Take out the brooms.
Who would have thought we’d be saying that about the reigning World Champions?
The Dallas Mavericks were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night after only eight days of playoff basketball, becoming the first team to be eliminated in the 2011-2012 Playoffs.
As the TNT crew stated, they’re going fishing.
It marked only the second time the team was swept out of the playoffs. The first time was against the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990, in a best-of-5 format.
It was also the second straight season a defending champion got swept out of a series, with the Lakers suffering the same fate against Dallas last season in the semifinals.
Something was constantly amiss with these Mavericks this season.
It started with Dirk Nowitzki, who came into the season so exhausted from Eurobasket ’11 that he had to take four games off during the season just to get himself properly re-conditioned.
Failing to re-sign key pieces from last season such as Tyson Chandler – this season’s Defensive Player of the Year – and J.J. Barea also seemed to play a critical role in their demise.
For Mark Cuban, it was all about the possibilities of the upcoming offseason, where they will go hard after free agent Deron Williams.
In the meantime, the trade for Lamar Odom turned out to be utterly useless while Vince Carter continued his steady decline.
The team that shared the best road record of 28-13 with the Miami Heat last season could only muster a 13-20 record this season. In this series, ironically enough, they played the Thunder much tougher away from home than they did at the American Airlines Center.
Though the Mavs seemed to have control of the game going into the fourth quarter, James Harden struck and the team had no answer for the likely Sixth Man of the Year.
From Dwain Price of Star-Telegram: “With James Harden scoring 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, the Thunder completed a four-game sweep of the Mavs by claiming a come-from-behind 103-97 victory before a crowd of 20,533. In kicking the final pieces of dirt on the Mavs, the Thunder made sure another organization besides the Mavs would be NBA champions this season. “They’re a great young team, and the thing that impressed me the most about them is that they have a certain look in their eye right now,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Not just that they belong, but that this could be their time.” After the way the Thunder rallied to win a game that was going the Mavs’ way, maybe it is Oklahoma City’s time. After all, the Mavs led 86-73 with 9:44 left following a 3-pointer by Jason Terry, and the arena noise was unbearable. With seemingly every member of the Mavs guarding him at one time or another, Harden kept attacking the basket until he scored 15 fourth-quarter points, one fewer than the entire Dallas team scored in the final period. “He beat us on individual drives, he beat us on pick-and-rolls, he beat us on double teams,” Carlisle said. “He just got up a head of steam and he was just great.
The Thunder have grown quite a bit since last season, showing the resolve to finish off games instead of wilting down the stretch.
They will now have some time to rest and watch what happens in the series between the Lakers and the Nuggets. The winner of that series will meet Oklahoma City in the second round.
From Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “They knew it wouldn’t be easy. They knew the defending champs, with their backs against a historic wall, would deliver their best shot with the series on the line. But more than anything, Oklahoma City Thunder players knew they were good enough — good enough to finish the job of overthrowing the Dallas Mavericks in dominant fashion. When these two teams met in last year’s Western Conference Finals, it was the Thunder that wilted down the stretch, with OKC’s final two losses defined by blown leads late and an inability to close out games with any consistency. The Mavs pounced on those problems and marched to a 4-1 series victory before eventually earning a championship parade. This time, perhaps fittingly, Oklahoma City erased a 13-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter and outscored the Mavs 35-16 in the final period to move on to the semifinals for the second straight season.”
Moving onto a series that is becoming quite epic, the Clippers barely, just barely, edged out the Grizzlies 87-86 in an absolute nail-biting game.
All kinds of history is being made in this series by the Clippers, who are in the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
After tying a playoff record by storming back from a 24-point deficit to win Game 1, they put themselves in the record books again in Game 3.
It was a dubious one this time, as the team missed 17 of 30 free throws. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s good for the worst free throw percentage in a playoff game in NBA history with a minimum of 30 attempts.
“We missed 17 free throws?” Chris Paul said. “We did? It shows how much fight we have.”
It also shows just how bad they are at the line, and that will surely be a concern for the remainder of the playoffs as Blake Griffin’s ineptitude at the line won’t fix itself any time soon.
Still, you simply cannot count out a team led by Paul, who is proving to the world that he, indeed, may be the best point guard on the planet.
He finished with 24 points, 11 assists, four steals and converted seven-of-eight free throws while limiting Mike Conley to just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, and took over the game in the biggest moments.
From Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com: “In a span of 40 seconds, Paul turned down an Evans pick to find daylight for a 16-footer on the right edge of the lane. On Memphis’ next possession, Paul — caught defending Marc Gasol in a mismatch — got his hands on the ball, resulting in a Grizzlies turnover. Then came the topper, the kind of play Clippers fans imagined when Paul and Griffin were paired at the outset of the season. Guarded by O.J. Mayo, Paul got a jump start and went left — not his preferred direction — squirted into the lane, then delivered an impossible bounce pass between Memphis’ pair of collapsing big men, Gasol and Zach Randolph. On the other side of that pass was Blake Griffin, who cut baseline from the left side…”Once I got into the lane, I saw him about to take off — I think he might’ve wanted the lob,” Paul said. “All I saw was the baseline. Once the ball gets into his hands that close to the rim, there’s not too much anyone can do about it.” Well behind the defense, Griffin flushed it home, giving the Clippers an 84-80 lead with 1:23 remaining in the game.”
Caron Butler, slated to miss 4-6 weeks after fracturing his hand in Game 2, somehow started the game, solidifying the nickname “tough juice” and inspiring his team, although he wasn’t the most effective.
From Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles: “Although Butler started, he played only 22 minutes, posting four points, three rebounds, one steal and one block in an 87-86 Clippers Game 3 win. It was far from his most productive game of the season, but it was easily his most inspiring, which wasn’t lost on his teammates, who saw the pain Butler was going through in between plays and on the bench. “He is crazy,” Chris Paul said. “He is crazy, seriously. I talked to him yesterday in practice; his hand was wrapped up with a little contraption and found out that he was going to play. The first thing I thought was, ‘What are you doing?’ Man, I commend him because it would have been easy for him to say, ‘I’m done, and I am going to take care of my hand and I will be ready for next year.’ … He didn’t play so many minutes tonight, but his energy and his toughness is something that motivated the rest of us. That is unreal to see the pain he is going out there playing through.”
The Clippers fans who are regularly deprived of any postseason action, received the ride of their lives in this one.
From Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times: “A sea of red-clad Clippers fans watched their team play a home playoff game for the first time since 2006, and they were taken on a wild ride that was exhausting and exhilarating. They watched a Game 3 that seemed to be won by the Clippers, lost by them, then won again, and then came down to a last-second shot that had the entire Staples Center rocking Saturday afternoon. When the crazy ride had come to an end, when the Clippers had finished standing up to the physical Memphis Grizzlies, when they had finished being miserable at the free-throw line, and when they had finished riding the coattails of Chris Paul again, Los Angeles escaped with an 87-86 victory only after Rudy Gay missed a final shot attempt.”
The Grizzlies seemed down and out in the final moments of the game before Rudy Gay hit two consecutive 3-pointers in the final 23 seconds to bring his team within one point.
Eric Bledsoe was fouled, but missed both free throws, allowing Memphis a chance to win the game with one more basket.
Gay got the chance and rose up for a shot in the final seconds, but Randy Foye jumped at him, forcing him to double clutch his shot that ultimately rimmed out.
Though the Grizzlies won the rebounding battle 40-35, they again failed to contain Reggie Evans, who grabbed 11 rebounds in just 24 minutes of play, and generally failed to come up with the hustle plays that help win games.
From Nikki Boertman of The Commercial Appeal: “The Clippers’ 2-1 series lead is a credit to point guard Chris Paul’s prowess and another important development. Los Angeles is running up the score on the hustle board, especially when the games have hung in the balance. Just like in Game 1 when they blew a 27-point advantage, the flat-footed Griz failed to close out the Clippers, who certainly looked “All In” as their playoff slogan says. Small and scrappy are doing a number on big and brawny because the Clippers used offensive rebounds and clutch defensive plays to win their first home playoff game in six years. “It’s not that they’re doing more of the little things. It’s that we’re not doing enough of the little things,” Griz coach Lionel Hollins said.”
Back in the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers gave up a 19-point lead with eight minutes left to the Orlando Magic.
Jameer Nelson, who had 12 points, six rebounds and 11 assists, had a chance to win the game in regulation but shot a fade-away airball to send the game into overtime.
The game came down to the wire again in the extra period, but Big Baby could not deliver.
From Josh Robbins of Orlando Sentinel: “Glen Davis sat on the Orlando Magic bench after his potential game-tying shot careened off the side of the rim and the final buzzer sounded. He peered up at the Amway Center scoreboard and saw the final numbers. It stung. The Magic engineered a pulse-pounding comeback against the Indiana Pacers in Game 4, forcing overtime after they trailed 19 points with eight minutes to go. But after all that work, after they expended all that emotion, they suffered a crushing 101-99 loss. “The emotions now are devastation,” Magic guard J.J. Redick said. “It hurts to lose a game like that.” Orlando now trails the series three games to one. An Indiana victory Tuesday night in Game 5 in Indianapolis would end the Magic’s season and would send the Pacers to the playoffs’ second round for the first time since 2005.”
At least the Magic are not the first team out of the playoffs.
Although Indiana won the game to avoid a second late-game collapse of the series, their inability to hold a lead – especially against a weak Orlando lineup – should be a concern if they advance into the second round.
For now, they can enjoy a 3-1 lead and the great play of David West.
From Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: “This series is, for all intents and purposes, over. Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse really should be a coronation, a happy formality. The Magic will play hard, as they’ve played most of this series, but they are overmatched at virtually every position. Give them credit for stealing Game 1 and making the Pacers sweat in Game 4, but this series is going to form. This is a recording: They can’t cover David West. And for the Pacers, who are running their offense through West at an ever-greater rate in recent weeks, everything flows from their free-agent acquisition. “Most of the season, we were running about 20 percent of our offense through him,” coach Frank Vogel said. “Now, it’s probably 40-50 percent.” Saturday afternoon, West finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, and completely dominated the third quarter with 12 points and five rebounds.”
Winning their third consecutive postseason game – including 13 straight dating back to the regular season – were the San Antonio Spurs, who are making quick work of the Utah Jazz, though they made things a bit tougher in Game 3.
From Jeff McDonald of San Antonio Express-News: “After being blown out in the first two games of their Western Conference first round playoff series against the Spurs, the Utah Jazz vowed to give a more inspired performance in front of their home crowd in Game 3. And they delivered. The Spurs vowed to be ready for it. They delivered, too. Behind 27 points from Tony Parker and 17 from Tim Duncan, the Spurs took Utah’s best punch and survived, grinding out a 102-90 victory that shoved the eighth-seeded Jazz to the edge of elimination. “The good thing about it was, we didn’t get rattled,” said forward Stephen Jackson, who ended with 13 points off the bench… A third straight double-digit win in the series was also the hardest-earned for the top-seeded Spurs, who cruised to wins in Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio by an average of 23 points. The Spurs needed a 16-point fourth quarter explosion from Parker, who adjusted well after the Jazz’s moved the bigger Gordon Hayward to defend him, to beat back Utah’s last-gasp effort.
James Park is a regular contributor to Sheridanhoops.com. You can find him on twitter @nbatupark.