Archive for the ‘Things of Note’ Category

Ballin: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jrue Holiday all scored 20 or more points in Philly’s Game 6 win. In that game, this is like three guys each going for 80 in the same game.

Not so much: Just a few fun stats for you about that Sixers-Celtics game: the score was 36-33 at halftime, the teams combined to shoot 4-23 from three (17 percent), Spencer Hawes, Elton Brand and Lavoy Allen were the only players who made more than half their shots. Gross.

An actual highlight: This was not the most exciting game, but this was a solid dunk.

While dunking over Paul Pierce isn’t the biggest accomplishment in NBA history, I’m very down with Andre Iguodala’s extremely nonplussed reaction to his feat of strength. It’s like Blake Griffin, with the disdain replaced by true ambivalence.

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Ballin: Just your classic “Dwyane Wade goes for 28 on 17 shots while LeBron puts up 30 and finishes two assists shy of a triple-double” kind of game for the Heat. Cool kind of game for them.

Not so much: Meanwhile, the leading scorer on the Pacers was Paul George, who scored 11 points on 3-9 shooting. Sometimes it’s just not your night.

Highlight factory: The Heat had so many great plays last night, but this first one was my favorite.

Yeah, the second one is pretty chill too. Cool stuff, guys.

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Ballin: 70 combined points for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and only four turnovers for the lot of them. When the other 10 guys only have to score 21 combined points, that’s pretty good.

Not so much: For the second straight year, the Los Angeles Lakers are out after the second round of the playoffs. Lucky for them, they only have the third-oldest roster in the league and they’re only paid the third-highest amount of money, so that should make things very easy to turn around in a summer.

Turning point: Here’s when you knew the series was over.

Of all the off-the-wall things that happened on that play — the astoundingly terrible pass, Westbrook’s incredible shot, his even better celebration and the crowd going bonky — it’s hard to decide which part is the best. So I choose all of it.

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Ballin: The day after Tim Duncan has a throwback game, Kevin Garnett goes out and puts up a 27-13-4 line on 12-17 shooting because these guys hate each other. Fun times being back in 2004.

Not so much: 20 points on 9-25 shooting is bad, but two turnovers within seconds of each other in the final two minutes is worse. Not the best Kobe Bryant game we’ve ever seen.

Blake me up, before you go go: This was a weird way to end a game, for so many reasons.

It started weird when Mike Brown decided to let Metta World Peace inbounds the ball despite this happening during this season. It got weirder when Mike Brown expected MWP to throw a 40-foot, crosscourt lob to Kobe Bryant on the far side of the court. Then it got even weirder when Russell Westbrook looked the complete wrong way while he was 15 feet from the ball, seemingly forgetting that Steve Blake was just chillin’ in the corner. Then, to seal the weirdness, Steve Blake — who shoots 38 percent on corner threes, quite a bit better than the league average — bricked his shot despite hitting three corner threes during Game 7 in Los Angeles. Bizarre all around.

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Ballin: Oh hi, playoffs Tim Duncan. 26 points on 12-20 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Last time we saw that from Timmy Deucecan was January 2010, but he has a painting of himself in an attic that grotesquely ages every time he puts up huge numbers, so don’t worry about it.

Not so much: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined to score 52 points in the Miami Heat’s Game 2 loss to the Pacers. Considering you can find out the final score, then you can also find out that the other eight Heat players combined to score 23 points, with Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier “leading the way” with five points apiece. The non-Heatles combined to go 9-34 from the field while committing seven turnovers. Not good.

Microcosm: I wonder if anyone will talk about this today?

Probably, right?

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Ballin: 27 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, two steals and a single, measly turnover for Russell Westbrook. He also only took 15 shots, one less than Kevin Durant, which is good from a PR standpoint. As we all know, if he’d taken more shots than KD, he’s poisonous for the Thunder, their locker room and their championship hopes.

Not so much: At no point in the second half were the Lakers closer than 17 points behind the Thunder. Going a bit further, from the 10:42 mark of the third quarter on, the Thunder led by at least 22 points. Other than that, pretty close game that was definitely worth staying up for.

Set it and forget it: It’s not every day you see a playoff team lose a game because of a moving screen.

Despite what the “Inside the NBA” staff might tell you, this was absolutely the right call. You can say that you should “let the players decide the game” all you want, but the leaning out and holding Andre Iguodala part of that pick is even more egregious than your standard Kevin Garnett moving screen. If KG doesn’t do that, the refs definitely let him get away with all the stuff before it.

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Ballin: 32 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for LeBron James, which is somewhat surprisingly his first 30-15 game in the playoffs. Not that it’s easy to post a 30-15, but LeBron kind of has a knack for notching huge statistical achievements like that. Decent game.

Not so much: If the Pacers are going to have any chance in this series, their leading scorer can’t have more missed shots than points. Sorry, Danny Granger, but seven points on 1-10 shooting just isn’t going to cut it.

Get back: It’s a little sad how easy Dwyane Wade and LeBron James make halfcourt alley-oops look.

I like the shot that’s isolated on LeBron, where he easily outruns four Indiana Pacers who are like, “Whoops, forgot to check the guy who just won the MVP and is known for destroying teams on fast breaks.” Maybe pick him up a bit earlier, guys.

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