[RMJH4]

Around the NBA - Round 1.

April 22nd, 2002 | by NBA.COM

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Wizards vs Magic.
The Washington Wizards advanced to the second round of the playoffs in thrilling style. An epic Jordan vs T-Mac battled happened in round 1. Jordan goes for 25, T-Mac hits 30 plus, Jordan hits 30 plus, T-Mac hits 40 plus... No matter what Jordan hit, T-Mac scored more. The final difference was the supporting cast, Laettner and Rip Hamilton put up big numbers when it counted most, and the Magic just couldn't manage that. Penny Hardaway flirted with a triple - double every night, but didn't score enough. Horace Grant tore his achilles in the final regular season game. Grant's absence allowed Christian Laettner to dominate down low. Big win for the Wizards, but most games were extremely close, not as convincing a victory as it seems.

Nets vs Bucks.
Jason Kidd has finally regained his form. But he almost left it too late to beat the Bucks. Ray Allen almost willed the Buck the victory. 32 points in Game 1, 29 in Game 2 and 46 in Game 3 was enough to give the Bucks a 2-1 lead. But Kidd and K-Mart got the pick and roll going, and destroyed Anthony Mason down low. The Bucks biggest weakness all year is their lack of big men, and K-Mart and Todd MacCulloch dominated inside. The Nets tied the series 2-2 and Kidd took over in Game 5. 30 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists. I wonder if the Suns regret that swap for Marbury now? Nets advance to face Jordan and the Wizards.

Celtics vs Hornets.
Boston has been a tough matchup for every team all season long. But with their youth comes inconsistency. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker can hit over 30 points on any given night, but getting them both to produce on the same night is still a work in progress. The steady leadership from Kenny Andersen and recently acquired Charles Oakley helped steady the ship when the Hornets threatened to steal home court advantage. But neither team gave up home court, and the series finished 3-2. Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn gave their all, but aging Elden Campbell at center got badly exposed. In fact the Hornets lack of depth got exposed this series. Charlotte got two final wins in 'The Hive' but the Hornets fly the nest next season to New Orleans. Boston advance barely, but they are capable of so much more.

Pacers vs Raptors.
The Pacers- Raptors series was a hard fought affair, with the more experienced Pacers edging it in the end. Reggie Miller hit the Raptors for 37 in the the elimination game, eclipsing Carters 36. Rashard Lewis battled Jalen Rose all series long too, averaging 19.8 points per game. The Pacers athletic big men proved too much for the elder statesman Olujawon and Antonio Davis. Jermaine O' Neal punished the Raps with averages of 25ppg and 15 rpg. Pacers advance despite Vince Carter hitting 43 and 41 in the Raptors two wins.

Lakers vs Jazz.
Out West we had some major shocks. The Jazz with Sprewell and Marcus Camby led 2-0 and forced Kobe and Shaq to come out all guns blazing. The Jazz had used suffocating defense in the first two games and the Lakers could not get the triangle to work. Kobe was sluggish and O'Neal was the only man scoring. But you can't keep a good player down, as Kobe hit over 30 ppg the final 3 games, as the Lakers dug deep and used their championship pedigree to reel off 3 wins in a row. Stockton and Malone don't have much left in the tank, and after blowing a 2-0 lead, maybe father time has also caught up with them now.

Trailblazers vs Mavericks.
The Mavericks have their own dynamic pick and roll duo in Nash and Nowitzki. They obliterated the Blazers and swept them in round one. The Blazers couldn't deal with the speed of the Mavs offense, pushed by Steve Nash and Michael Finley. Once the Mavs got rolling, Rasheed started fighting, Gary Payton started moaning and Dale Davis got ejected, again. Oh Rasheed got ejected too. Disaster for the Blazers and their monstrous salary cap. Shawn Kemp barely played and may now be bought out of his final year, but it might be time to move on from Rasheed and Pippen now. The Jailblazers have young big Randolph to build around. Mavericks took advantage of the in house fighting and advance.

Kings vs Nuggets.
The suprise package of the season? Denver Nuggets, led by Juwan Howard and Antonio McDyess. The Kings were heavy favorites heading into this one, but the Nuggets matched their style of play and high scoring incredibly well. Howard played essentially point forward as he initiated the offense regularily, allowing Tim Hardaway and Nick Van Exel to shoot and drive for the outside. A real counter to Chris Webber and Vlade Divac. In the end it was Mike Bibby who proved his worth, the Kings acquired him in October for Jason Williams, but Bibby has more of a killer instinct, and he torched Hardaway for 34 points in Game 5 to pull out the win. Expect the Kings to learn from this near death experience.

Timberwolves vs Spurs.
In the final game of the West we had a major shock. The #7 Seed San Antonio upset the #2 seed Minnesota. The Spurs had been really poor all season, with Rookie Tony Parker emerging, and dragging along the experienced Terry Porter, Steve Smith, Bruce Bowen and David Robinson. But experience counts as double in the playoffs. Kevin Garnett is nicknamed the Big Ticket, but he forgot to give his teammates some tickets for round two. Tied at two games each, Garnett took the battle to The Big Fundamental - Duncan, and lost. Although Garnett hit 30 plus and a 40 plus, Duncan's steady averages of 27ppg and 18 rpg won out in the end. The Wolves were outstanding all year moving the ball and shooting well, but this series was a disaster. Too much isolation. Expect big changes this offseason, they can't afford to lose promising guard Chauncey Billups, he's Garnett's best chance for long term winning.