Yay, It's the 2010 NBA Playoffs thread!

[miami_fan]

Woo Hoo! Joey Crawford has let everyone know that he is on the court for this game. Thanks Joey I really needed to see an unnecessary 'T' today. Geez

[RainMaker]

Look at the Mavs after they made those deadline deals. Totally different team.

[k0ruptr]

man, The celtics, I still dont like em, they killed em in the 4th but I can't see that happening every game. I think the "real" celtics were the first 2 1/2 quarter we saw.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Look at the Mavs after they made those deadline deals. Totally different team.

Well good luck to you. With Ginobli playing like he is right now it makes the Spurs very dangerous.

Their just isnt a lot I like about the Mavs other than Dirk. Kidd cant shoot, Terry is streaky, Butler is a decent player. When it gets to the 4th quarter they all just stand around and watch Dirk try and make shots. Spurs are far too good on defense to let one guy beat them.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Woo Hoo! Joey Crawford has let everyone know that he is on the court for this game. Thanks Joey I really needed to see an unnecessary 'T' today. Geez

Joey controlled the entire first half of this game. Up until about 5 minutes left in the second quarter, the reffing was comical. Okur gone, probably for the playoffs. Nuggets must win this one now. Even the refs can't be an excuse. No AK, No Okur, no AC getting minutes. . . this should be a Nuggets W. If not, those who picked the Jazz are dead on. . . not only because the Jazz are better than I thought, but because the Nuggets have zero chance in this series.

[Radii]

I'm thrilled to see Lawson's numbers in his first playoff game, go Denver!

[TroyF]

I feel horrible for Utah fans. Okur looks like he might be done. AK still out for two weeks. That's a huge loss.

That said, tonight was exactly why Utah is going to have problems with Denver. They have zero answers for Melo. I mean, none. They have zero answers for Ty Lawson. Again, I mean none.

I mean, this is a game where they had more FTA than the Nuggets. (melo only went to the line four times) Their two best players played well. Their three key role players were solid (milsap, price, korver). . . and yet the Nuggets won going away at the end. Maybe Okur changes some of that, but I don't think so.

Still a long series to go, but it was good to get a W in game one to start it off.

[TroyF]

Oh, and for those of you wondering why I screamed about Ty Lawson in the NBA thread. . . that's why. Anthony Carter needs to continue sitting right where he did this game. On the bench.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Not seeing all the love for the Mavs. They were 10th in offensive efficiency and 12th in defensive efficiency.

Their pythagreon w/l was 49-33. Simply said they over performed their record by 6 games this year.

2009-10 Dallas Mavericks Roster and Statistics | Basketball-Reference.com

well, they are also 23-6 since the trade after going 34-21 before and likely post better numbers for those ratings there.

San Antonio is 9th in both categories, not exactly a landslide margin between the 2 teams.

And Jason "can´t shoot" Kidd is shooting 43% from deep this season and basically since he´s in Dallas Won´t turn into a scorer for you, but definitely hits an above average number on open shots.

I whole-heartedly agree that the Spurs are a very, very good team with all their guys now heatlhy and have all the ingredients for a deep run. But if that happens it won´t be because the Mavs disapoint but because the Spurs are going to take it from them.

I´m pretty sure that this will be an amazing series between 2 very, very good teams.

What imo is going to be key is how they defend Nowitzki ? Last year they didn´t have anyone that could check him, so they badly overplayed him which left other guys wide open time and time again.
Do they have any more option this year ? I don´t see those. Duncan will guard him late in games, but i doubt he´ll guard him for a whole game. Which leaves McDyess (solid) and then Blair and Bonner.

Maybe they´ll try putting a smaller player on him again with Jefferson or Bogans maybe, but then they either go small or one of their bigs has to slide down and guard Marion.

I´m definitely hyped up for that series

[whomario]

On yesterdays games :

-Cleveland will have zero problems with the Bulls and will sweep them i´d say. All Chicago has offensively is Rose and jumpshot after jumpshot (and not even jumpshots after penetration) without many 3 point threats out there, so getting hot from deep isn´t an option ...
And they aren´t going to keep Cleveland scoreless for half a quarter very often.

That being said, Rose and Noah impressed me, very courageous effort.
For Cleveland Shaq looked good, Lebron did whatever he wanted and when he wanted it. btw : If he set his mind to it he could also block 3 shots a game i guess, he´s also propably the most intimidating fastbreak-defender in the league. I mean, how many times did the Bulls made an unusual extra-pass to avoid him on the fastbreak ?

- great effort by Milwaukee in the 2nd half, Brandon Jennings is like good Needs to add a few pounds and develop a couple bailout-shots under the basket that go in at a better clip, misses a ton there or gets blocked. Bucks should maybe play Thomas/Mba Moute/Ilyasova together against the Horford/Smith/Williams frontcourt.
Balanced game by Atlanta, Bibby´s contribution was critical imo.

- Boston with great defense in the 2nd half, be interesting to see what happens in terms of suspensions or not ... Tony Allen and Glen Davis won that game for them, Rondo played a great, controlled game at the point.

Quentin Richardson´s take on the situation :

"I was trying to get over there to take the ball out of bounds and [Garnett] started to talk to me, so I talked back. I don't have any business talking to him, he was on the ground crying. I don't know what was going on, two actresses over there, that's what they are.

"I just get surprised by people's actions when I know them better than that. They're not those characters they portray. They're not who they say they are, Garnett and Pierce, they're good basketball players and that's about it.

"I said to Jermaine, he's OK because I knew nobody touched him," explained Richardson. "Is he taking another break like he does so many times? Sometimes he falls like he's about to be out for the season and then he gets right up, that's all I said.

"I don't like them, and they know it."

no love lost here


- Utah can´t win without Kirilenko against the Nuggets, like said before the Jazz have absolutely no one that has any shot of even bothering Anthony a bit. I mean, they played a great game offensively but were scrambling all over the place on defense, especially in the 4th quarter.


all in all a decent first day

[RainMaker]

Not that it matters, but I think the Bulls steal one in the series. They had a horrible first quarter that was more their own doing (missed a ton of wide open jumpers). They outplayed Cleveland for the last 3 quarters, especially the 2nd half. They just fell too far down which is tough for a team that doesn't shoot 3's.

Rose will get some calls at home and won't see one drawn foul on 28 shots that he saw in Cleveland. Not that it matters though. I was happy to see him step up in the game as he looks like he's developing nicely. Really looking foward to what the team will be able to do next year if they can grab a nice free agent.

[RainMaker]

I also don't see how anyone beats the Cavs this year. They are so versatile. They have the personnel to play big or small. Half court or run on you. Shaq came in and did his damage inside (got guys in foul trouble). Then when the Bulls shifted to a zone, they brought in some shooters to hit shots.

Last years Magic team were a horrible matchup for them. With Jamison though, they aren't. As much as I don't like the Lakers, a Finals with the Cavs would be amazing to watch. Not just for Kobe-Lebron, but both teams are versatile and the chess match that would go on would be amazing. Cavs have more talent, but Phil coaches circles around Brown. Could be a series for the ages.

[TroyF]

whomario,

Pretty good assessment. I wish Utah were healthy, because I think Denver wins the series anyway. Even with AK, Melo torched them. Without AK, they need to change their strategy. Hard double on Melo every time. Over rotate. Force others to hit shots.

On the Mavs. . . it's really hard to dis a 55 win basketball team. Obviously, they know how to win, have an incredible clutch player, a PG who still does all the little things right and they improved themselves with the trade. (I think Haywood was an even more important addition than Butler)

On the other side of it, they don't really blow any good teams out. Their biggest thumping was against an extremely tired and road weary Nuggets team. Other than that, you would have to go back to December 16th against the Thunder to find the last time the Mavs beat a playoff team by over 10 points. Compare that to the Spurs who took apart the Lakers and Nuggets in the least couple weeks of the season.

I just think the Spurs are the better team. I don't think you can consistently win ugly in the playoffs.

Rain,

I know you saw a Cleveland blowout. And you talk about how incredibly versatile they are and you are right. But I don't think people realize how versatile the Magic are either. I still think that'll be the best playoff series this year. And I still think Orlando will win it.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by whomario

well, they are also 23-6 since the trade after going 34-21 before and likely post better numbers for those ratings there.

San Antonio is 9th in both categories, not exactly a landslide margin between the 2 teams.

And Jason "can´t shoot" Kidd is shooting 43% from deep this season and basically since he´s in Dallas Won´t turn into a scorer for you, but definitely hits an above average number on open shots.

San Antonio's Pythagreon W/L record this year was 55-27 so whille it may not seem like much it was a difference of 6 wins between the 2 teams. If anything the Spurs have improved more than the Mavs coming into the playoffs. Id certainly take getting Tony Parker back and getting Ginobli playing back to his All-Star level over the additions of Caron Butler and Haywood.


Kidd is a career .403 shooter despite at one time being one of the best in the league at getting to the rim. Hes also a career .349 3 point shooter. He has improved but Im not sure how anyone would want to count on that kind of shooting in a playoff series. He gets a lot of open looks hence the 43 percent 3 point shooting this year. The better teams generally play better defense and dont give up as many wide open looks.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Not that it matters, but I think the Bulls steal one in the series. They had a horrible first quarter that was more their own doing (missed a ton of wide open jumpers). They outplayed Cleveland for the last 3 quarters, especially the 2nd half. They just fell too far down which is tough for a team that doesn't shoot 3's.

Rose will get some calls at home and won't see one drawn foul on 28 shots that he saw in Cleveland. Not that it matters though. I was happy to see him step up in the game as he looks like he's developing nicely. Really looking foward to what the team will be able to do next year if they can grab a nice free agent.

I never thought the Bulls had a chance. And if the Cavs hit a reasonable rate on wide open 3's/jumpers, the Bulls would have lost by 25+.

Rose is fun to watch, though.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by stevew

I never thought the Bulls had a chance. And if the Cavs hit a reasonable rate on wide open 3's/jumpers, the Bulls would have lost by 25+.

Rose is fun to watch, though.

I agree.

All this new talent in the league is making the playoffs exciting again.

Durant, Rose, Jennings to name a few. I am very interested in seeing how Durant does against the Lakers. If they can put on a solid performance in this series it could be a building block for them to be one of the top 3 teams in the Western Conference next year.

[Logan]

Love the "two actresses" line.

[whomario]

Thabo Sefolosha a +7 at the half in a -8 game.

Gasol playing volleyball, he´s just too long and mobile. Artest impresses me so far defensively, as does Bryant who looks spring. And Bynum looks like he hasn´t been out.

[stevew]

Luke Walton, they still make that?

[stevew]

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, every time Kevin Durant goes near an opposing player there will be a foul called?

I think the world would end in a Durant/Wade finals.

[k0ruptr]

go Thunder!

[k0ruptr]

oh , and that was ALLLLL BALLLLLLLL

[Neon_Chaos]

Note to Lakers: Please go to Gasol in the post more often. Only good things will happen. Thank you.

[stevew]

I'm telling you, Kobe could win an oscar for the mock outrage he expresses after every foul call.

[Radii]

Go Bobcats!

[Radii]

Well that was an awful half. WAY too many open 3's allowed, but holy shit Orlando just isn't missing anything. 9-18 from 3 as a team, 24 for Nelson, 8 blocks for Howard.

[whomario]

9 Blocks for Howard now Pretty sure those 8 in the first are a record for most blocks in a half for the playoffs, since only 2 player ever had 10 for a game (hakeem and mark eaton)

and btw : Cherryl Miller

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

History is on the Lakers’ side against the NBA’s youngest team, with an average age of 25 years and 42 days. When coach Phil Jackson wins Game 1 of any series, his teams are 45-0. That includes a 24-0 mark with Chicago and 23-0 with the Lakers.

Hey, Beth, how'd you do in elementary math?

Even if the 23-0 with the Lakers is including the Game 1 win of a series in progress, 24 and 22 don't add up to 45 anywhere I've been.

Don't even get me started on the superfluous nature of throwing "...the NBA's youngest team, with an average age of 25 years and 42 days" in there. If that information really belongs in the article, there's a better place for it than smack in the middle of a paragraph about how Phil Jackson's Game 1 performance means history is on the Lakers' side after this game.

[SackAttack]

Dola,

Unless, of course, those previous 45 or 46 series were all against the NBA's youngest teams in their respective seasons (hint: the math isn't Beth's friend there, either).

[Pumpy Tudors]

OK, the math is bad, but the part about the league's youngest team doesn't seem bad to me at all.

[Radii]

They just announced that Kevin Garnett has been suspended for game 2.

[Radii]

Even if Orlando sweeps Charlotte I will be content with getting to watch Gerald Wallace rebound for 4 games. Dude has an amazing nose for the ball.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Radii

They just announced that Kevin Garnett has been suspended for game 2.

Not that the Celtics had much chance of beating the Magic,Cavs or even Hawks so this may help put them out of there misery sooner I suppose unless Doc can get the rest of the players to round the wagons and win won for KG. If they go back to Miami tied I think the Heat take two and drag it out to 6 ebfore winning. The Celts need to win at home.

[Radii]

Well I have no illusions about Charlotte winning the series, but if they can defend for 48 minutes they could steal a couple games and scare Orlando a little. There were too many stretches where Orlando was penetrating at will and getting layups or easy kickouts for open 3's whenever they wanted. I'm loving Gerald Wallace, 25 points/17 boards today, outstanding effort.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

OK, the math is bad, but the part about the league's youngest team doesn't seem bad to me at all.

It's inappropriately placed. It has nothing to do with what's actually being discussed. It's like she had that factoid on her notepad and couldn't find anywhere else to jam it in.

Pretend we live in a world where Tiger Woods won the Masters in 2010. It might be relevant to the article as a whole to mention how many mistresses he is alleged to have had, or what their average ages are, but would that information be at all relevant in the context of, say, Woods being undefeated when beginning the final day of major play atop the leaderboard?

(Disclaimer: I don't know if that's even true any longer or not; he may have lost one somewhere when leading on the final day. Remember, alternate universe here.)

That information might be relevant in the context of "here's what he had to deal with," but not in the context of "historically, this is what happens when Woods does this thing he's known for doing."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

It's inappropriately placed. It has nothing to do with what's actually being discussed. It's like she had that factoid on her notepad and couldn't find anywhere else to jam it in.

Eh, it's used here like an adjective, no different than if she had referred to them as "the #8 seed". I think the precision of Years,Days is a little overdone & would have been just as well as "... of less than 26 years" but otherwise I don't see a real problem with it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

It's inappropriately placed. It has nothing to do with what's actually being discussed. It's like she had that factoid on her notepad and couldn't find anywhere else to jam it in.

Pretend we live in a world where Tiger Woods won the Masters in 2010. It might be relevant to the article as a whole to mention how many mistresses he is alleged to have had, or what their average ages are, but would that information be at all relevant in the context of, say, Woods being undefeated when beginning the final day of major play atop the leaderboard?

(Disclaimer: I don't know if that's even true any longer or not; he may have lost one somewhere when leading on the final day. Remember, alternate universe here.)

That information might be relevant in the context of "here's what he had to deal with," but not in the context of "historically, this is what happens when Woods does this thing he's known for doing."

Well, I didn't see the rest of the article you were quoting from, but it doesn't seem uncommon that the Thunder would be referred to as the league's youngest team in that paragraph. I don't really feel very strongly about it one way or the other, though, so OK.

[Chief Rum]

That style is pretty common in sportswriting, I have found, where there is usually a lot of information, either relevant to the story or interesting to include if not entirely relevant, to be fit into limited space. In the newspaper biz, of course, word count is strictly regimented, and that sometimes leads to some odd sentence structures or an inconsistent article composition. I would imagine that, while it's less of an issue with online publications or articles, there is certainly still a limit to abide by.

Plus, regardless of word count requirements, Beth was certainly working on a deadline.

So while I agree with SA about his point with respect to strict journalism guidelines, I don't think it's too out of place to detract from the article, is consistent with current sportswriting style and actually adds information of interest--if not true relevance--to the piece.

[Chief Rum]

Oh, and yes, that all is qualified by the fact that neither have I read the entire article, just the paragraph posted by Sack. And the math is atrocious.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

I agree.

All this new talent in the league is making the playoffs exciting again.

Durant, Rose, Jennings to name a few. I am very interested in seeing how Durant does against the Lakers. If they can put on a solid performance in this series it could be a building block for them to be one of the top 3 teams in the Western Conference next year.

I think this has been the best the league has been in a long time. After expansion and the influx of high school kids, it felt like we lost the great players that had us tuning in. Now it feels like every team has at least one or two guys who are worth watching.

With my Bulls tickets I usually talk myself into selling around 15-20 games to keep the cost down. I found it really hard this year as teams like Sacramento, Milwaukee, and so on had players I now wanted to see live.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Eh, it's used here like an adjective, no different than if she had referred to them as "the #8 seed". I think the precision of Years,Days is a little overdone & would have been just as well as "... of less than 26 years" but otherwise I don't see a real problem with it.

Now, see, "History is on the Lakers' side against the #8 seed" would have been better there. The unnecessary precision is something you might expect from a small-town sportswriter, who's got inches to fill in the first place, or perhaps doesn't have the same quality control standards to live up to as might a big-city sportswriter.

But what the paragraph I quoted reads like is somebody who's getting paid by the word padding the article to make damn sure she squeezes every last cent out of the article. The average age of the Thunder's roster has some relevance, but that paragraph isn't the place for that information.

I'm not exactly Calvin Coolidge in my own writing, I'll be the first to admit, but I do try to make sure my insertions are appropriate to what I'm discussing in the first place.

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

That style is pretty common in sportswriting, I have found, where there is usually a lot of information, either relevant to the story or interesting to include if not entirely relevant, to be fit into limited space. In the newspaper biz, of course, word count is strictly regimented, and that sometimes leads to some odd sentence structures or an inconsistent article composition. I would imagine that, while it's less of an issue with online publications or articles, there is certainly still a limit to abide by.

Plus, regardless of word count requirements, Beth was certainly working on a deadline.

So while I agree with SA about his point with respect to strict journalism guidelines, I don't think it's too out of place to detract from the article, is consistent with current sportswriting style and actually adds information of interest--if not true relevance--to the piece.

Here's another snippet that I think would probably have been a better place for that factoid in the first place:

Originally Posted by AP article

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 24 points on 7-of-24 shooting in his playoff debut—under the 30.1 average of the NBA’s youngest-ever scoring champion. Former UCLA star Russell Westbrook added 23.

That's also an awkwardly constructed paragraph; the implication isn't that Durant was the NBA's youngest-ever scoring champion, but that his debut playoff performance came in below the average of whomever that champion was.

With a little clean-up work, this paragraph - seven paragraphs sooner in the story - would be a better place to mention that the Thunder are the league's youngest team. It's a perfect segue, done properly - Durant was the youngest scoring champion in NBA history, and played on the youngest roster in the league this season. Much more appropriate placement, IMO.

I know what it's like to write sports stories on deadline. I've done it numerous times. Not for an organization as large as the Associated Press, I freely admit, but I feel like if one writes well enough to write for a press outlet that large, one ought to be held to a higher standard even on deadline.

Now, all of that said, since my initial criticism, the shorter article has been replaced with the longer one I referenced for the bulk of this post, and the sentence about Jackson's respective records with the Bulls and Lakers was removed. There's no longer that "wait a second - what's with the math?" reaction.

On the other hand, they left the youngest team stuff in untouched and unmoved. My guess is that when newspapers pick up that story off the wire, the sports editors will excise that fragment, but still.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

My guess is that when newspapers pick up that story off the wire, the sports editors will excise that fragment, but still.

I wouldn't count on it, I seem to hardly ever see a newspaper that edits any wire copy at all these days (unless they're doing a complete rewrite with their own byline+"wire services contributed to this article")

[TroyF]

I know the first game is critical and the third/fifth games are critical as well. (it's the playoffs, all of em are important, right?)

For my money, the second game is absolutely key. Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Utah, San Antonio, Phoenix, and OKC all face critical game 2's early this week. You don't win that, you have to win 4 of 5, and I don't see a series where I think the loser of game one could do that if they go down 0-2.

My thoughts on yesterday:

Magic sleepwalked. Like the Cavs with the Bulls, the final score was far closer than the actual game was.

The Thunder missed on a huge chance. Kobe was average at best, Artest was horrible offensively, and the Lakers as a whole were just off. The Lakers were terrific on defense (as they have been for most of the year) But OKC just missed some wide open threes. I know I'm not a Jeff Green fan, but he was simply terrible yesterday. I still think he needs to be replaced before the Thunder become title contenders.

whomario's analysis proven right for a game. The Spurs had nobody who could stop Dirk. 36 points on 14 shots? Damn. That said, the Mavs won the game because of the FT split. (34-14) I don't think SA fouls that much next game and I don't think Dirk is going 12-14 again. Really looking forward to game two from this series.

The Blazer/Suns game stunned me. I'm still not quite sure how the Blazers won. The Suns got plenty of open looks, but shot 41%. It was good, but not great defense by the Blazers. Blazer got to the line double what the Suns did. Terrific game for the Blazers. The Suns really need a gut check after that one.

Free throw stats from the game ones:

3 of the 8 playoff games had one team shoot double the FT of the other team. (Mavs, Blazers, Celtcis)

3 teams won despite losing the FT advantage, but in two of the three cases it was 2 FT or less difference. (Magic, Lakers) Nuggets won with a -7 in FT differential.

[whomario]

Don´t know how the NBA is counting and it really is a little meaningless, but still : Nowitzki now with 86 made FTs in a row, the record stands at 97 with only Calderon (87) ever being closer.
Yesterday he was just unstoppable and when the Spurs send double and tripple teams his way he moved the ball very well. He doesn´t get many direct assists, but in the 4th quarter alone i counted 5 hockey assists leading to layups and open 3s.
Only 1 TO as well, that´s just amazing, he´s got such great hands and balance and ball handling ability at his size to go with really good passing out of pressure situations.
Jason Kidd was really, really good on both ends yesterday, his helpdefense and ability to anticipate for steals and deflections is pretty impressive.

Butler had a good, agressive game also, eventhough a few of his shots were rather forced. But heck, he single handedly got the Spurs in the Penalty in 2 of the 4 quarters. Dampier and Haywood with a very solid games.

For the Spurs their main guys played good and McDyess had a good first half but that was about it. Still a good game offensively.
Duncan fumbled a ton of rather easily catchable (entry) passes yesterday.
George Hill didn´t look healthy at all and Jefferson really isn´t spot up shooter or cutter, is he ? I mean, he just moves the wrong way all the time forcing guys to pick up their dribble because he can´t get open

Will be a close series, both teams are very good.


The Lakers-Thunde game was pretty strange. Durant played bad, didn´t adjust at all and couldn´t find a way to get good shots against Artest. You may start by not posting him up in no man´s land. Either post him up deeper and use your length to go over him or come off screen, but trying to back him down and then having to settle for 18 foot fadeaways isn´t good.
But hey, the kid will learn that i suppose and adjust next game.
Sefolosha and Green with great defense but very little offense, not-so-good defense and little offense by Harden ...

Bynum looked good and Gasol just will have his way, was terrible overlooked on offense in the 2nd half but he really was the biggest advantage the Lakers had in terms of head-to-head. Enables them to continue to play 2 big guys even when the thunder go to a smaller and more athletic lineup up front.

Didn´t see much of the other 2 games, hugely disapointed by Phoenix loosing but can´t help but to feel happy for Portland

[gstelmack]

I love that CNNSI keeps putting NBA playoff pictures on its site that include two big men beating on each other / leaning on each other / clearly fouling each other in all cases.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

I love that CNNSI keeps putting NBA playoff pictures on its site that include two big men beating on each other / leaning on each other / clearly fouling each other in all cases.

This is the NBA. We need more information. Which big men are doing the leaning? Which teams are involved? Who are the refs and what have the two big men done as far as complaining? (ie: Crawford is the ref and one of the two big men said " Mr Crawford, you are the greatest thing in America going today, but that last call was a little questionable" the guy who made the comment has just committed a flagrant foul. The other guy has not done anything wrong and is free to throw an elbow or two and get FT because the other guys teeth happened to cut his arm during the blow.) Is Violet Palmer part of the reffing circle? (if she is, don't even throw logic into the mix, she still doesn't know a foul vs. a non foul)

[RainMaker]

Lebron.....holy shit!

[TroyF]

Refs have taken over in the Denver game. Utah can't miss, but the Nuggets getting called for everything and the Jazz for virtually nothing. Jazz are +6 in FT, but that doesn't begin to tell the story. Williams has drawn two fouls on Melo by flopping. Melo with 6 FTA despite getting mugged consistently (you knew Sloan would start mugging Melo this game, the fact the refs aren't calling fouls when it happens is making it an even better strategy)

Utah won't shoot 63% for the game. . . but the refs are going to give them 40 trips to the line. This series is going to be even after tonight.

[mauchow]

Why are they going to be playing into the wee hours of the night? It's already 12:30 am Eastern time and it's not even the 4th quarter.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Refs have taken over in the Denver game. Utah can't miss, but the Nuggets getting called for everything and the Jazz for virtually nothing. Jazz are +6 in FT, but that doesn't begin to tell the story. Williams has drawn two fouls on Melo by flopping. Melo with 6 FTA despite getting mugged consistently (you knew Sloan would start mugging Melo this game, the fact the refs aren't calling fouls when it happens is making it an even better strategy)

Utah won't shoot 63% for the game. . . but the refs are going to give them 40 trips to the line. This series is going to be even after tonight.

David Stern loves a series to go 7 games. That ref involved in the gambling scandal admitted as much.