NBA Playoffs Short, Short Notes: Game 7s Coming Up
May 15, 2009 by dwil
I didn’t want to write anything at all. So I’ll be very, very brief, which might leave even more room for discussion of the two games.
My take on the Game 6s….
For Boston, the Game was there for the taking. Toward games end, they failed to execute and Orlando executed. Game Orlando. Before that the Celtics committed too many turnovers, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce failed to make shots, and no one outside of Pierce, Allen, Perkins and Rondo did much of anything. Dwight Howard had one of those loud double-double games I talked about him needing to have for Orlando to win, Rashard Lewis took up the slack when no other Magic player could score, and Hedo Turkoglu produced when Orlando needed him most.
Luis Scola? Are you serious? Who could have guessed Game 6 would be Game 4 all over again? This time LA did not fall behind 27 points and hung in the game thinking it had a chance to win. Houston continued to push the issue, the crowd helped keep them aware, some calls and long rebounds failed to go the Lakers’ way at the key point in the third quarter when Houston was teetering on the brink of losing their lead altogether, falling behind, and falling apart. Oddly though for LA, they never made another serious push at the Rockets after their third quarter run.
Now, it’s onto Game 7 for both series.
I will say this. Do not look for either of the winning teams from these two series to advance beyond their conference finals. None of the four teams are playing well enough to defeat Cleveland or Denver (I probably shouldn’t have written that – different series, different matchups, produce vastly different results).
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I will be live blogging the both the LA-Houston and Boston-Orlando games Sunday on the Meebo Live Chat. In a twist, ABC scheduled the west coast LA -Houston game at 3:30 EST and the east coast Boston-Orlando game at 8 p.m.
See you Sunday afternoon.
SMH@the Lake-Show. I’m starting to share your sentiments concerning a Cleveland/Denver finals. The PTB are just itching for a LeBron year…while giving Denver its 2nd place consolation.
Sorry to jack this thread, but I just heard that Wayman Tisdale made his transition to the spirit world.
R.I.P. brother Tisdale.
Wayman Tisdale, made music with his smooth game on the court, and with his guitar off of it. R.I.P. brother.
CDF,
Actually, I think the NBA loves the prospects of L.A. playing a 7th game in this series. L.A. is the second biggest city and market, Houston is the 4th biggest city, but around 11th as far as market share. That’s still a good ratings match up. That means more money for the league. Don’t be surprised if L.A. makes it out of this series, that there will be controversy, and it may take at least 6 games to finish off the Nuggets. Remember, Kobe got a cheap technical last night for his 5th of the playoffs; two more, and he’s got to sit a game. Also, it furthers a theory that I brought forth earlier that the NBA would like to wear the Lakers down for a possible matchup with the Cavaliers. This would allow an easier time for a coronation of James, and less tampering by officials that would undoubtedly get people calling the NBA out for fixing games.
I don’t believe for a minute that Stern would prefer the Rockets or the Nuggets to go up against the Cavaliers. James has the name, but not the following that the Lakers would have in the Finals. Remember the Finals that the Cavs had against the Spurs? Lowest rated of all time. The Lakers have a national following. There are probably as many people who like L.A. as hate it. It also doesn’t hurt that Kobe Bryant is perhaps the most polarizing player in the NBA today. This would bump up those ratings a bit.
Yea. The idea that there is a conspiracy against LA is simply insane. The League would like some combination of LA/NY/Boston or Chicago in the finals every year. Lebron has really not been proven to be a needle mover yet.
Shid, the real conspiracy for these past few seasons has been and continues to be the movement to bring King Kong (back) to New York. You talk about a needle mover? Kong carrying scrubs like the ones he’s carrying in Cleveland to the title every year, but doing it in the Apple? Are you serious? The league has to make this happen because it will GUARANTEE a ratings boon, untold dollars and NBA brand popularity for the rest of Kong’s career – and beyond (e.g., why does Michael Jordan STILL appear on espn.com’s cover page at least twice a month? etc)