The Belated Eastern Conference Finals Preview

By: Justin Jacobs

Did you know that the Celtics haven’t won a single game on the road this playoffs? You should, the media has made every effort to remind us before, during and after every Celtics game that the big three haven’t really showed up for a road game this postseason. The thing is, Boston doesn’t have to win any road games, they have home court advantage throughout the playoffs! Until a team can beat the Celtics in Boston, it doesn’t matter what their road record is like.

This is Detroits burden, they need to steal a victory in Boston tonight to really have a shot against the Celtics, and I’m not sure they can do it. It seems pretty clear that Chauncey Billups still has a sore hammy, and that is really going to hurt the Pistons. During the regular season Billups played great against Boston and gave Celtics’ point guard, Rajon Rondo, all kinds of problems. With Billups’ injury he was unable to press his advantage in game 1, only getting off six shot attempts and allowed Rondo to score 11 points and get seven assists en route to a 88-79 Celtics’ victory. If Rondo out-produces Billups this series Detroit has almost no shot at getting past Boston.

A lot has been made of Ray Allen’s struggles as of late, and his 3/10, nine point performance in game one isn’t going to make him feel any better about his game. Why Allen can’t make a jumper lately is beyond me, but if he continues to struggle, Doc Rivers is going to be forced to keep him on the bench when it comes down to crunch time. Allen is not a great defender, and if he is not stretching the defense, he really has no reason to be out there when the game is on the line.

(Yes, I am aware there is a series going on in the Eastern Conference right now)

A few other thoughts about this series:

• This Kevin Garnett/Rasheed Wallace match-up is fantastic, you have two of the smartest, most intense players in the league facing off and both teams need big performances out of their respective star to go on to the finals. This is the closest thing we have to Thunderdome in the playoffs, two men enter, one man leaves.
• Every once in a while Paul Pierce likes to remind everyone that he is one of the top ten players in the league when he feels like trying, this postseason has been one of those times.
• I like Richard Hamilton’s game, but does he really need to wear that face-guard? It’s been years since he’s need to wear that thing, and every time I see it I can’t help but think about Will Purdue, which is unsettling for me.
• It’s just struck me that none of the coaches from this years Eastern Conference Playoffs has ever won a championship as a head coach, then again I guess Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich have a monopoly on those things lately.

If Billups can get back to being his “big-shot” self Detroit should be able to make a run at Boston, if not, this will be a short series. I think that Boston can overcome Ray Allen’s recent shooting problems because they have the home court advantage and that’s been good enough for the Celts so far. If Detroit can steal a win tonight however, it will put a great deal of pressure for Boston to finally get a win on the road, it should make for an interesting game tonight. Enjoy it everyone.

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TOUTS Update: Chad is not dead, I promise. In fact, he’s quite elated that the Bulls were able to beat the odds and get the number one pick in this years NBA Draft. Something he is going to share with you in greater detail tonight or tomorrow. He’s also cooking up a six part MLB recap, because he cares deeply about the MLB, and you readers out there. We are also one step closer to recording our first podcast, we are just getting a few final details locked down and we’ll actually be talking about sports on the internet, instead of just writing about them.

Mamba Strikes Late, Deals Deathblow To Spurs

By: Justin Jacobs

There were many thoughts going through my mind at halftime of the Spurs/Lakers game last night.

I wondered, “If I was the best basketball player on the planet, and Bruce Bowen was guarding me, would I only put up three shots in the first half?”

I thought through all the scenarios in my head, and every time I’d come up with the same answer, I would probably take more than three shots.

So yes, last nights 89-85 Lakers victory was a bit of a perplexing/aggravating one for Lakers fans, but a win is a win. Things were looking rather bleak for the Lakers in the thrid quarter when they were staring down a 20 point deficit, but as we’ve seen all year with the Lakers, when it comes down to winning time, there is just no stopping the Mamba. After the Lakers went down 45-65 in the middle of the third quarter Kobe was directly responsible for 31 of the Lakers next 44 points. He would end the game with 27 points, including the biggest shot of the game, a 9 foot game breaking jumper that would put the Lakers up by two with 25 seconds left in the game. The Spurs tried to answer with a Manu Ginobli three, but it would clank off the rim, and after Sasha Vujicic grabbed the rebound, got fouled, and made two game clinching free-throws, it was all over but the crying.

Here’s a little pro-tip for Spurs coach Greg Popovich regarding game Kobe Bryant, when he’s responsible for almost all of the Lakers fourth quarter points, you might want to make sure the ball isn’t in his hands for the most important shot of the game. That may be easier said than done, as Kobe did escape a (rather sorry) attempt at a sideline trap by Bruce Bowen and Tony Parker, but you have to do a little bit better job of getting the ball out of Kobe’s hands in crunch time. I don’t know, just a suggestion, make of it what you want.

Even though it was great to see the Lakers pull out a hard earned win last night, I still have some lingering doubts about the Lakers effort. Here is a list of things that really bothered me about last nights game:

1. Pau Gasol cannot guard Tim Duncan 1-on-1. I’m sorry Pau, you have been a Godsend for the Lakers this year, but Timmy D just completely outclasses you on the offensive end. I hope Phil Jackson either goes with more Ronny Turiaf in game 2, or sends more double teams Duncan’s way.
2. The Lakers aren’t going to win this series if Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom continue to shoot a combined 4-21 from the field. And oh yeah, Fisher, you might want to try actually getting in front of Tony Parker on defense, you’ll find it’s much easier to defend him when you are not chasing him around the court.
3. Manu Ginobli only shot 3-13 from the field and 2-6 from three point land, and LA still only won by four, that does not bode well for the rest of the series.
4. Tim Duncan’s line from last night: 30 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocked shots. Yeah, Tim Duncan still scares the shit out of me.

For all of my bitching, the Lakers did provide plenty of entertainment last night and Kobe’s performance down the stretch shows why he is the greatest closer of games in the NBA since Jordan. Now the Spurs only have one night to recover from this, pretty devastating, loss and figure out how they are going to keep the Mamba from striking again.

(Mamba Strikes!)