The Oklahoma City Thunder stunned the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors by unexpectedly ripping away Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at Golden State. Notwithstanding an egregious non-call following an obvious travel by Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (24 PPG, 10 APG, 8 RPG) in the final minute of what was still a single-possession game, the Thunder outplayed, outcoached, out manned, and out physicaled the Warriors in the second half of Game 1.
Many observers expected the Conference Finals to be trip down a short cobblestone road on the way to a like showdown and rematch with the 2015 runner-ups, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The road would not necessarily be smooth, but nonetheless quickly and successfully traveled. The Thunder dispelled the certainty of such a mindset on Monday night.
The cliché about a playoff series not starting until the road team wins (or Game 7 – whichever comes first) became a cliché for a reason. It is more difficult to win away from home in any organized competitive sport at any level; it is not easy to win on the road against any opponent in any professional sport, and it is difficult to win on the road in a professional sport in a playoff series. This axiom is especially true against a quality opponent and even more so in basketball, a sport in which the crowd is close to the action, loud, and the depth perception of home team, when shooting, need not adjust to an unfamiliar arena.
This series “started” (so-to-speak) after Game 1. Golden State will have to prevail at least once at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City to defend its crown. While the Warriors, with an NBA regular season record-breaking 73 wins in the 2016 season, are as talented and offensively potent as any team in the Association to ever defend a championship in the, the task of taking a Conference Finals game on the road while running the table at home will not be a proverbial slam-dunk. A loss by the Warriors at home tonight in Game 2 will change Golden State’s mission from “not a slam dunk”, to “a steep uphill climb”.
Simply put, the “pivotal” distinction normally reserved for Game 5 of a best-of-seven playoff series applies early, in Game 2, of the 2016 Western Conference NBA Finals. The team that wins tonight is likely going to win the series. Will the Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Warriors make a Splash or be Thunder-struck?
Another NBA All-Star Game has come and gone. With a whopping total of over 300 points scored between the East and West All-Stars, fans got to see a showcase of dunks and long distance jumpers as defense was wholly absent from the NBA's annual exhibition.
Still, the West has gotten the better of the East. Much like the balance of power is in the Western Conference, the same has generally applied to the All-Stars in recent years. Today's retweet, from NOTSportsCenter (@NOTSportsCenter) puts a clever spin on this trend:
"BREAKING: Tired of losing all star games, LeBron has opted out with the East and will join the West for the 2nd half #AllStarGame"
Looks like LeBron would rather fight than switch to me.
The 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans went off without a hitch (and without defense). The entertaining offensive spectacle featuring the best players in the league unofficially kicks off the home stretch of the NBA regular season. The playoffs showcase the best of the Eastern Conference and the Best of the Western Conference to decide the participants in the NBA Finals. One side of the equation is all but decided. The other side is up for grabs.
THE FRONT RUNNERS
The Eastern Conference is a two team race and has been for quite some time. Barring a catastrophic and unprecedented rash of injuries, either the Miami Heat or Indiana Pacers will represent the Eastern Conference in the 2014 NBA Finals. The only undecided piece of the puzzle is which team will secure home court throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. As of this morning, the Pacers have a 2-1/2 game lead on the Heat.
The Western Conference is a horse of another color. The Western Conference champions of 2012 and 2013, the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, respectively, sit atop the conference but neither team is necessarily assured of the top seed...yet. OKC holds a healthy four game advantage over the Spurs. Just six games back, however, are the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Thunder's division rival, the Portland Trailblazers. The Thunder are in the driver's seat, but a funk by the Thunder combined with a hot streak by their pursuers could put some drama into the Western Conference race come April.
The Pacers took the Heat to the brink without Danny Granger. Could Granger, who has been used sparingly in the regular season, be the X-factor in the playoffs? 1
CANNON FODDER
Of course, there are 16 teams that will reach the NBA Playoffs. Like every season, several teams enter the postseason tournament without a prayer of winning a conference championship. This season, I would say "the majority" of playoff teams don't have a shot.
Can anyone name the Atlantic Division leader right now? No peeking! It is the Toronto Raptors at 28-24. Yet they aren't even the hottest team in their division. That honor would belong to the Brooklyn Nets, who have caught fire since the start of the new year under rookie head coach Jason Kidd after a disastrous start to the season. The red hot Nets have a losing record and would hold the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs if the season ended today.
Chicago Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau deserves a solid gold medal for having the Bulls in second place in the Central Division without former MVP Derrick Rose for a second straight season. They may actually slip out of the first round of the playoffs, depending on how the seeding falls. Finally, to illustrate just how terrible the Eastern Conference is in 2014, if the season ended today, the hapless Charlotte Bobcats would make the playoffs with the eighth seed at 23-30 with the comic-tragic Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, and Cleveland Cavaliers giving chase.
Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, 50, may have to activate himself if his team is to have a prayer of not being swept out of the playoffs. 2
BRIDESMAIDS
The sixth through eighth seeds in the West are longshots to reach the NBA Finals. However, they all have the potential to pull of an upset in the first round. The long-in-the-tooth but quietly dangerous Dallas Mavericks are currently in sixth place in the Western Conference. The back-from-the-dead Phoenix Suns are in seventh place. And the offensive juggernaut Golden State Warriors are currently in eighth place. Any one of these teams are capable of pulling off a first round upset should the stars of the hardwood line up properly. The same applies to the 9th place Memphis Grizzlies, no stranger to playoff upsets. Memphis is only a game-and-a-half back of Golden State.
The Phoenix Suns dancers might earn some extra playoff money...for once. 3
ONE FOR THE MONEY...TWO FOR THE SHOW
There are 25-30 games remaining in the regular season. Much like a NASCAR race, the first 50 games have decided the pole positions. The beginning of the "real" race starts on Tuesday. Drivers, start your engines!
LeBron fired the starter's pistol to the second half race last week at Golden State.
It’s official. The Lakers are going down in flames. They’re falling off of the bridge. They’re being dumped in the lake with cement shoes. The 2012 Lakers are finished!
I think it is too late to add Captain Sully to the Lakers' playoff roster. 1
IT’S JUST ONE GAME, RIGHT?
As you are likely aware, the Los Angeles Lakers were obliterated by 29 points by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the 2012 Western Conference Semifinals. I am not expecting the Lakers’ doom because I have a “sky is falling” disposition. I understand that Game 1 was played at OKC. I understand that in the NBA playoffs the series doesn’t really begin until the home team loses or Game 7, whichever comes first. The aforementioned notwithstanding, the Lakers are dead men walking.
WHO NOT TO BLAME
Teams often go as far as their stars can carry them. Kobe Bryant (28 PPG, 5 APG, 5 RPG) is the Lakers’ unquestioned on-court leader. Bryant is playing as well as I have ever seen him play in the post season, averaging 28 points per game in this year’s playoffs. Do not blame him.
Head coach Mike Brown calls the plays and sets the strategies. Most of the time during the 2012 season, it has worked rather well. He cannot make the players execute at 100% for 48 minutes. Mike Brown never hit Thunder forward James Harden in the head and cost the team its toughest defender, Metta World Peace, for six games of a first round playoff series. Do not blame him.
Scroll to 0:35 to hear who NOT to blame. Sorry, readers, but this is never going to get old to me!
WHO’S TO BLAME
The Jekyll and Hyde acts of Lakers center Andrew Bynum and forward Pau Gasol would befuddle the most un-befuddle-able of spectators. Yes! I said, “unbefuddleable”. Granted, Bynum did not play badly last night, with 20 points and 14 rebounds. But one never knows which Bynum is going to show up, especially on the road away from the Staples Center.
Last night he was almost a tiny silver lining in the dark cloud that was the Lakers. Tomorrow night, he could be completely aloof and checked out, picking up stupid technical fouls, not joining the huddle, and resisting Coach Brown’s game plan. One man rarely completely makes or breaks a basketball team. However, I feel quite confident that if Bynum were fully tuned in from each opening tip to each final buzzer, the Lakers would have disposed of the Denver Nuggets in five games, instead of trailing at home during the fourth quarter of Game 7.
If Bynum duplicates his efforts last night and his teammates to not repeat the abortion of a performance from last night, the Lakers could make the Thunder sweat during this series. When Bynum gives the Lakers a full, focused effort for every minute of all seven games of a seven game series, I’ll wear a purple and gold dress with Bynum’s #17 sewn on the back and the words, “I Was Wrong,” sewn on the name plate.
Pau Gasol (17 PPG, 10 RPG) had been as reliable an offensive post season player as the Lakers had in past years. This year, when he has checked into hotels on the road his mind checks out of the game at hand. Gasol has averaged a paltry 11 points per game and has failed to grab 10 rebounds in any road playoff game this season. Other than Game 7 of the first round series, Gasol has yet to elevate his game up to or beyond his typical game in the regular season.
Blake Griffin was foreshadowing the Lakers' playoff fate, with the Thunder as the firing squad: boom, boom...POW! 2
CHANGES
The Lakers will not win this series. Because, in addition to playing a younger, faster, more athletic Thunder team, the Thunder are hungry and, from all accounts, pushing themselves to the limit during games and in practice. On ESPN radio, I heard a report that Thunder coach Scott Brooks had to veto a decision by his players to engage in two-a-day practices during their nine day layoff between the end of their first round series with the Dallas Mavericks and the beginning of the Western Semis with L.A.
In contrast, I haven’t seen anyone not named “Bryant” or “World Peace” playing with constant, urgent intensity from start to finish in every game. In World Peace’s case, that could be an occasional negative. His brand of intensity can lead to injuries and missed games; ask James Harden.
Point guard Ramon Sessions and reserves Steve Blake and Matt Barnes are solid role players that play their roles well. But playoff series are generally not won by the role players, they simply are not lost. Star players need to rise to the sky and I have little faith in World Peace, Gasol, and Bynum to simultaneously translate their intensity and focus into production on the court night in and night out.
This Lakers team, by its play, is going to send a glaring message to management that this core is not going to win another championship. When the Thunder either sweep the Lakers out of the playoffs or unceremoniously dispose of them in five games, that message will be sent loud and clear from both the players and the fans. This boat is sinking. It’s time to abandon ship.
History repeats itself; Life imitates art. 3
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