped with the slack in the second.

The Magic simply buried the Raptors with 3 pointers in the early periods, needing only to maintain the lead, and fight through Toronto’s runs in later quarters, on their way to victory.

Los Angeles Lakers - 128
Denver Nuggets - 114

Pau Gasol. 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 assists. Contrary to the highlights, Kobe really didn’t have a very good night offensively. He was 9 for 26 from the field, but finished with 32 points (filled up with free throws). He continues to attract defense, taking the pressure off of his teammates. So, in that sense, along with orchestrating some of the offense, he made his impact on the game. Lamar Odom also did well. 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists for him.

The Nuggets did go on a couple hot streaks during the game. JR Smith and Linas Kleiza really got them back into the game when the Lakers took an early 13 point lead. Iverson had his usual 30 points, as did Carmelo, but in the end, the Lakers were just too much.

In the fourth quarter, Kobe, who really needs to watch himself if he wants his team to get far, got into a little discussion with Kenyon Martin, earning both of them a technical foul. But, somewhat unexpectedly, it was Allen Iverson who was ejected from the game (for unnecessarily prolonging an argument with a ref).

If Denver would play up to their potential (with some defense), this would be an interesting series to watch. Otherwise, this series is already over. They’re trying to win by simply outscoring their opponents. It didn’t work for Dallas (Don Nelson era), Phoenix, or Golden State, it’s not going to work for Denver. Play some defense.

Philadelphia 76ers - 90
Detroit Pistons - 86

The beloved Detroit Pistons were stunned in their first game, in front of their home crowd.
So what?
This is what the playoffs is all about. It isn’t meant to be predictable.

For one thing, there’s too much focus around how poorly the Detroit Pistons played. The 76ers were getting tortured in the earlier part of the game, as I see it, because they didn’t understand the what was expected of them to win in the postseason. From what I saw, as the game went on, they seemed to catch on to the intensity of the playoffs, and increased their level of play. As they climbed back, they gained more confidence in what they were doing right, and ultimately, won the game. It’s as simple as that.

The Detroit Pistons just don’t seem to have the underdog mentality that they had in the ‘04 Finals against the Lakers. In fact, they’ve become the Lakers of the ‘04 Finals. Just like last year, they just seem to expect to win games, without having to put in the effort that they used to.

They let go of a sizable lead, and by the time they figure out what hit them, it was too late. I think they’ll pick it up in game 2. I don’t see them disappointing the Detroit fans twice in a row.

Boston Celtics - 104
Atlanta Hawks - 91

This is a warm-up series for the Boston Celtics. I watched about 10 minutes of this game, and that was enough. We know who’s going to win this series, its just a matter of figuring out whether it’ll be a sweep or not.

Joe Johnson will get his points, Josh Smith will get his blocks and rebounds, Mike Bibby may get some assists here and there, but the Atlanta Hawks are not in any position to knock off the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Today we have the following games to look forward to:

Washington @ Cleveland 7:00 TNT
Utah @ Houston 9:30 TNT

The Washington/Cleveland series still holds my interest. As long as Lebron James is there, you can’t really be bored with a Cleveland game. Aside from that, I think the Wizards need to get a win here if they expect to win this series. I hope to see Gilbert Arenas a little more active. Hopefully he gets cleared to play a few more minutes, although he does seem to have some wrist issues going on. He, Caron, and Antawn will need to carry the Wizards to a win if they intend to move on to the second round. And ofcourse, there’s DeShawn Stevenson, who might not think of Lebron James as being overrated anymore. If he can play defense (for the whole game) like he did in the first quarter of game one though, Wizards win.

Utah and Houston. Maybe Tracy McGrady can get a win tonight. If they (Rockets) don’t, this one is probably going to be a sweep. Rafer (Skip) doesn’t return until game 3 of this series, but even then, I don’t know if he can handle Deron Williams. The Rockets will need T-Mac, Luis Scola, and Dikembe Mutombo to perform well, in their respective positions, if they want to win this one. It isn’t going to be easy either. Utah’s got a tough team. Deron and Boozer, the new Malone and Stockton, Kirilenko will get points and rebounds for the Jazz, Harper will do well on defense, and they’ll get their 3’s out of Korver and Okur. To put it plainly, the Jazz are just the more consistent team. I’ll try to watch this game, but I won’t promise anything.