Bulls vs. Heat- Conventional wisdom says Heat. The Bulls were sans Derrick Rose (more to come later), Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng (who hasn't played since game 5 of the Nets series). LeBron was given his fourth MVP Award earlier in the day. Hooray! Time for a blowout! But then again, the Bulls have Tom Thibodeau, which is like having George Washington leading your army (Which, the more I think about it, the more I like that analogy. Both guys commanded depleted men, had lots of obstacles to overcome and surprised everyone). The (DAAAAAAAAA) Bulls held James and company to 15 (like, one less than sweet) points in the first quarter and 86 overall. Miami averages a little over 97 a game, so kudos to Thibs (Yes! An analogy AND a nickname!). The game was back and forth, this coming from a guy who depends on the GameCast night after night. Jimmy Butler and Nate Robinson ended up being the X factors. Yeah, Jimmy Butler. And this guy http://tinyurl.com/cprq68n. Crazy game, crazy start to the series.
Warriors vs. Spurs- "Mario, that Chicago/Miami game was the bomb! Ain't nothing going to be that!" Wrong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuxtcmJiMqQ. That screaming lady sure is annoying, huh? Two overtimes were jussssssssst enough to decide a winner in a thrilling game one. My mom's a Spurs fan, so I should've known better than to taunt her with an "Oh boy! Golden State is up 104-88!" proclamation. An 18-2 Spurs run shut me up. And quick. Other than another ho-hum night from Curry (44 points, 11 assists) and Ames High School product Harrison Barnes (19 points, 12 rebounds) was not enough to stop Manu Ginobili, who made it onto my "First Team All-Defying Father Time" (He replaces Kobe Bryant who, you know, has a boo-boo).
Pacers vs. Knicks- Pacers won. Spike Lee is upset. As much as I want the summary to end there, I must commend D.J. Augustin for his breakout performance (16 points on 4-5 shooting from three point range, but surprisingly -5 when he was on the court) and J.R. Smith for his acting skills http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKVStZY0pdw. Seriously, the only thing worse than that is that there were at least three other times J.R. flopped and WASN'T called (A three pointer where he pump faked and leaned into the defender, a drive down the lane where he was falling before even contact the defender). Watch him the next time he goes to the hoop. His signature move is falling over at the free throw line and expecting the defender to catch him as J.R. throws up his hands. Bravo Mr. Smith.
Grizzlies vs. Thunder- The Grizzlies had the lead and lost it. Thanks Kevin Durant, for voiding the whole "Second round doesn't start until the home team wins" theory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K5to5vzwQ0. It's interesting to see how Durant will dominate, then pass the baton, watch his teammates drop it, then pick it back up and lap everyone else en route to victory. Interesting question that has had a reversal of an answer as of late: More important to their team as a point guard, Russell Westbrook or Derrick Rose? It's a crapshoot right? Rose's team just beat the defending champs, and Westbrook's absence finally gives Durant the keys to the car (Because up until then, Westbrook had a copy of the keys).
Speaking of Derrick Rose...
I WANT HIM BACK! Seriously, other than Goran Dragic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRAp00SxP30), who is sitting there thinking "You know, that's a wise decision right there!"? I agree with most people that it's probably more mental at this point than physical (See Kevin Ware), but come on! After the Bulls' game one win, if Rose comes back now...watch out El Heat.
I realize that there's a few topics I still haven't discussed. Namely: Jason Collins and that thing called Major League Baseball. I apologize for the lack of coverage of anything other than basketball lately, I'll try and get on it. Thanks for reading!
