Orlando 114, Toronto 100
Orlando is a year or two and a good shooting guard away from seriously contending in the East. J.J. Redick was supposed to be that guy, but he hasn’t been able to crack the rotation. Magic fans have to be sick of watching Keith Bogans and Maurice Evans bricking threes. They bring some defense, but the team needs a penetrating scoring guard who can create opportunities for the team’s perimeter shooters and knock down the occasional three himself. Corey Maggette immediately springs to mind and the Magic have the cap flexibility to make something happen this offseason…Speaking of the Clippers, Mike Dunleavy called today’s game. Doesn’t he have a draft to get ready for? It doesn’t seem like he should be out moonlighting after the season his team just had…I don’t usually second-guess a Van Gundy, but I’d put Dwight Howard on Chris Bosh and Rashard Lewis on Rasho Nesterovic defensively. Bosh plays more in the post and Rasho on the perimeter, and I wouldn’t want Howard responsible for closing out on Nesterovic 18 feet from the basket. That said, Howard had five blocks, so covering Rasho didn’t really hurt his ability to defend the rim.
Lakers 128, Nuggets 114
Pau Gasol’s playoff debut for the Lakers was a beauty. He posted 36 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks. Maybe he should be MVP…It’s still early in the series, but it just doesn’t look like Denver has the discipline or chemistry to hang with the Lakers…Is it just me, or is Denver the league’s most tattooed team? ‘Melo, AI, K-Mart and Marcus Camby all have some serious ink. I wonder how many hours they collectively spent in tattoo parlors over the years.
Celtics 104, Hawks 81
A somewhat competitive game in the first half, this one got out of hand in the third quarter…Al Horford, my pick for ROY, had 20/10 on 7-10 shooting from the field…Mike Bibby shot 2-10, scoring five points with just one assist. He has averaged 14.7 points and 6.8 assists since the All-Star break but is shooting less than 42% from the field. Every time I look at Atlanta, I wonder how good they would be if they had drafted Chris Paul instead of Marvin Williams three years ago. Imagine running Paul out there with Joe Johnson, Josh Childress, Josh Smith and Horford. (Of course, they probably wouldn’t have had a shot at Horford if Paul were running the team last season.)
Sixers 90, Pistons 86
I recorded the fourth quarter of this one just in case it was close. I’m glad I did. The Pistons had their chances – Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace all missed bunnies in the closing minutes, allowing the Sixers to steal a win…Reggie Evans was huge off the Philly bench with 14 rebounds (expected) and 11 points (unexpected), including a few huge buckets down the stretch…The Sixers are playing so well that this one could go six or seven games.
