Can we settle on this factoid after the first 4 days of the second round of the NBA Playoffs? The Golden State Warrors are now America’s team — unless, of course, you live in San Antonio and spend your days sticking needles into Joey Crawford voodoo dolls. Or you are Spike Lee.
Last night’s Klay Thompson show in San Antonio was a thrill to watch, the backcourt mate of Stephen Curry going 8-for-9 on 3-pointers and helping his team (with the exception of Andrew Bogut at the free throw line) avoid another epic meltdown like the one that cost the ‘Dubs Game 1.
Curry is already the most thrilling player to watch in these playoffs (OK, he is tied with LeBron James. But at a certain point we all need a fresh new face to leave us awe-struck, and Curry has been doing that throughout the playoffs).
Plus, it is a well-known fact that everyone has grown somewhat tired of the Spurs’ act. Year after year they are superb, and year after year during the playoffs they induce insomnia in East Coast households and fear of low TV ratings in Fifth Avenue office towers.
Oklahoma City was fun to watch a year ago, but now? Let’s just say we liked them better last season, when they had three excellent players. And I’ll state it again: Trading James Harden is a decision that will continue to haunt that franchise for years and years.
The Memphis Grizzlies, Warriors, Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls now will play host to the next eight playoff games, which resume Friday night after the NBA goes dark tonight.
Which of those teams is in control the most, now that all have secured homecourt advantage?
My answer is in this interview with CineSport’s Noah Coslov. And below the video player, there is a breakdown of each series and what to look for moving forward.
KNICKS-PACERS
Two things you didn’t expect to see have already been seen: The Pacers making more 3-pointers than the Knicks in Game 1, and the Knicks coming back to life like it was Zombie Apocolypse Day with a jaw-dropping 30-2 run spearheaded by Pablo Prigioni, the league’s oldest rookie (35), and Jason Kidd, who at 40 is older than Pacers coach Frank Vogel. (Did you know the Pacers coach is a Rick Pitino disciple? More on that here in an excellent Vogel profile piece by Jeremy Bauman).
The Knicks ability to keep the ball moving on offense find a semi-reliable third-scorer and hold their own in the low post and on the boards will be the keys to their advancement. The Pacers proved in the first round against Atlanta that they are fully capable of shrugging off inexplicable losses, and let’s not forget that Indiana peaked in Game 3 of the second round against Miami last season when Dwyane Wade and Erik Spoelstra got into their infamous sideline argument.
That emphasizes the point that Sunday’s Game 4 will be twice as important as whatever transpires in Game 3. And I am sticking with my prediction that Jason Kidd will have a breakout, clutch-shooting game sometime in this series that will swing the momentum big-time.
MIAMI HEAT-CHICAGO BULLS
From the moments you watched Nate Robinson miss his first 600 shots and throw the ball all over the gym in the first quarter of Game 2, you knew this wasn’t the Bulls’ night. Better for them to lose by 37 than by 1 or 2. They still flew home with their mission accomplished.
Given the fact that LeBron James has little taste and tolerance for Joakim Noah, and given the five technical fouls and the overtly physical play from the Bulls both in Game 2 and in their March 27 victory that ended Miami’s 27-game winning streak, they are going to keep the rough stuff coming. The question is whether it will get into LeBron James’ head. The guy is not easily rattled, but I said it at the time and I’ll say it again: It was a tactical mistake by him on March 27 to acknowledge how much the physical play bothers him.
If you are the Bulls, the only area where here is an excuse to foul James thoroughly is on his drives to the basket. James is a master of bullying the the defender after the whistle has blown, converting the shot and making it an and-one, so expect the Bulls to continue to hang onto James and not let him get a shot off when they grab him and hang onto him on his bullheaded drives to the bucket.
As for Derrick Rose? Let’s just say this: Adidas is paying him $20 million a year to wear their sneakers. Think they’re happy right now? Myself, I’d be more inclined right now to buy a Jimmy Butler shoe or a Marco Belinelli shoe.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER -MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
As stated above, the Harden trade will be this team’s downfall. What OKC failed to realize was that there was a max market for Harden, who didn’t feel he should have to take $26 million less just because the Thunder chose to bring him off the bench through his career. They should have maxed him, kept last year’s team together, then figured out their future financial issues after this postseason played itself out.
Remember, the Thunder wanted to save money to sign Serge Ibaka, who is most certainly worthy of a big, fat contract. But Ibaka scored just 11 points in Game 2 after going 1-for-10 in Game 1 for five points.
Ibaka and Perkins have been outrebounded 20-12 in Game 1 and 13-11 in Game 2, when Mike Conley was actually the beneficiary of a number of long rebounds off missed outside shots. They ae doubling up on Kevin Durant at every opportunity, and no one aside from Derek Fisher has produced consistently. And when Fisher is your No. 2 most-reliable scoring option, you have a problem you didn’t quite have a year ago.
Loving my Grizzlies in 5 pick.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS-GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
We have seen one tactic rom Gregg Popovich’s bag of tricks work — the Hack-a-Bugut strategy he went to briefly in Game 2 after seeing how well it worked in Game 1. Why did Pop get away from it after Bogut looked like Biedrins 2.0 in the third quarter Wednesday night? I wish I knew. Maybe Pop finds it distasteful, being the basketball purist that he is.
But all purists should embrace taking advantages of tactical adjustments, and Bogut looked like an absolute mental midget as he was blowing all his free throws when the Spurs were intentionally sending him to the line.
As important as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson’s 3-point shooting is to Golden State, they need to have Bogut at his best. And if Pop is getting into his head with the intentional fouls, why not do it over and over and over and over again. That’s what you have guys like Aron Baynes for. And with 13-man rosters, there are six additional fouls to burn way down at the end of the bench.
Hack-a-Bogut also could take Golden State’s raucous crowd out of the game if Popovich employs it early and treats us to a 52-minute first quarter. Just a little something to watch for when the Game 3s and 4s are played this weekend and early next week.
By the way, we had three writers correctly pick Warriors over Nuggets in 6. Only one of them stayed on the ‘Dubs bandwagon. Send Jim Park a shoutout on Twitter where he is @SheridanBlog.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of ShridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.
The only 3 teams who’ve beaten the Heat more than once this season, are the 3 other teams left in the East. The Heat’s road to the Finals won’t be easy regardless of who wins between the Pacers and Knicks. Either team will be as physical as the Bulls when the Heat make it to the next round.