Pro hoops down to Final Five
The ugliness of a Game 6 resulted in the Miami Heat eliminating the overmatched Indiana Pacers in the eastern conference of the American pro hoops league playoffs last night. That leaves the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers to vie for the last of the four league semi-final berths in a Game 7 tomorrow evening. Tipoff is at 5 our time.
A Philly win would be a major upset. The Sixers were the lowest seed in the playoffs, and as a consequence they must play the deciding game on enemy turf in Chowdertown. Does anybody think they stand a chance? We think it's possible. Win one for Dr. J. and Moses!
Out here in the west, the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder start their series on Sunday. Holy cow, those are two teeny weeny television markets, and the league must be dreading the ratings bath that this matchup will probably take. But those two teams have both been rolling over opponents, and the contest should be an epic struggle of experience vs. athleticism. It's hard to envision either of the two squads losing four games in two weeks, but one of them is going to.
We still like Oklahoma to go all the way.
| Posted at 1:22 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (5)
I have liked the Spurs for quite some time now. They have a great organization and play excellent team basketball.
The Oklahoma City Rustlers (sorry my name didn't get selected) have a 3-man attack that is very difficult to stop.
I have no idea who will win, but think the Spurs might have a chance, they have home court advantage and one of the best passing teams of all time.
Miami will make short work of either Boston or Philly, so who cares.
Posted by Tim | May 25, 2012 1:34 PM
OKC/San Antonio could be legendary. The pundits say OKC will only win 1 or 2 games(Dwight) or they'll be swept(some ESPN dude).
I can't help thinking this is one of those times where a team takes a giant leap, and that is what OKC would have to do to knock off the mighty Spurs.
Everyone genuflects when they bring up Spurs Coach Popovich, but that bit gets annoying where he goes out on the court at a timeout and starts lobbying the refs, and then they come back from commercial break and he's still out there. If he wants to argue his case for that long quit the National Basketball Association and join the bar association.
The thing that impressed me most about the Pacers/Heat is that I saw actual hook shots. Hibbert was shooting his either left or right and West had his too. Then Lebron hit a running bank hook shot last night that was from another planet.
I wrote the Blazers staff and suggested getting Nic Batum started on a hook shot program. I mean, he's long enough to be in the area, but he's so light. This would save the wear and tear of banging away with the dunks, etc...
The shot is just sitting there waiting to be taken advantage of, and it moved me a little to see it show up again with the Pacers.
Posted by Bill McDonald | May 25, 2012 1:40 PM
They said the Lakers were too big for OKC. How foolish they were to underestimate the Durantula and Co. The Lakers were Doodle Jump.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 25, 2012 1:57 PM
+1 on Bill's comment about Popovich whining to the refs all game long. OKC made pretty short work of Kobe & Co., so I don't see where the so-called experts are coming from when they say that San Antonio is going to blow them out. It might come down to the lack of a real good match up on Duncan, which I think they can overcome as long as the refs don't keep the OKC bigs on the bench all night with foul trouble. I see the series going to game 6 or 7 before it's all said and done with.
Philly can win tonight because the Celtics are really hurting right now. That stated, look for a monster game from KG who will probably have steam coming from his nostrils out of the gate. Hopefully it's a fun game to watch.
Posted by Usual Kevin | May 25, 2012 1:57 PM
When KG tries to do too much, Boston tends to lose. They'd be better off if Ray Allen goes nuts.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 25, 2012 2:30 PM