| Around
the League: Recaps and Thoughts
Marvin Lee Noticed there were a lot of 100 point games, very strange for the playoffs. I don't mind seeing them, and wish the regular season could be played at this pace without being sloppy. San Antonio 84 Phoenix 86
And what about those Magic? McGrady actually has some offensive support, which is absolutely destroying the Pistons. As of right now, the Pistons are the most unconvincing one seed ever. Ben Wallace has been doing what he's done all season, but so is T-Mac, and what's worse is that the rest of the Magic are stepping up too. What's probably hurting the Pistons the most right now is the real lack of a go-to guy. A lot of people might think Richard Hamilton, but he's not a guy who's able to create his own shot comfortably, and neither is anybody else besides Chauncey Billups, who's only average in that respect. Billups is a good shooter and a competent ball-handler, but he's shown he's not a pure point. And on a team with more scrappy, hustle type players rather than gunners, you need a guy who's able to create some easy shots. I like Chauncey a lot, but he's no Jason Kidd, or even a scoring playmaker like Stephon Marbury. He should be either the two (which Rip occupies), or working like new-school Vinnie Johnson, dynamite off the bench. But credit McGrady. He's making the league's best defense look like...the Nuggets. Also credit Drew Gooden, Gordan Giricek, and Darrell Armstrong. They're working off McGrady and making shots.
New Orleans, even without Jamal Mashburn, was able to not only win, but win big over a tough 76er team. Seems as if the Hornets are dominating the offensive glass, which led to a lot of garbage putbacks. Just think if Davis recovers even more quickness, which means more drives to the basket, and even easier offensive rebound opportunities. And Davis stepped it up in the fourth, showing he's a prime time player. Very impressive considering they're doing this without their number one scoring option, Monster Mash. Also, I like this tandem of Robert Pack and David Wesley d'ing up on Iverson. Pack pushing him around, and for the most part David Wesley has been able to keep Iverson in front of him in isolation situations, having Iverson settle for outside jumpers. As long as Iverson is taking jumpers, Philly is staying off the glass. Iverson beating you is better than Philly and Iverson beating you. Oh, I forgot about Jerome Moiso. Very impressive performance in the fourth, working the glass and intimidating Iverson's drives. Good to see them Bruins sticking together.
The Pacers, what a damn shame. They're letting Boston kill them, or namely, Paul Pierce. Probably the only team that's physical enough in the front court to compete with a Western Conference team is getting muscled up by a perimeter oriented Celtic team. Paul Pierce is working them inside and out, creating three point looks for other players, and the rest are hitting them. Antoine Walker's also finally being a man and playing inside, and at least one other Celtic player is putting up numbers to help the duo. I hate Ron Artest, but I expected him to step up and be a stopper like he was in the regular season. Pacers aren't out yet, but they're not proving they're staying in it.
Sacramento 104 Utah 107
New Jersey 114 Milwaukee 119 Didn't really see this game, but that high score makes it look exciting. Heard a lot about Toni Kukoc this series on Sportscenter, so I'm guessing him and Michael Redd are the wild cards. Seems to be a battle of the 1, 2, and 3 positions.
Dallas 79 Portland 98 Portland finally got a game by out shooting the Mavericks. Can't really say much, I was sleeping through this game, not because it was boring, but because it was in the morning.
And finally, the Lakers. I don't really have much to say except the Lakers played like garbage, but won the game because the T-Wolves decided to lose. They had were had a stretch of over seven minutes without any points. It helped that the Lakers finally sent another man on Garnett and hustled while making crisper rotations on D. They also started moving Shaq to delay the off-the-ball doubles. Now all he has to do is make those easy shots. And however bad the Lakers were shooting, they dominated the offensive glass, which kept them in the game. As for the Wolves, Garnett and Hudson still hurt the Lakers with hot shooting. However, the MVP for the Wolves isn't Garnett of Hudson, it's Radoslav Nesterovic for hurting Kobe's shoulder on that dunk attempt. But it can only be an excuse for Kobe for so long. If he doesn't pick it up...the Lakers can be looking at repeats of games two and three.
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So
how about those Suns, huh? Seems as if the only way they're able to
win is in dramatic fashion, and they got that game-winning shot,
or more
specifically jump hook, from the unlikeliest of people, Jake Voskuhl.
The man who's main role is to set picks for other teammates to
slash, to get rebounds, and use whatever fouls against Tim Duncan
made the most crucial shot of all the game fours this past weekend. But
that's only half the story. The other half was Penny Hardaway. He
was the man who created that shot for Voskuhl. Penny was able to get
past his man seemingly at will, and that led to a lot of easy shots
via offensive rebounds and inside shots. I know Hardaway's a
primetime player, as his past playoff series have shown, but shame
on the Suns for letting a guy with four knee operations shred
on-ball-defense that easily. Tim Duncan and David Robinson in back
of you should be considered insurance, not a license to gamble or an
excuse for your defense to....suck. As for the other players, Tony
Parker finally shot out of his funk on rout to 19 points, but he
still couldn't contain Marbury's penetration any better. Bruce
Bowen also had a productive game, doing what he does best on that
side of the floor, which is launch treys. Duncan had a nice game,
Stoudamire was in foul trouble, Robinson didn't do much damage. The
Suns just kept on fighting despite being outsized and down by 15 or
16 at one point, which gave them that chance to win in the end.
Props to Penny Hardaway though, who always manages to step up his
game at some point during a playoff series. 
Detroit
92 Orlando 100
Philadelphia 85
New Orleans 99
Boston
102 Pacers 92
Utah, who would of expected them to play so well
besides Goay? Even series, and Greg Ostertag was the reason for
their last victory. He played with a passion, and finally looked
like he belonged in an NBA frontcourt. He was diving for loose
balls, was light on his feet in chasing after rebounds, finishing
plays strong, playing tough D, and most importantly, playing
smart. I'm impressed Greg. I have to credit you with being a
major factor as to why the Jazz are being so competitive. Just make
sure you don't run smack if you guys win this series, cause I'm sure
you remember how Shaq felt the last time you did that.
Minnesota
97 Lakers 102