NBA Playoffs: Round One Game Thread
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Joey Crawford is not only a poor official for the obvious reasons, but he also loses track of where is on the court. As the trail ref, he has come up the middle of the floor several times in this half and then had to scoot over to the sideline and sometimes sidestep players.
I hate to say it but this is the one series in the West that has about as much appeal as tofu. I mean, I've eaten tofu before and I don't hate it. But its not something I get all excited for when I see it on a menu somewhere. I don't think Dallas will win one game here...
Blacken said:
Oh yeah - and this is fucking awesome.
edit: I was referring to the video of PP shooting the dagger and then proclaiming "this is why..."
So Washington seems a fashionable pick to beat Chicago on all the TV shows, but having watched them a bit, I think they re soft and not particularly well coached. I would love them to advance, but Beal and Wall still need a couple of years, not to mention a better coach.
The Craig Sager tributes are very touching, especially Pop's interview, but you get a sense from their demeanor that the poor guy is with one foot on the grave. 
Big Al goes down with planter fasciitis and the Heat cruise to the victory. Good lord Miami is lucky, Rose goes down, Indiana falls apart, and the one guy that Charlotte has that can push them gets hurt with an injury and will likely be hamperd for the rest of the series.
Stotts is hooping McHale late in the fourth of game one of the Portland/Houston series. Hack-a-Howard in full effect.
Lillard with an LA dribble and an Oakland trey. Then Bearded Paul Pierce draws more contact and two shots.
Enjoying the hell out of this Houston Blazers game. Really like the Portland squad and find the Houston players very hateable. Feels bad to root against McHale though
luckiestman said:
I disagree about Houston. Harden is fucking awesome. Parsons is annoying but very good. Beverly is a scrappy player. Lin is fine. Howard is, of course, polarizing but the guy is very good at basketball. Agreed about Portland - even though I am ultimately rooting against both them and Houston - they are very likable. Aldridge is amazing.
Ugh. What a stupid foul. Beverly is a McHale type of player. Great defender, scrappy and wily. He may have just won this game right there.
Hey that's the Harden I remember from the nba finals.
This Lillard guy, man, what a player and LMA, that was an amazing game
This Lillard guy, man, what a player and LMA, that was an amazing game
That was some rough officiating at the end there, but I would say Portland got the worst of it. What a game though. Aldridge was unstoppable for a stretch there and Houston made no adjustments whatsoever. McHale got out coached.
Home teams went 3-5 in game 1s, I knew this was going to be a wild playoffs with all of the coasting and injuries we've seen, but that is crazy. I'd be surprised if that's not the most wins for road teams in first round game 1s ever.
jon abbey said:
Harden plays to the officials no doubt but that is the reality of today's NBA. The blueprint has been there for years - PP, Kobe and Wade all mastered it before him.
Very interesting game. In the first quarter, LMA was unstoppable, and then for the next 2 quarters decided to go away from him because hey, Lillard, Matthews and Mo Williams had to go for a combined 16 for 41. In the end though, Portland survived a dreadful James Harden game and thanks to an all-world performance from Aldridge. He was getting a little bit of MVP ballot buzz early in the season, but that dropped off despite him not really playing any worse. He's a top 10 player right now.
As for Houston being unlikeable, I get why people don't like Howard, and I'm in that boat, but Harden is very fun to watch and although he gets to the line too much, I think he plays with a lot of charisma and has kind of a carefree attitude towards offense that is kind of a throwback. Beverley is a scrappy guy, but I feel like all of a sudden he is becoming a media darling. Listening to Webber and that other guy talk about him tonight, you would think he was defending all 5 portland players by himself.
As for Houston being unlikeable, I get why people don't like Howard, and I'm in that boat, but Harden is very fun to watch and although he gets to the line too much, I think he plays with a lot of charisma and has kind of a carefree attitude towards offense that is kind of a throwback. Beverley is a scrappy guy, but I feel like all of a sudden he is becoming a media darling. Listening to Webber and that other guy talk about him tonight, you would think he was defending all 5 portland players by himself.
Hateable is a personal thing and we will all feel different. It has nothing to do with his ability, I just watch the guy and want him to lose. I don't want him to get hurt or have a bad life. If you want him to win and like him, that's great.
Aldridge has been a Top 10 player for the past few years. Sadly, he plays up here in the NW and doesn't get the pub that he is due. It's no surprise this Blazers team struggled when he went down. Lillard is amazing and if he learns to play even respectable defense, watch out. Love this Blazers team. Beverley and someone from Portland will get into something before this series is over.
SoxFanInPdx said:
You should love that team - they kept Batum and Aldridge and look smart for bringing Stotts on board. BTW, I don't know anyone who follows the NBA closely who thinks of Aldridge as anything other a very good player and tonight he was otherworldly. That said, "top ten" is so subjective depending on what you mean. This game he was the best player on the floor and was virtually unstoppable.
Depending on how you measure players, he might not be a "top ten" guy - in '13-14 he was 37th in win-shares, 21st in PER, 41st in offensive win-shares and 32nd in defensive win-shares - he is tenth in WAR. Amongst PFs, he is definitely a top ten player but overall its debatable. However, there are quite a few teams in the NBA who would love to have him in their line-up.
I think Aldridge is a classic example of a player who contributes more than the box score demonstrates. He and Lillard are the best offensive players on a team that had the second best offensive rating in the NBA. Individually, a lot of the offense comes from the incredibly efficient three point shooters Lillard, Batum, and Wes Matthews. But how do you think they are getting all those open looks? Aldridge is one of the few big men in the league whom you can give the ball down low and have a legitimate threat. That is what opens up the inside-outside game for their three point shooters.
Memphis has OKC on the ropes on the road thanks to 14 points off the bench by Beno Udrih. Up 8 right now with 6 to play. Grizzlies do a really good job of disrupting Durant.
That was incredible.
But hard to understand how that's a shooting foul. Gasol makes contact while it's a loose ball.
But hard to understand how that's a shooting foul. Gasol makes contact while it's a loose ball.