NBA Playoffs, Day 1

I'll update this some throughout the day as I watch the games.

- In a road playoff game in a hostile environment, Vince Carter is 4/15 with 10 points, and he's been settling for fadeaways all game. Huh. Who would have ever imagined that? Oh wait, everyone.

- With 6 minutes to play, Kidd had 7 points, 15 assists, and 9 rebounds. Jefferson has 27 points on 11/20 shooting. Thank goodness for those guys making up for the slack of Vince Carter.

- A spark from Jose Calderon as he becomes the 4th Raptors player into double figures. He hit a 3 right in Kidd's face one possession, and then drove right by him for a layup on the next one. Nets 84, Raptors 82 with Bosh heading to the line with 3 minutes left. Playoff basketball is great.

- Well Vince was decent down the stretch (though he finished 5/19 from the field), and the Raptors just couldn't hit enough shots. Still, this is what makes playoff basketball good. Lots of intensity, a great crowd, and a tight game towards the finish. Final is Nets 96, Raptors 91.

- As Jon Barry said, a spry Shaquille O'Neal in the first half. 17 points (on 8/10 shooting), 5 rebounds, and he's looking very quick on the block.

- Luol Deng's pretty good.

- I think there's just too much talent, too much depth for the Bulls. If the Heat are going to stick with the Bulls throughout a 7-game series, they need Dwyane Wade to be excellent. With the injured shoulder he just doesn't seem capable of it. Also, the Bulls might be the best team in the NBA at guarding him... Kirk Hinrich and now Thabo Sefalosha both perform very well against him.

- Well I guess the Heat almost did have enough... for one game Antoine Walker seemed to think he was back in Boston and in his mid 20s... where has that been all season long?

- Bulls win, but still has to be encouraging for the Heat. For one, Wade and Shaq were both hampered by foul trouble all game. Secondly, other than Kirk Hinrich, every key member of the Bulls played a great ballgame, maybe not something they can sustain throughout. And the Heat still went on the road and had a chance to tie late.

- Both early games with the same score... Bulls 96, Heat 91.

- Detroit vs. Orlando.... yawn.

- Well the Magic at least made it a game, but it wasn't enough. Seems like we've seen that before from Detroit... they dominate, get bored, slowly let the other team in it, and then kick it back into gear when they need to. It was good enough for game 1. Pistons 100, Magic 92.

- Deron Williams or Chris Paul? Late 3rd here, and Williams has 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. He might be my pick right now.

- With the score 53-52, Derek Fisher blows the layup, the Rockets throw it down to Yao for a dunk. Now its 54-53 Rockets... that could be a big boost to Houston's momentum, which had been slowly building up for the past few minutes.

- And Houston does indeed take care of business. 28 for Yao, 23 for McGrady, and everyone else fills their roles. Wash, rinse, repeat as far as the Rockets season has gone. Rockets 84, Jazz 75.

dan

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