NBA Playoffs 2011; Day 2 Recap; Are Upsets in the Making?
The San Antonio Spurs and LA Lakers are both talented, storied franchises who both stand at the top of the league. In Game 1, they didn't play like very storied franchises.
New Orleans and Memphis both racked up road wins against the top 2 Western Conference teams, Boston scored a victory late against New York and Oklahoma City survived the Denver Nuggets. Every single game was decided by a single-digit margin, and only one was more than a 4 point game.
We'll start with the opening game, Memphis at San Antonio. Everyone was waiting for the Spurs to pull away, but Zach Randolph and Mike Conley helped keep Memphis in the game. San Antonio did take a 67-57 lead on a 3 by Gary Neal, but Memphis wasn't cooked.
A couple 3 point plays and a little help from every Grizzle helped cut the deficit to 4 after the third quarter, and in the fourth Zach Randolph helped give Memphis the lead. Randolph's 9 helped keep Memphis in it, and Tony Allen's baskets gave Memphis a 7 point lead. But when the score was 94-90, Matt Bonner stepped up.
Bonner drained 2 threes and San Antonio made 2 free throws to take a 4 point lead with less than a minute remaining. Marc Gasol got an easy layup with 56 seconds left, and with 23 seconds left, Shane Battier took a 3...
It went in! The Grizzles had the lead, and 2 free throws and a Richard Jefferson 3 that clanged off the back rim. Memphis is up 1-0.
In Los Angeles, it was a battle between Kobe and CP3. CP3 had 33 points and 14 assists, while Kobe had 34 points and 5 assists. Paul generated much more offense, and he drained a couple big shots on his own. When LA was on a run, Paul stopped it with a steal, and a 3 point jumper.
Chris Paul and Jarrett Jack helped keep New Orleans on top, by scoring and getting assists. This gave the Hornets a bigger lead, and a couple big fadeaway shots from Paul helped seal the deal. New Orleans won 109-100. Game 2 is Wednesday night.
The next game was New York and Boston. The Knicks had a 12 point lead and 28 from Amare, but Boston was a little too much. New York did control most of the fourth, but Paul Pierce and Ray Allen helped Boston stay in it, and after Pierce hit a turnaround and Jermaine O'Neal put a rebound back for 2 more, Boston tied the game.
New York had a good answer, however. Toney Douglas pulled up to the wing and heaved up a 3, which went in and gave New York a 3 point lead. Just 0.5 seconds later, Boston cut the lead to 1. Then, Carmelo Anthony was called for a push. Boston answered....
Ray Allen got the ball at the wing, and he let a 3 fly. The ball hit the back rim and went in, giving the Celtics a lead. Anthony was pressured into a long 3, and he missed, giving Boston a 1-0 series lead.
The final game of the night was back-and-forth, with one team leading by 13 and the other by 8. Denver had a 13 point lead early on OKC, but great games from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook helped save the team.
Westbrook's jump shots, drives, assists, everything that he did was the only reason that the score was 60-59 at the half (he got a steal and bucket with 4.9 seconds in the first half). In the second, Durant took over, making a 3 to give OKC a 80-78 lead that they wouldn't give up for a long time.
Eric Maynor made 2 huge threes, Durant was playing like he did Christmas Day against Denver, and it paid off. He made 2 huge baskets to extend OKC's lead to 6, but once it got to 8, Denver started to come back. They went on a 9-0 run, and after Kevin Durant made it 100-99 OKC, Danilo Gallinari answered.
With 1:06 left, Russell Westbrook took a jumper. It bounced around on the rim until Kendrick Perkins tipped it in. Although it probably would have fell through the hoop, Perkins was credited with the basket, not goaltending, which would have changed the situation.
Westbrook didn't want that call to matter so much, so he hit a runner, and Kevin Durant nailed 2 free throws, and Westbrook made 1 to seal the deal. OKC won 107-103. Game 2 is Wednesday evening at OKC.
New Orleans and Memphis both racked up road wins against the top 2 Western Conference teams, Boston scored a victory late against New York and Oklahoma City survived the Denver Nuggets. Every single game was decided by a single-digit margin, and only one was more than a 4 point game.
We'll start with the opening game, Memphis at San Antonio. Everyone was waiting for the Spurs to pull away, but Zach Randolph and Mike Conley helped keep Memphis in the game. San Antonio did take a 67-57 lead on a 3 by Gary Neal, but Memphis wasn't cooked.
A couple 3 point plays and a little help from every Grizzle helped cut the deficit to 4 after the third quarter, and in the fourth Zach Randolph helped give Memphis the lead. Randolph's 9 helped keep Memphis in it, and Tony Allen's baskets gave Memphis a 7 point lead. But when the score was 94-90, Matt Bonner stepped up.
Bonner drained 2 threes and San Antonio made 2 free throws to take a 4 point lead with less than a minute remaining. Marc Gasol got an easy layup with 56 seconds left, and with 23 seconds left, Shane Battier took a 3...
It went in! The Grizzles had the lead, and 2 free throws and a Richard Jefferson 3 that clanged off the back rim. Memphis is up 1-0.
In Los Angeles, it was a battle between Kobe and CP3. CP3 had 33 points and 14 assists, while Kobe had 34 points and 5 assists. Paul generated much more offense, and he drained a couple big shots on his own. When LA was on a run, Paul stopped it with a steal, and a 3 point jumper.
Chris Paul and Jarrett Jack helped keep New Orleans on top, by scoring and getting assists. This gave the Hornets a bigger lead, and a couple big fadeaway shots from Paul helped seal the deal. New Orleans won 109-100. Game 2 is Wednesday night.
The next game was New York and Boston. The Knicks had a 12 point lead and 28 from Amare, but Boston was a little too much. New York did control most of the fourth, but Paul Pierce and Ray Allen helped Boston stay in it, and after Pierce hit a turnaround and Jermaine O'Neal put a rebound back for 2 more, Boston tied the game.
New York had a good answer, however. Toney Douglas pulled up to the wing and heaved up a 3, which went in and gave New York a 3 point lead. Just 0.5 seconds later, Boston cut the lead to 1. Then, Carmelo Anthony was called for a push. Boston answered....
Ray Allen got the ball at the wing, and he let a 3 fly. The ball hit the back rim and went in, giving the Celtics a lead. Anthony was pressured into a long 3, and he missed, giving Boston a 1-0 series lead.
The final game of the night was back-and-forth, with one team leading by 13 and the other by 8. Denver had a 13 point lead early on OKC, but great games from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook helped save the team.
Westbrook's jump shots, drives, assists, everything that he did was the only reason that the score was 60-59 at the half (he got a steal and bucket with 4.9 seconds in the first half). In the second, Durant took over, making a 3 to give OKC a 80-78 lead that they wouldn't give up for a long time.
Eric Maynor made 2 huge threes, Durant was playing like he did Christmas Day against Denver, and it paid off. He made 2 huge baskets to extend OKC's lead to 6, but once it got to 8, Denver started to come back. They went on a 9-0 run, and after Kevin Durant made it 100-99 OKC, Danilo Gallinari answered.
With 1:06 left, Russell Westbrook took a jumper. It bounced around on the rim until Kendrick Perkins tipped it in. Although it probably would have fell through the hoop, Perkins was credited with the basket, not goaltending, which would have changed the situation.
Westbrook didn't want that call to matter so much, so he hit a runner, and Kevin Durant nailed 2 free throws, and Westbrook made 1 to seal the deal. OKC won 107-103. Game 2 is Wednesday evening at OKC.
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