WATERCOOLER CHAT: NBA PLAYOFF UPDATE
What a weekend in the NBA.
First off, the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets played a doozy. The game was neck and neck the whole way, with masterful performances from Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, and Dirk Nowitzki. But the true highlight came at the very end of the game. The Mavericks Antoine Wright intentionally fouled Carmelo Anthony by bumping him. It was clearly a move to stop the clock, and Wright literally stopped playing defense thinking the ref would blow the whistle. But no call, and Carmelo Anthony keeps playing, takes a jump shot and hit the game winner. This was very controversial as Wright couldn’t believe they didn’t make that call. Even the NBA, after reviewing the call, said it was a foul. It resulted in the Mavs losing and giving the Nuggets a 3-1 lead in the series. Denver 106, Dallas 105.
And on Sunday, the Rockets received some bad news. They have been giving LA a lot of trouble, but it turns out that their star center, Yao Ming, is out for the remainder of the playoffs. This is a HUGE loss for the Rockets, and they would have to try and get it done against Kobe and the Lakers without their star big man. Well… the Rockets came out to PLAY. They looked fantastic, a total cohesive unit out there. They even opened up a 20 point lead on the Lakers to start the game. Their point guard, Aaron Brooks, was the hero with 34 points. Meanwhile, Kobe turned in a pretty pitiful performance, scoing only 15 points. Now, the series head back to LA, tied at 2 games a piece. Houston 99, Los Angeles 87.
And last night, another thriller for the Boston Celtics. It was Game 4 in Orlando, and this series is turning out to be as good as the Boston/Chicago series in Round 1. Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard were the stars for the Magic, scoring 22 and 23 respectively. But the real hero of the night was an unlikely fellow. It was the Celtics Glen “Big Baby” Davis. He hit two clutch jumpers in the last minute of the game, and one of those jumpers was a buzzer beater. Given the Celts have Allen, Pierce, and Rondo to hit game-winners, it was terrific to see a hard worker like Glen Davis get his moment in the sun. The series now heads back to Boston, tied at 2. Boston 95, Orlando 94.
