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Posted by on May 6, 2013 in Pat Wong, Sports | 0 comments

Instant Coffee: Bulls Take Their Guts and Grit to South Beach and Thrilling Game 1s

bulls-nets-joakim-noahjpg-4ebe8ce466522a2aChicago Bulls 93 Miami Heat 86

Without Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, it looked like the Bulls would not make it out of the first round. As a Bulls fan, I was just happy they got to a Game 7 without Derrick Rose all season. Instead, they blitzed the Brooklyn Nets early in Game 7 and held on late. They gutted it out against a Nets team that did not have the playoff experience as a group and who have been lackadaisical and inconsistent throughout their season. Certainly, the Bulls must not be able to replicate it after an exhausting series and against a team that is the defending Champs, prime to repeat, and has the best player in the Game and MVP in Lebron James.

Continuing to shock the world, the Bulls did it again in Miami in Game 1. In the fourth quarter, Lebron James was making circus shots and the Heat looked like they were pulling away. I saw this script a couple of years ago. Much like Iron Man 3, there was a huge twist in the story. Nate Robinson, with the help of names like Jimmy Butler and Marco Belinelli, was able to bring the Bulls back with 27 points and put it away.

I expect the Miami Heat to make adjustments. Their defense will be suffocating and will close out on the open shots the Bulls had late in Game 1. I also expect them to put Lebron James on Nate Robinson late just as they put Lebron on Rose two years ago to take away the Bulls late game option. Nevertheless, the Bulls will fight the Heat every game. For one night, it is nice to be able to go to sleep and dream that the Bulls can maybe pull out another upset series and the big one.

Golden State Warriors 127 San Antonio Spurs 129

Stephen Curry busted the game open in the third quarter with 22 points, en route to a monster game with 44 points and 11 assists, and it looked like business as usual for the Warriors. Down 16 late in the fourth quarter, the Spurs looked old, the Warriors looked like they had superior athleticism, and thoughts that the Warriors can stun the world again and completely dominate another series were starting to creep in. However, the Spurs’ experience and the Warriors’ inexperience began to take shape. Tony Parker brought the Spurs back and Danny Green tied it on a three pointer in regulation.

In the second overtime, the Spurs built up a 5 lead with a minute left and it looked like the game was over. The Warriors and Curry came storming back and took a 1 point lead. After missing his last 7 shots and taking an ill advised contested 3 pointer moments ago, Manu Ginobili nails the game winning three pointer. UNBELIEVABLE.

Maybe the Spurs were rusty after dusting the Lakers off quickly and not playing for awhile. Nevertheless, a couple of things are for sure: the Warriors are legit and their athleticism is a problem for the Spurs. However, the Warriors are inexperienced and it will be difficult for them to brush off a brutal loss. Nevertheless, they can still get a split in this series, make it a long series, and are definitely good enough to win the series.

Memphis Grizzlies 91 Oklahoma City Thunder 93

Kevin Durant had a monster game with 35 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies outplayed the Thunder until the end of the game when they blew a late lead. Veteran and 5 time champion Derek Fisher forced Mike Conley into a big turnover and the Thunder’s Quincy Pondexter missed some big free throws to tie try to tie the game. Kevin Durant will give the Thunder an advantage late in games. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies gave a game away late and they should still win the series. Durant had to have a big game with 25 big points for Kevin Martin at home just so they would be in position for the Grizzlies to give a game away to them. The Grizzlies will not be fazed by the loss as they are experienced and just came back from a 2-0 series hole to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Grizzlies big men, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, completely dominated Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins and it should continue the rest of the series. The Grizzlies will wear down the Thunder as the series goes on.

Indiana Pacers 102 New York Knicks 95

It was the only Game 1 that was not so competitive. The Pacers physically beat up the Knicks an dominated them outrebounding them 44 to 30. Their front line of David West, Paul George, and Roy Hibbert dominated the Knicks front line. Lance Stephenson had a big 11 points and 13 rebounds as the starting shooting guard and D.J. Augustin had 16 points off the bench. On the Knicks side, Carmelo Anthony shot 10-28 and J.R. Smith shot 4-15.

The Pacers have had trouble scoring at times and are not a good shooting team. As such, they will not shoot much better than they did in Game 1. In addition, Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith cannot shoot more worse than they did in Game 1. As such, the Knicks should not panic and continue to play their game. They hit the most threes in history in the regular season but the Pacers actually made more threes in Game 1. The Knicks rely on the three pointer and it is too late to switch their game so they will have to continue to live by the three or die by the three.

Regardless, the Pacers physicality and size will be a problem but everyone knew it would be going into the series. Carmelo Anthony finished the Boston series shooting terribly and it carried into Game 1. The Knicks will have to believe he will turn it around. If your best player plays poorly, you are going to lose anyway. Amare Stoudemire is scheduled to return in Game 3 so it should be interesting to see if he gives them a boost or screws up the chemistry they built at the end of regular season.

If both teams play their games, it will be a long series and a toss up on who wins. If the Knicks panic after Game 1 and try to change the way they play, it will be over quickly. They have contrasting styles and whichever team makes the other team play their game more will win the series.

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