Thursday Night Playoff Notes

Stephon Marbury looks completely different with the Celtics. When he is on the floor, he is chasing down loose balls, pushing the tempo on offense, but looking to pass first. Granted, its easier to make a good impression when your team is up double-digits, but nonetheles— Starbury not at all the black hole he was with New York.
Boston closed out the first half on 21-6 run, up 59-37 at the half. Not even the “Loveabull” cheerleaders have much to work with here.

Just a shame every series feels so disjointed. It’s the playoffs—why can’t these guys play back-to-back nights? I’m not saying 7 games in 7 days, but to wait 2-3 days to play again in the same city in some cases… there are so many series in the opening round, its hard to focus on all the match-ups.

Good god, San Antonio—remember when the Spurs were good? This team aged like a child actor; one second, all is well, at the top of their game. The next, they are strung out in rehab, relying on George Hill and Roger Mason to win games. 40 points through 3 quarters? That is not good. If I told you this game would be a 30 point blowout through 3 quarters, and offered you 1,000 dollars to pick a side, wouldn’t you go with the Spurs? A truly shocking result.

18 minutes and 50 seconds. That’s how long it took Kobe Bryant to score. But give the Lakers credit—their defense made it tough on Utah, whose shot selection in the second quarter left a lot to be desired.
How about Andrei Kirilenko early on? Kind of like a See’s box of chocolate sampler—little bit of everything, mostly good. Not enough to completely satisfy a particular craving- and zero rebounds has to be the equivalent of the strawberry nougat that takes three more chocolates just to get the taste off your tongue. But still enough good stuff to keep you reaching back for more.

The Lakers exploded in the third quarter—29-9 run? Wow. On a night when Kobe Bryant was that bad—5-24 shooting!—that was incredible that the Lakers could have a 13 point lead in the second half. But in the end, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams were too good, especially Boozer, with a 23 pt, 22 reb performance, including an emphatic dunk over Pau Gasol in the last 30 seconds of the game.

Two terrible games early, but a thriller in the nightcap.