Cleveland 114, Washington 113 (OT) (Cavs win series, 4-2)
I can’t imagine sitting the entire game, only to be inserted on my team’s final possession in overtime, and be expected to make the game-winning shot. But that’s what Mike Brown expected of Damon Jones, and he delivered, allowing the Cavs to advance to the second round. Before the heroics of Jones, LeBron James once again led the way tallying 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. The Wizards got another great game from Gilbert Arenas (36 points, 11 assists, five boards), who has established himself as one of the NBA’s most effective offensive players. But back to LeBron. He still has a tendency to settle for long range jump shots leading up to crunch time, but when the game is on the line, he’s usually going to the hole. He needs to continue to attack the rim relentlessly if Cleveland is going to have a realistic shot of advancing past round two. The team also needs to get Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas involved on the post if they hope to score consistently on the Pistons, who are a far better defensive team that Washington. Lastly, Larry Hughes needs to remove his head from his ass and provide some decent spot up shooting to help his team. He went 3-17 in Game 6, and most of his shots weren’t even close.
San Antonio 105, Sacramento 83 (Spurs win series, 4-2)
Everyone is acting like it was only a matter of time before the Spurs dispatched the Kings. If not for a very fortunate bounce on a Brent Barry three-pointer in Game 2, the Kings could have easily been up 3-2 looking to close out the series at home in Game 6. But the champs are the champs and you can’t deny the effort and execution they put forth Friday night. The game was close until halftime, but the Spurs broke away in the third quarter and were able to coast for much of the second half. Tony Parker continues to play well, scoring 31 and leading six Spurs in double figures. San Antonio goes on to play Dallas in a matchup of the two best teams in the West.
Meanwhile, Sacramento has all their stars signed for next season except for Bonzi Wells, who will have some suitors in free agency after a terrific series against San Antonio. He averaged 23/12, while shooting 61% from the field. Otherwise, the team has a nice core group with Mike Bibby, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Kenny Thomas, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kevin Martin. All they need to do is resign Wells or find a shooting guard in the draft or free agency. If they keep this group together (and keep Rick Adelman) they should find themselves somewhere in the #4-#6 range heading into the playoffs next season.
