PLAYOFF DIARY: DAY 2
With two days of playoff action down and every team having played, time to hand out the grades. Class, be seated.

A+ Los Angeles Lakers
Couldn’t have written the script better than a 14 point win, easily proving you can out-score the offensively potent Nuggets with 128 points, and getting 68 points combined from Gasol and Bryant. Everything went to plan for the Lakers in this game. Gasol was ridiculous: his 36, 16 and 8 hasn’t been seen since Charles Barkley did it back in 1993. Kobe did his usual fourth quarter take-over, at one stage scoring 13 straight for his team in three minutes. The Lakers bench was its usual brilliant self providing 32 points and five threes, and the Lakers also quickly displaced any doubts their guards couldn’t contain Allen Iverson. Oh yeah, and Lamar had 17-14-6 just for measure. When your third best player goes for 17-14-6 I’d say you’re looking freakishly good. But we already knew the Lakers were good right? Apparently Marcus Camby didn’t: “I was surprised how well they passed the ball. They are a very unselfish team. It was also a surprise how well they cut to the basket”. Well f–k me Marcus, have you not paid attention to the standings/box-scores/newspapers/game videos the last few months? Did you think the Lakers ended up #1 out West despite being a horribly selfish, bad-passing team that didn’t know how to cut to the basket? If you did then you’re a moron.

A Boston Celtics
Yes this was supposed to be the most one-sided series of them all. But unlike the Pistons, Boston came out and actually did what they were supposed to do, and that is whoop the opposition hard. A 5-10 point win here may have even been seen as a victory for the Hawks. But a 23-point win without any of the Big Three playing more than 35 minutes kind of gives Atlanta nothing positive to take away. Well that’s not entirely true. A 20-10 game from Al Horford on 7-10 shooting is kind of amazing, for a rookie, against the best team in the league. In fact it’s damn special. Pity that Atlanta’s own Big Three of Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith went 12-42 combined – yes those numbers are correct. In fact, to call them a “Big Three” is probably sacrilege. They weren’t big, nor were they even amongst their team’s best three players. So from now on Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith will be known not as a “Big Three”, but as the “Fig Tree”, which I feel more accurately reflects their collective basketball output from this game.

A Philadelphia 76′ers
Kudos to the Sixers for making what was potentially a boring first-round match up interesting again. Tizzle called it last night in the playoff podcast, this series does smell “upset”, even if it’s only a faint whiff at this stage. I’ve followed Detroit through some surprising playoff losses over the last five years, but I can say this ranks right up there. I thought we’d lose one game to Philly, but losing game 1 was never a possibility in my mind. The Pistons came in rested and on a good winning streak, whereas Philly had seemingly lost that “dangerous low seed” edge they occupied a few weeks back. For once Rasheed wasn’t being dismissive after the game: “I’m going to put this one on me. There’s no excuses. The last bunny, that was a bucket I should’ve made. I’m going to take this one on the chin.” Good to hear Sheed, but I wouldn’t be worried about missing that last shot. I’d be more worried that your Pistons had to rely on a last second shot to get past these 76′ers. Game 2 is going to be huge, because even a close-fought Detroit win puts the advantage squarely in the Sixers’ hands. Am I worried? Not yet. But anyone hoping to see some cracks in the Pistons steely playoff resolve has to be happy. The cracks are starting to appear far earlier than any one could have imagined.

A- Orlando Magic
The series I don’t care about may have produced the single best individual performance of the first round. Dwight Howard’s 25 points, 22 rebounds and 5 blocks not only gave me a slight man-crush swelling, but was so monstrous that Dwight “almost got some tears.” If by that he means he was crying in disbelief at how easy it was to grab a rebound against Rasho Nesterovic, then I believe him. Wait I’m sorry Raptors fans, that’s unfair, obviously comparing Rasho to Big Dwight is a bit unreasonable. Besides, one of the Raptor’s big strengths has been the combined forces of their three big men: Bosh, Bargnani and Nesterovic. Together they are greater than the sum of their parts. And that is why together, they combined for a tremendously shit 17 rebounds which not only still falls short of Dwight’s 22, but proves that the saying “greater than the sum of their parts” does not apply when Rasho Nesterovic is one of those parts.

B+ Utah Jazz
I already wrote about them yesterday, but safe to say the supposed road-weary Jazz would be extremely happy with this victory over the Rockets. With Boozer playing through foul trouble, Kirilenko looking in great form, and Deron Williams not 100% healthy, I don’t think this game was even as close as the 11-point final margin indicated. As was the case throughout the regular season, the Jazz won’t get much love and attention from this win, but it was just as impressive as any other team’s win so far. The only reason I give them the B+ rating is that they never really put the Rockets away, despite T-Macs woeful shooting, and in fact everyone else’s woeful shooting except Shane Battier. The Jazz played well enough (and the Rockets played bad enough) to win by 20 in this game. Hey, I’m a harsh grader.

B New Orleans
I’m impressed with how they turned around a double-digit defecit into a double-digit win. Being down that big in your first playoff game could have been enough for the Hornets to crumble, but they proved the doubters wrong again and Paul proved his MVP worth by dragging them to victory thanks to a magic third quarter. But it wasn’t the most convincing win. I think the Mavs would have won this game had their bench provided a little more than 7-24 and if Dampier had been allowed to play more minutes (foul trouble). There’s only so many 31-10 games from Dirk the Hornets will be able to withstand, and I’m expecting Josh Howard to bounce back big in game 2 (4-16 shooting). Jobba called it in the podcast, Josh is so important for this Mavs team due to the Hornets lack of perimeter defensive stoppers. Hornets did what they needed to do, but the sniff of an upset is still there.

B Cleveland Cavaliers
Already spoke about this game yesterday too, but a 7-point low scoring win at home isn’t the most convincing way to open your playoff campaign, and that is why they get the “B”. The Cavs were actually terrible in this game, and can count themselves lucky to win. But the Wizards were terribler, and a 17-point fourth quarter is not going to win you a playoff game against any one.

B- San Antonio Spurs
A double OT win at home that was pulled out only because Tim Duncan nailed a three pointer is the typical kind of freaky Spurs victory that leaves non-Spurs fans bemused, yet unsurprised. They did what they needed to do to win, and by that I mean getting Amare and Shaq in foul trouble. Never mind Duncan’s 40-15. If Amare and Shaq play that 2nd OT the Suns win this game. A double OT two-point loss says more for the Suns chances in this series than the Spurs. The Spurs clung on for dear life in this game to win it. The Suns fell short without even throwing their knock-out punch.

C+ Phoenix Suns
See above. The unluckiest losing team of the first-round. They did everything they needed to do in game 1: they shot well, withstood big games from Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, and even had good bench production from Barbosa and Diaw. Only the ghost of Tim Donaghy prevented them getting the win.

C Dallas Mavericks
At halftime Avery Johnson must have looked around his locker room extremely pleased. Everything was going to plan. CP3 was not exploiting Old Man Kidd like many predicted, and the Hornets lack of experience was now a reality, not a theory. It all went to shit very quickly in the third though, and the Mavs gave up 64 second-half points while only scoring 40 themselves. I still think Dallas is well placed to cause an upset here. They got blown out in one quarter, remained competitive in another, and were brilliant in the other two. Avery would probably disagree with my “C” grade, but he wouldn’t be as discouraged as he was this time last playoffs.

D+ Toronto Raptors
See ‘Orlando Magic’ above. The only positive for the Raptors here, similar to the Mavs, is that if you take away that atrocious first quarter they actually won this game. The Raptors won the last three quarter by six points. Anthony Parker probably had his best game since the Raptors win against Boston early this year, and Toronto proved they can gun from long range with the best of them with a 9-20 display. If the first quarter was simply nerves and the occasion getting to the Raptors players, then they’re well position to steal game 2 in Orlando.

D+ Houston Rockets
I felt sorry watching the Houston Rockets in game 1. I couldn’t really see them winning any of the match ups, well maybe T-Mac, but when Kirilenko pulls his finger out he’s probably the perfect guy in the league to defend Tracy. The Rockets did their usual thing by trying to spread the load and find someone to spark the team. It was almost Battier in this game who went 7-7 and basically prevented a Rockets collapse. But like Tiz said in the podcast last night, the Rockets got to where they are now by playing on emotion and riding the good vibes of their 22-game winning streak. From watching the game yesterday you could tell they’re an emotional team. Problem for them is that Deron Williams is as cold-blooded as they come and Boozer lost all his emotion as a child when he grew a mustache at six years of age. Emotion might be good when you’re playing impulsive teams like the Nuggets or the Warriors, but it doesn’t work against the pick ‘n roll.

D Washington Wizards
Same story as the Mavs and Raptors. They won three-quarters of this game, and that is promising. What’s also promising is that Arenas played 28 minutes and shot the ball well, Jamison and Haywood ate the Cavs alive on the boards, and they managed to nullify everyone on the Cavs squad except Lebron which is important to avoid that Booby-effect from last year. Unfortunately, unlike the Mavs and the Raptors, the Wizards caved in the fourth quarter of this one. I don’t think all that trash talking did them any harm, I actually like to see that stuff because it’s how rivalries are born. But I do think the Wiz need to walk the walk in game 2 because I give them zero chance of winning this series being down 0-2. If it’s 1-1 I’ll rethink my prediction of Cavs in 6.

E+ Denver Nuggets
See “Los Angeles Lakers” above. How do you fault a team that got 60 points combined from their two stars, 38 combined from two bench players (Kleiza and Smith) on 15-23 shooting, and contained Kobe Bryant to a 9-26 shooting game? They’re the Nuggets, thats why. They excel in making beautiful box scores and highlight packages while losing hard. In fact, if you had to play a guessing game where you only get to see the box score of your team and you had to predict whether they won the game, Nuggets fans would totally suck at it. To prove this, for games 2 and 3 of this series I’m not going to follow the games live. I’ll wait till they’re finished and get my friend to show me the Nuggets box scores. I encourage anyone who doesn’t care about this series to do the same. If I only there was a way to make the Raptors-Magic series more enticing… suggestions would be appreciated.

E Atlanta Hawks
See “Boston Celtics” above. I spoke to one of my work friends before who grew up in Atlanta, trying desperately to stay positive. “It will be good experience for the boys, to play against a team like Boston in a big playoff series… can’t do them any harm”. Hmmm… I’m not so sure being demoralized by 23 points in their first playoff game together is a “good experience”. And I’m not so sure it didn’t “do them any harm”. If I was a Hawks player right now I’d be a little scared about going back into that Boston arena. KG’s head didn’t explode at tip-off like I predicted. But I think he’s saving it for the second round, which is a scary thought because by then his intensity levels will be reaching dangerous levels. Really dangerous levels.

F- Detroit Pistons
See “Philadelphia 76′ers” above. What a great luxury it was, for Flip Saunders to be able to rest his starters over the past few weeks, have the bench guys step up and win games, and secure the second best record in the league. I’m glad everyone was so rested. Really important to have the older guys resting the last couple of weeks. Now, generally what is required after a period of resting is something called “waking up”. This concept appears lost on Flip Saunders and most of the Pistons players. Sheed was awake, and props to Bill Simmons for recognising him as a “force of nature”. Maxiell was awake, but that doesn’t surprise me cos the guy probably doesn’t sleep. But the rest of them were about as useless as tits on a bull. I just hope they can regroup after game 1… at least they have two days to rest.

Today’s Playoff MVP Votes:
3 votes – Pau Gasol
2 votes – Dwight Howard
1 vote – Lamar Odom

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