Daily Highlight: Finally a Game 7

So out of this round of the playoffs we finally get a game 7.  It has been the most interesting series, and one of the most interesting storylines.  The Memphis Grizzlies already knocked off the number 1 over all seed, and now they have a chance to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder and the league's top scorer, Kevin Durant.  It's going to be a fun game to watch, but home court should be enough for the Thunder.

Daily Highlight: Triple Overtime

Last night was full of overtimes in the NBA Playoffs, which is as it should be at this point.  The Heat pulled off a win in Boston to take a 3-1 series lead in that series.  But the big one was the Triple Overtime game between the Thunder and the Grizzlies.  The Thunder pulled off a much needed win in Memphis to tie up the series at 2 apiece heading back to Oklahoma City.

Everyone Loves and Upset

Everyone loves and upset.  That is unless you're a fan of the favored team...in this case it's the San Antonio Spurs and the Orlando Magic.  The first round of this year's playoffs featured 2 upsets.  One wasn't entirely unexpected as the #5 Hawks eliminated the #4 Magic.  The other one however was a big time shocker.  The #8 Memphis Grizzlies knocked off the #1 overall San Antonio Spurs.

It doesn't happen very often that the number # seed in the entire NBA goes down in the first round.  Especially against an inexperienced and young team like the Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies hadn't won a playoff game in their entire history, let alone a playoff series.  It could be due to the young athleticism of Memphis.  It's a pretty well known fact that the Spurs are getting old.  Tim Duncan is admittedly one of the best players at his position ever, but he just couldn't handle Zach Randolph for the duration of the series.

 
Zach Randolph has had a bit of a shaky career.  In the post game interview he gave he was asked how it is that he came to fit in at Memphis after jumping around from one team to another for most of his career.  His answer was "This is a blue collar town.  I'm a blue collar player.  Nothing came to me easy, and nothing came to this town easy.  For that I love them, and they love me."  And as was stated at the end of the game, after his performance in this series they will love him even more.


But now the question comes up "Is this the end of an era in the NBA?"  Duncan is quickly losing his effectiveness.  He had career lows in every statistic.  But in his tenure, the Spurs won 4 NBA Titles and they went to the playoffs all 14 years, winning 55games every year.  That is practically unheard of, and the question has been a extremely popular the last several days.

My opinion on the situation is that this is the end of the Duncan Era.  It is not the end of the Spurs Era.  They may need a year or so to rebuild at some point, but they are too well run to be out of the running in the Western Conference for long.  Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have several good years left in each of them.  And Greg Popovich is a fantastic coach.  So, unless the team completely splits up like the Bulls did when Jordan left for good, they will be around and contending in the Western Conference for a long time.

Daily Highlight: Spurs Eliminated

After winning Game 5, by a miracle last second shot, to take the series to 3-2, it looked like the Spurs were poised to turn things around and win the series.  You could certainly feel the nerves among the fans in Memphis last night in game 6.  The Memphis players however, showed no signs of nerves.  Zach Randolph least of all.  After blowing the lead they had most of the game to go behind with just a few minutes to play, Randolph took over and led the Grizzlies to their first playoff series win in franchise history.

Daily Highlight: Spurs on the Brink of Elimination

I am not familiar with any time in the NBA that the #1 seed has been knocked out by the #8 seed.  I'm sure it has happened at some point, but I'm excited about the prospect of it happening this season again.  The Spurs are the #1 overall seed in the NBA, and the Memphis Grizzlies  have a 3-1 series lead, and 3 chances to knock off the Spurs.  Last night they handled the Spurs by 18 points.  Here's how it went down:

NBA Playoffs: Wild West Round One

3 of the 4 games in the Western Conference first round are done.  And they were all a bit surprising.  Before we get into those, lets look at the conference standings:

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. LA Lakers
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. OKC Thunder
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Portland Trailblazers
7. New Orleans Hornets
8. Memphis Grizzlies

In the conference's first game the Mavericks were given all they could handle from the Trailblazers.  This is a popular upset pick among the "experts," and rightly so in my view.  The Mavericks often under-achieve in the playoffs, and Portland is a solid team.  Their biggest problem right now is that Brandon Roy isn't 100%, but lately LaMarcus Aldridge has been picking up the slack.  For the Mavericks, they got a great game from the aging Jason Kidd, and Dirk Nowitzki, while having a tough shooting night, turned it up in the 4th quarter.  It looked like the Blazers would pull off the upset, but Kidd and Nowitzki poured it on in the 4th quarter to regain the lead and take game one.

As for the top 2 seeds, the Spurs and the Lakers, neither one was able to defend their home court.  Both teams entered the playoffs in a bit of a slump, but with both teams being so experienced, you wouldn't think it would matter.  They're playing very inferior teams, but it just proves if you're not at your best, you can lose to anyone.  The Spurs were definitely missing Ginobili, and I expect they'll be able to turn things around when he comes back.  I don't think the Lakers had any excuse.  They beat the Hornets in all 4 regular season games, but Chris Paul lit them up for 33 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds.  However, I expect both the Spurs and the Lakers to turn it around and win their series.

The last game will be the Thunder verse the Nuggets.  This is a very intriguing matchup.  The Nuggets have been on fire since Carmelo left for the Knicks.  Everyone is contributing, and they're playing with belief and desire.  The Thunder have 2 of the best young players in the NBA: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.  The Thunder also have Kendrick Perkins now, who they acquired from the Celtics, and he has lots of playoff experience against some great big men in the game.  Perkins could very well be the man the changes the series.  You know you're going to get big games from the big name players, Durant and Westbrook, but if Perkins can contribute a bit on offense, as you know he will on defense, the Thunder should win this series.

Daily Highlight: Buzzer Beater

There's been a lot of talk abou the Heat's struggles, but I'm going to stay away from that in my Daily Highlight.  Last night had a lot of overtime and buzzer beaters, and the Dallas v Memphis game had a great finish.  Take a look.