2020 Playoffs Rds 1 and 2 "We show that we belong!" - darkwolf80's Blog

darkwolf80's Blog

2020 Playoffs Rds 1 and 2 "We show that we belong!"

Posted on February 21, 2014 at 03:23 AM.

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In making our first playoffs in six years we wanted to come out roaring and show that we weren't here to just be one and done boys.

The first round saw us face #3 Houston. It was a hard fought series with our in-state rivals, but we took them down 4-2.

Game 1 saw us lose by one 116-117, even though Parker went 30/8/5 and Randle went 19/10/6.
Game 2 had us shooting blanks from the field and 3 point line as we lost 99-114. Parker had 24/3/4, but the press was jumping on the one and done boys tagline again. Coach and I had a team meeting following the game to let them know just play. Expectations are low but that doesn't mean we don't show up. It doesn't mean we don't play with the heart and fierceness we know we have. So just play man just play!!
Game 3 saw the guys respond as we won 118-110. Parker went for 30/5/5. Ray Ray and Randle both scored 19.
Game 4 saw us ratchet up the defense a little as we won 99-82. Randle led the way with 19/12 and Ray Ray had 19/8.
Game 5 saw us start to really enjoy the game and put it to the Rockets as we won 119-88. Lawson led the way with 22, and Randle added another double double with 19/14.
Game 6 saw us put the Rockets away by winning 104-85. Ray Ray flirted with a triple double with 15/11/7. Lawson led the scoring with 16/5.

Now that we had put the one and done boys tagline to rest the media started to recognize that we had a good team and could make some noise. They just didn't realize how much noise yet. For Round 2 we faced another in-state rival in the #2 San Antonio Spurs. This series saw us play some of our best games and rout them 4-1.

Game 1 we lost 76-107 as we were lagging after maybe celebrating a little too much from the first round win. Lawson did score 18, and Ray Ray had 12/13. But overall we played sluggish. It was something the coach and I decided to let the team work it out themselves.
Game 2 saw the team respond as we knew they would by winning 126-105. Ray Ray had 21/9/5, Lawson kept up his scoring streak going 21/4/3, and Parker flashed his all-around game 17/11/5.
Game 3 saw the team put the hammer down by winning 122-86. Randle had 28/9/3. Parker had 25/4, and Ray Ray had 16/10.
Game 4 saw another one sided affair as we won 108-89. Randle had 26/8. Lawson scored 24, and Parker almost had a triple double with 18/9/8.
Game 5 saw the Spurs put up a fight as we had to hit a last second shot to close them out 97-95. Randle had 20/8 and Parker went 19/3.

We were now in the Western Conference Finals against #1 Oklahoma City Thunder. The media was calling this a one-sided series and basically had already put the Thunder in another Finals. They lauded us for our run, but weren't giving us a chance. It was time to show them otherwise.