NBA Playoffs Weekend Review
Added on May 06, 2013 by Scott in
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And then there were eight. The second round of the NBA playoffs tipped off yesterday when the Thunder and Pacers opened up their Conference Semifinals with wins. Friday night ended up being not so dramatic as all four series concluded in six games. On Saturday, the Derrick Rose-less Bulls finally disposed of the pesky Nets, who promptly announced interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo won’t be back. Here’s how the action went down and what it means going forward.
Nasty Knicks? – New York gave the Celtics a taste of their own medicine by outrebounding them and outscoring them in the paint in their Game 6 victory. Then they resorted back to their soft ways in Game 1 versus Indiana, who dominated on the glass and in the paint. Carmelo was great, but the rest of his frontcourt mates came up small. The Pacers win by being physical, so the Knicks need to get nasty to compete.
Conley in the crosshairs – Memphis point guard Mike Conley was impressive against the Clippers. He distributed to the post players, took care of the ball, and most importantly was more aggressive offensively. Not so much in the Game 1 loss to Oklahoma City: 13 points on 5-15 shooting, 3 assists, 2 turnovers. The Thunder are one of the few teams capable of matching the Grizzlies inside muscle, meaning Conley has to be better.
Battling Bulls – No Derrick Rose, no Luol Deng, no problem. Chicago continues to display incredible resilience. Joakim Noah and Marco Belinelli were the latest Bulls to take their games to another level. Those two and the rest of the roster face a much larger challenge against the well-rested Heat. Rose likely won’t return in the series and Deng will miss tonight’s Game 1. Needless to say, now is not the time to be dealing with multiple injuries.
Lying in wait – The Spurs and Warriors took the weekend off in preparation for tonight’s opening game. Will San Antonio be tested? Can Stephen Curry be contained? Is David Lee going to play? Stay tuned for the answers.
