The first weekend of the NBA Playoffs has passed us by, and we’ve witnessed some serious madness. If the title doesn’t say enough let me reiterate, I’m going to go into my favorite bits of the NBA Playoffs thus far. Let’s do it to it.
Derrick Rose on Darren Collison…and the rest of the Pacers – In Game 1 of the Bulls/Pacers series, Rose blocked Collison three times during the game, but none more badass than the destruction in the first quarter. Collison thought he had a lay up, Rose thought otherwise and blocked his ass, then sprinted up the court, spun through the Indiana defense, and hit the lay up. That’s some hard shit.
Danny Granger: “We want the Bulls,” Derrick Rose: “No you fucking don’t, son.” – That isn’t what Rose actually said, unless you count his play as his words. The Pacers led all game and held a five point lead with two minutes left. Then Rose scored five straight to tie the game, and had the assist to Kyle Korver for the three to take the lead. Rose then hit the two free throws to ice the game. Oh and he had an assist for a Noah dunk before he scored those five straight. Rose’s stats in the last two and a half minutes: 7 points, two boards, two assists. If that isn’t clutch, I don’t know what is. Oh and that all capped off a 39 point, 6 rebound, 6 assist game. If you want the Bulls that means you get to play against Derrick Rose, and I don’t think anybody wishes that upon themselves.
Kyle Korver: Life Saver – See the above paragraph. When that three went down I nearly started crying. Great life moment.
Kirk Hinrich – In Game 1 of Atlanta’s match up with Orlando, Kirk Hinrich had his best offensive game in like forever. He had 13 points on 6-10 shooting. After the stink bomb he laid all last season that caused me to forget he was still in the NBA this year, I was happy to see the former Bull play a good game.
Dirk Nowitzki – As I was half asleep I watched the former MVP put on a clinic in the fourth quarter and secure the victory for Dallas. I don’t like how so many people are talking shit about this Mavericks team right now, so I’m glad Dirk came to life and carried them to a big win in a big game. A lot of people think Portland can win that series, but I hope not.
Zach Randolph – Randolph used to be a bit of a joke. He could fill up a stat line but would do it in the most inefficient way imaginable. Because of his poor play, my favorite blog Basketbawful used to feature him in their title banner commemorating the best of the worst. Then last season Bawful took him down since Zeebo’s move to the Memphis Grizzlies completely changed how he played the game. He was suddenly an effective leader and player. The days of plays like this were gone. Yesterday in Game 1 against the West’s 1 seed San Antonio Spurs, Randolph dropped 25 and 14 on 10-15 shooting and helped lead the Grizzlies to their first ever victory in the post season. I love watching Zeebo’s evolution from joke to leader, so I was glad to see he had such a good game.
Chris Paul & the Hornets – They beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 yesterday, and oh how beautiful it was. Kobe missed at least 50 shots in the fourth quarter, and Chris Paul, who I hate only a little less than I hate Kobe, hit a bunch of big shots. It was impressive and made me pretty happy. I don’t want the Lakers three-peating since people will try to compare Kobe and Jordan, so I take glee in each LA loss. Of course this is just a reverse stat curse and now the Lakers won’t lose another game in the rest of the post season because of this.
Kobe Bryant – Peep this play by play. Starting with 5:56 left, the supposed best clutch player in the game missed every shot he took. Again, this is going to work as a reverse stat curse and make me regret being so happy, but I’ll enjoy these great moments while they last. Of course you wouldn’t have realized his unclutchness while watching the game since every time Kobe shot the ball Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy raved about how Jordan-esque Kobe’s game is and they kept blaming Pau Gasol for the Lakers doing poorly. Whatever dude, if Kobe didn’t act like it was 2006 again and monopolize the ball in the last six minutes then maybe things would have been different.
The Knicks – They lost! I’m so happy!
Kevin Garnett – KG did not have the best shooting night, but he did have a nasty oop to pull Boston within one in the final moments. In case all you mother fuckers forgot, Kevin Garnett could have been one of the like three best ever. Now he has no knees and has to anchor the Celtic defense, but he can still get up. To see him do that, and do it in the clutch, made me stand up and pace around with my fist in the air. But the best hadn’t happened yet.
Ray Allen – After what he did I made my facebook status something about how the only shot in NBA history better than Michael Jordan’s fade away is Ray Allen’s sweet jumper. The only thing that makes his jumper even sweeter is when it is a game winner. The only thing that makes a game winner sweeter than anything is when it happens to the Knicks. Down one with seconds left, Jesus Shuttlesworth stepped up and dropped the three that sealed the game. What a boss he is.
Denver Nuggets – My boy Sean Loucks will be happy I mention them. I hope Denver’s series with the Thunder goes seven games since I love watching the Nuggets play in the post ‘Melo era. I was pissed since the Nuggets got screwed last night when the refs blatantly ignored calling a goaltend on the basket that put the Thunder up for good with a minute left, but if that first game was any indication then this series is going to be crazy. In the words of Rasheed Wallace, “Both teams played hard, my man.” I said a few weeks ago I was going to be really excited to watch the Nuggets this post season since you never know who is going to step up and they’re playing so well. Nene is a beast, and even though he didn’t shoot well I’ve still never seen Kenyon Martin look like he cared as much as he did. This series has me pumped up.
That's it for now. Hopefully the rest of the playoffs keep up this intensity.
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