NBA 2003/04

[Scott]

Carmelo was pretty much non-existant last night...it was mostly Camby carrying them and John Berry, they have a nice team but they can't stop the three headed monster.

Not liking how the Spurs continue to roll, they have a tough road ahead of them though with the Lakers and us or the Kings/Mavs

They really are the team to beat IMO...those 2 rings on Duncan's fingers aren't just out of a gumball machine.  

[Scott]

Lakers go up 2-0 and not a peep from Mister Giant Sweater?  Got lucky in Game 1, and really dominated last night.

I'm really thinking the Mavs will win Game 2...I was suprised actually that the Kings whooped them so badly

[SPIDERLEGS]

Well, we see that "small ball" isn't playoff basketball. The Mavs could have won either of those games. But Finley has disappeared, Nash has sucked, and Dirk is having to haul the load by himself. That's not fair, and consequently, I'm thinking the Kings will take the Mavs in 6. I do believe we will win the next 2 at home--the Mavs have the league's best home record--but the Mavs also have a very bad away record, and I think the Kings will take one from us here.

Look for Don Nelson to be gone after this season. When you live by the jumpshot and the "3" with no "D," so shlal you die by it. No defense and cold shooters = 4-2 Kings advantage.

I DO hope that I am wrong. We went down 0-2 to Utah 3 years ago and wound up winning that series, but that's the only time we've done it.

[Morgbug]

I think we can safely say the Wolves will win tonight.  


AAaaaaaaoooooooooooooooooow

[Scott]

Higher seeds went 15-1 in the first 2 games...ouch

Should be a tougher set of games on the road...I could see almost all of the teams dropping one or two on the road

[JediMAC]

They (Spurs) really are the team to beat IMO...those 2 rings on Duncan's fingers aren't just out of a gumball machine.  

   

Doof.

Anyway, despite 3 terrible halves of basketball, my boys are still up 2-0.  Got pretty damned lucky in that first game.  We should've lost that one.  Looks like we finally woke up in the second half of game 2.  Hopefully they stay awake and interested for the remainder of the playoffs now.  

Glad to see the Wolves kicking some butt.  It'll be a great monkey off KG's back just to get to round 2, and hopefully past the Kings there before falling to us in the Conference Finals.  Did you catch Garnett bagging on Barkley's ass on the TNT postgame show?  Good stuff.    I'd love to see Dallas come back to beat the Kings though.  Hate those guys.  Also rooting for Miami, since they've got my former Laker and Clipper boys, Eddie Jones and Lamar Odom, so it's nice to see them cruising so far as well.

Pretty boring and predictable playoffs so far though, aside from the Bucks upset tonight.  Hopefully things will get a little more exciting as the games move into new cities in the next few days.  But Round 2 is going to be insane, so maybe it's best if everyone just sweeps this round, so we can get down to business a little sooner...

[Brian]

In a way, I was glad to finally see something "out of the ordinary" happen with the Bucks' win last night.  Plus, they are a tough team not to root for sometimes I think...the perennial underdogs this year.  I was glad to see the T'Wolves win again, hopefully on their way out of the first round at least..or further.  Garnett....20-22-10?  Ridiculous.  Lakers are looking tough again too, when Shaq can score 7 and they still win pretty easily.  I don't think Houston can hang with them.  Kind of expected the Mavs to do more against Sacto too, although I guess we're only two games in and more could happen.  Nice to see the Heat continue to do well, thrashing New Orleans last night (63 points?).  I remember when N.O. was one of the favorites to come out of the east at the beginning of the year.  Have fun in the West next year guys .  Like you guys said, Spurs/Duncan turning it on at the right time....they are looking tough.  Let's get to Round 2, see some even better matchups .

Oh...and a side note...congrats to LeBron James on ROY, Ron Artest on DPOY, and Hubie Brown on COY.  Although there were others who could stake claim to those awards, I think all three are quite deserving.  I'm hoping KG can get the MVP this year, I really think he deserves it.

[SPIDERLEGS]

URL TextMavs forward Antawn Jamison wins the 6th man award.

[Brian]

All NBA Teams

First Team
C - Shaquille O'Neal - Los Angeles Lakers
F - Kevin Garnett - Minnesota Timberwolves
F - Tim Duncan - San Antonio Spurs
G - Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers
G - Jason Kidd - New Jersey Nets

Second Team

C - Ben Wallace - Detroit Pistons
F - Jermaine O'Neal - Indiana Pacers
F - Peja Stojakavic - Sacramento Kings
G - Tracy McGrady - Orlando Magic
G - Sam Cassell - Minnesota Timberwolves

Third Team

C - Yao Ming - Houston Rockets
F - Dirk Nowitzki - Dallas Mavericks
F - Ron Artest - Indiana Pacers
G - Michael Redd - Milwaukee Bucks
G - Baron Davis - New Orleans Hornets

Congrats to all players/teams on their selections, the teams look pretty good to me.  In the playoffs, we had the Pacers, Spurs, and Nets finishing off their first round series in sweeps.  New Orleans, Denver, Dallas, and Houston all picked up their first wins in their respective series as well.  The Lakers and Rockets had a heck of a slugfest yesterday again, with the Lakers coming out on top in OT.  Tonight's action continues with Detroit and Milwaukee, as well as Dallas and Sacramento going head to head again on TNT.

[SPIDERLEGS]

As I watched the Mavs-Kings game Saturday, I thought to myself that no way were these the same two teams that played the first 2 games of the series. Is "home court" really that much of an advantage? The Mavs were up by 30 points in the 3rd and part of the 4th quarter.

[JediMAC]

Well, the Lakers squeeked another one out on Sunday - but just barely.  Still not playing very good ball.  Shaq's been rather uninvolved/uninterested this series (so far), Kobe's shooting has been off, Payton hasn't been a factor, nor has our bench in a few of the games.  But we've fortunately still managed to squeek out a 3-1 series lead.  Should be interesting to see if Kobe's court dates conflict with the next game (or two)...

Yeah, Dallas looks like a completely different team when they're at home.  I'm sure they'll even the series up tonight, and it'd be great to see these two high-octane offenses go 7.  I'd love to see Dallas pull the series out in the end, but I unfortunately don't think it's going to happen...

T-Wolves sure got spanked in Denver in the last game.  That was very surprising, especially at that wide a margin throughout most of the game.  Denver will be very lucky if they get one more off of them.  Doubtful that's gonna happen.

Otherwise, a bunch of boring and predictable sweeps in several of those other series.  Still waiting to get down to the real business in Round 2 though...  

[SPIDERLEGS]

But no...the Mavs played one of the worst games I have ever seen them play last night (and I saw them when they were 15-67). They were weak in every aspect of the game.

I'll have to amend my prediction: Kings in 5, not 6.

[JediMAC]

Yeah, that Mav's performance was extremely crappy, and quite surprising with their near impeccable home record.  I'd have to agree that they're pretty much toast now, and probably in the next game at that.

Scott's Wolves sure snuck by the Nuggets by the skin of their teeth!    If 'Melo doesn't go 1 for 16 from the floor, the Nuggets wouldn't have lost be two measely points.  Bummer to see the Hornets even things up with the Heat too.  But hopefully the Lakers will close their series out tonight, so the real Finals can begin!  

[Brian]

Well, the Lakers finished off the Rockets last night, so now we can move on to that 2nd Round matchup of Spurs - Lakers, should be a good one.  Hopefully the Wolves can take care of business tomorrow night against the Nuggs, and get out of the first round.  I'm glad these 1st round series are starting to wrap up for the most part, on to the good (or better) stuff now.  On a side note, they really could have left the first round series in the 5 game format in my opinion.  Seems like it takes a long time to get the first round done with, and really hurts any underdogs looking for an upset too.  I guess it didn't matter much since most of the series were sweeps or close to it.  Sacramento and Detroit have a chance to close out their respective series tonight.

[SPIDERLEGS]

If the Mavs lose tonight, Nellie can pack his bags. It also may see the end of the big 3: Nash, Finley, and Dirk.

So that's why I think the Mavs might win 1 more game. I know I'm "flip-flopping" on the Mavs, but I'm going to say again that the Kings will take it in 6 if they don't win tonight.

Also, I'm thinking if the Mavs can win tonight, the series comes back here for game 6. I still have to hope the Mavs can pull off 1 more win at home before it's all over. Of course, I'm probably doing the homer fanboy dream, but here's to hope, right?

And believe me, after making it to the Western Conference Finals last year and falling 1 game short, if they go out in the first round like it looks like they will, heads will roll. First head on the chopping block is Don Nelson. The next one will be Steve Nash. Cuban loves Finley, and even though Finley has stunk it up this round (like Nash), he's a Cuban fave. He's safe. Dirk is safe, too.