It's the 2011 NBA playoffs! Mavs Win!

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by whomario

I wouldn´t want to be rooting for a team that stoops to theese tactics, same goes for players who think toughness has to do with tackling a 5´10 guy after the whistle or picking on European Point Guards.

Plus wouldn´t the Refs and the league then have reason to hurt the Mavs down the road ?

But it's always been the NBA's MO. You penalize the guy who retaliates against the cheap shot. Instead of having your stars do the retaliation, have that be the scrubs job and hope the other team is stupid enough to have a few stars react. (can you imagine "tough man" Garnett staying on the bench if a scrub started running and Paul Peirce?)

The reality is these thugs have gotten away with their actions for a long time and as a coach I'd be looking for a way to change that in my favor as opposed to just dealing with it.

What's sad is Artest has done a lot of good things in the last year. It's easy to do the right thing when you are winning though. When you actually face real adversity is the time your true colors come out. The only good thing last night is in mid clothesline he realized he needed to pull back. I don't say that's good because he won't be suspended for life, but because JJ may have ended up with a fractured skull if Artest had finished the way he started it. Then it would have gotten ugly.

[TroyF]

Artest did get a one game suspension.

[whomario]

i guess i can live 1 game without chuckling at Artests shot selection and decicion making

Look for Marion to guard Kobe a lot more in game 3. Cause as daft as Artest is, you still don´t really want to put a smaller guard on him as that´s one thing he actually uses to his advantage at times. Of course you still take that over Bryant dominating, but since he didn´t do that there was no need to mess with the matchups. Now with Barnes or Walton (?) seeing (more) minutes that changes perhaps. Or they go small with Kobe at the 3 essentially and give Brown and Blake more playing time.

Or maybe we see Odom there and that would be really interesting, would maybe be the best lineup offensively (compared to Barnes or Brown there perhaps) but then Odom can´t guard Nowitzki unless you take your chances with Gasol guarding Marion or Peja.

This is what hasn´t been talked about much btw : The Mavs haven´t even put their best defender on Bryant much and still won both games and while Bryant was good (but not great) he did it without the Mavs compromise how they defend the other 4 guys or designing anything on defense or to really bother him.

In game 1 when Kobe got hot Marion took over the assignement for a bit and Kobe went like 0-5 during that stretch, in game 2 there was never any need really.

I was actually shocked that Bryant didn´t try to post up more with guys like Kidd and Terry on him, that would have been a way for him to draw double teams and open things up for others.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Not sure, i know I'm not. I just think he needs to play a little less like AI if the Bulls want to win from this point forward.

I agree to an extent. The problem he has right now is they have no one on offense who is good besides him. Deng has his moments, but Boozer has been atrocious in the playoffs. Noah is good with the garbage stuff, but not really a guy who is going to create offense.

He has sort of gotten selfish but I'm not sure if the alternative is any better. I'd like to see him attack much more but his teammates aren't helping out all that much.

[TroyF]

I read Hollinger's piece today and he pointed out that Kobe had only one shot attempt at the rim in the last two games. Mavs may be playing great D, but that really has me questioning if something is going on with the ankle.

[whomario]

He propably would go to the basket more with his ankle at 100%, no doubt about that.

But it´s not like he attacks the basket all that much anymore on default, many of his close shots are actually post ups or him pinning his man on the baseline and getting a pass from Gasol/Odom over the top, now against the Mavs he has smaller players guarding him and is hitting his shots at a good clip (if you discount a couple desperation shots late he´s shooting a great percentage), he seems simply content with theese shots which really isn´t a new development.

Other than him not going into the post it also is weird how little pick and roll they run given his height advantage and passing ability combined with 3 great roll guys available.

And the Mavs absolutely pick their poison and pack the paint and close out driving lanes. Blake, Artest and company got wiiiiiide open shots and will get them until they hit them. It´s not like they double much, but they definitely play it a couple steps inside the 3 point line on most Laker possessions.

Plus having Gasol and Bynum down low all the time complicates things further (why exactly hasn´t Pau played in the high post more btw ? Just to "make Dirk work" ?)

Hasn´t he been bothered by his knees all year as well btw ? He just isn´t as explosive anymore, with or without an obvious injury.

[whomario]

Rose absolutely destroyed the Hawks tonight, that was something to watch
Chicago also owned the glass. I get that Collins really has no value here, but there´s no way you only play 1 big man all night (either Horford or Pachulia) against the Bulls and get away with it.
The Hawks offense is puke-inducing.

Lakers looking very much alive, up 4 at the half and making good use of their big line up with Odom playing the 3. Nowitzki with a hot start but later on with some problems adjusting to more agressive doubles, Peja missing wide open 3 pointers didn´t help matters.
Bynum looks great so far on both ends.

edit : 62:61 middle of the 3rd. And holy shit, Jackson is blasting Gasol coming into the timeout, so that´s what it looks like when he is upset with a player

[stevew]

Did they break out Danny Crawford tonight? If not, the Lakers just need to hold on and they'll get at least one Crawford gift game.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by stevew

Did they break out Danny Crawford tonight? If not, the Lakers just need to hold on and they'll get at least one Crawford gift game.

You know, you can take the fun out of a great thing if you try hard enough.

Peja with a great 4th quarter so far, Kidd´s shot unfortunately really has gone back to midseason form ... Dirk with great passing in the 4th, then a big man move to the post and finishing with the left on a hook shot to take the lead. Then Peja makes a defensive play (seriously !).

Fisher with a stupid, stupid foul, clutch free throws by Terry. The a terrible inbound pass by Fisher ! No idea why Jackson stays with 3 big guys down 4 when you could really use a 3.

Mavs coming back from down 8 in the middle of the 4th, even Gasol looked alive for a short stretch there, they trailed all 2nd half until the last 2 minutes. I don´t want to get sucked in, but this Mavs team feels different than past editions and Nowitzki is absolutely in the zone, they guy is as locked in as can be. Mavs made all the big plays and it´s been multiple guys again.

I also have no idea why the Lakers stopped going inside in the 4th, especially since they are clearly lacking shooting ability.

[Neon_Chaos]

Lakers looked lost in the last 5 minutes of all the games.

If the Mavs lose four straight to LA, I will laugh my ass off.

[MrBug708]

This game out to quell the NBA conspiracy theorists. Once Pau didn't get that over the back call with about 40 seconds left, I knew it was over

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

No NBA games either Thursday or Friday... curious scheduling plan.

I don't know why I believed this post over all the other sources out there, but I totally missed last night's games because of it

[fpres]

Gutsy performance late by the Mavs. Sweep them out on Sunday, guys.

[Warhammer]

I hate how the whistle gets swallowed at the end. If you don't call the over the back when Pau gets shoved, how do you call the foul on Fisher 10 ticks later?

[Arles]

Home teams usually get the calls in the NBA if the markets are similar (ie, Dallas/LA, Miami/Boston, Denver/OKC). If you guys haven't realized that yet, you're not watching close enough. The LAs and Bostons get a bit of an advantage over the norm if they are playing smaller markets on the road (ie, LA/OKC last year and Chicago/Indiana this year). Still, banking on any "fair" officiating on road games in the playoffs is a bit of a pipe dream.

[whomario]

I just watched the situation with Gasol again and first off Fisher wraps his arms around Chandler and then as far as i can see Gasol simply bounced of Chandler´s back when he looses his balance after extending for and missing the rebound. All Chandler does in that sequence is turn his body to the other side of the court where the ball is going (after the rebound is tipped no less), the only part of his body touching Gasol is his backside and he´s not even actively pushing Gasol under the basket or anything But i might be wrong here, doesn´t help that there wasn´t/isn´t any replay around (or i missed it)

But the Fisher foul was absolutely obvious, come on now. He tried to swipe the ball but missed it by a mile and instead got Terry full on the arm when he started to go by him. Just because he then takes the arm away doesn´t change anything, the angle on the side (exactly the same the ref had) shows clearly that he flat out hacks him on the arm. No idea what exactly Fisher was thinking there.

[Cuckoo]

Good start for the Thunder. Up by 8 at half. Big guys are playing physically again with Gasol and Randolph, and Westbrook has been under control, dishing it out. If they weren't shooting so poorly (with the exception of Durant), I'd feel more confident.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Cuckoo

If they weren't shooting so poorly (with the exception of Durant), I'd feel more confident.

well, memphis isn´t even trying to shoot, especially that starting lineup has zero outside shooting (Young and Allen have made 21 threes combined all year). They have taken 1 shot from 3 in 30 minutes of play so far. No way can Randolph and Gasol be effective if no one can step out and knock down shots.

Very physichal game, the frontcourt guys are practically just beating each other up on every move or rebounding situation.

shit, Ibaka turns his ankle again ...

[whomario]

Westbrook is an idiot. 4 of the last 7 possessions (by my count) he dribbled the ball for the entire possession before shooting a contested shot ...

The Grizzlies are fun.

also makes no sense to bring back Thabo there, they need some shooting on the floor badly.

[Neuqua]

What in God's name is wrong with Russell Westbrook?

[Noop]

Russell Westbrook is Stephan Marbury.

[Noop]

Durant is an excellent player offensively.

Defensively he needs a lot of work.

[stevew]

Z-Bo putting up a man sized double double ftw. Durant needs to throw Westbrook under the bus, and Presti needs to move him pronto.

[Cuckoo]

What a spectacular collapse... I know a lot of people will blame Westbrook, and there's no doubt he didn't even try to distribute there in the final minutes. But it was FAR more than just him.

OKC looked shell-shocked when their lead went away. From about the 4-minute mark until the end of OT, they looked absolutely nothing like the team we've seen all year, not to mention the team that dominated most of that game. The offense didn't move at all. The defense gave up the lane. And you could see the defeat on the Thunder players' faces, even when they still had the lead. Just incredible. It seems clear to me that OKC is the better team, but Memphis is the much more composed team. And that could be the Thunder's downfall.

[Noop]

My issue with Westbrook is he seems to believe he is the an equal star to Durant. When he is taking 22 shots and basically shooting his team out the game a la Carmelo there is a problem. Westbrook is responsible for running the offense but his need to be the star is killing their flow.

When he plays his role OKC is a difficult team to beat.

[Arles]

This Westbrook/Durant combo is reminding me a heck of a lot of Marbury/Garnet back in Minnesota. Let's hope it doesn't turn out that way.

[RedKingGold]

Silly Rondo, elbows don't bend that way!

[SirFozzie]

FUCK.

Calling it now, he's done for the playoffs.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

FUCK.

Calling it now, he's done for the playoffs.

my first reaction too. Celtics are done.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

FUCK.

Calling it now, he's done for the playoffs.

Bub, the way that injury looks, you'll be lucky if he's around in December.

[SirFozzie]

Wow, Rondo back on the bench already? Did they just pop it back in?

yup:

tomhaberstroh:
Lisa Salters reporting dislocated left elbow for Rondo. They popped it back in and he wants to return. [via Twitter]

[RainMaker]

Isn't that dangerous? I don't know the human body all that well, but I'd think if your elbow pops out of the socket, you shouldn't be playing 20 minutes later.

[SirFozzie]

ESPN chat says that Rondo starts the fourth?

[RedKingGold]

Wow, props to him.

[Radii]

look at the lengths he's going to to not move his left arm. Crazy.

[Noop]

I am happy Rondo isn't seriously hurt. However I think he needs to sit out the rest of the series for safety reasons.

I wish the Heat would make him go left.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Noop

I wish the Heat would make him go left.

They should be bumping him, running him through screens and forcing him left constantly. Sucks that he's hurt, don't play dirty, but you have to exploit this kind of thing.

[SirFozzie]

Dear ABC: STOP SHOWING IT PLEASE!

[RainMaker]

No shit, enough with the replays guys. Trying to eat.

[SirFozzie]

Wow. Celtics win by 16. Series is still on. And if you told me that when I was watching Rondo's elbow bend the wrong way for the 17th time, I'd tell you you were nuts.

Rondo is rather nonchalant about the whole thing "It was no big deal".

[Noop]

It's a shame that Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers both out played LeBron and Bosh. I understand having an off night but both were complete non-factors this game. I hope Reilly finds a way to unload Bosh's contract because it is clear he is 6'10 pussy. Garnet intimidated Bosh tonight and that was put on display for everyone to see.

LeBron has to find a way to contribute when he is having an off night because he looked disinterested. Coach Spo has to scheme better for those double teams and start Chalmers.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

I wonder if we'll ever get a quote out of D'Antoni...

[RainMaker]

Well at least Bosh is on TV.

[whomario]

No one cares about the Bosh : Postgame: Chris Bosh | NBA.com

most uncomfortable post game presser ever ?

[Neon_Chaos]

Game 4.

Time to see if the Lakers can take that one step towards the greatest comeback in NBA history.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Bub, the way that injury looks, you'll be lucky if he's around in December.

Awesome.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by whomario

No one cares about the Bosh : Postgame: Chris Bosh | NBA.com

most uncomfortable post game presser ever ?

ouch!!

[kingfc22]

Will Pau Gasol finally show up for a playoff game?!?!

[Big Fo]

I did not anticipate the Lakers going out like this today.

[SackAttack]

Look, Lakers, if you didn't want to play today, all you had to do was say so. I'm sure Dallas would've accepted your surrender with grace.