Very interesting results on the first day of the NBA playoffs as only the Golden State Warriors held home court in the four first round series which got underway on The Masters week-end.
The Spurs not surprisingly to me beat the Denver Nuggets on the road in Game 1. But I in no way saw Orlando and Brooklyn upending Toronto and Philly in their playoff series.
The Warriors are the Warriors. Period. Steph Curry torched the Clippers with his usual arsenal of amazing threes and added a career best fifteen rebounds to boot. Steph Curry would be your clubhouse Finals MVP leader after one game.
Doc Rivers did an interesting thing and put Patrick Beverly on Kevin Durant instead of Steph to ostensibly not allow the taller Durant to beat the Clippers off the dribble. It worked and P-Bev even got Cup Cake ejected for pushing him in the back like a coward near the scorer’s table. But it didn’t matter and it didn’t matter that Cousins fouled out minutes earlier because when you have the Splash Brothers and Draymond Green making shots you probably have enough to still win the NBA championship given the decline in LeBron James this season as he made the transition from NBA icon to Hollywood brand.
I think it would be interesting to take Cup Cake and P-Bev and put them in front of a sold out Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd and see which one the crowd would support if you just turned them loose in an iron cage matchup. One has reach, one has a set of balls. You figure the odds. To be honest that might provide more suspense than the eventual outcome of these NBA playoffs with Durant riding the Splash Brothers’ coattails for a threepeat ring.
As far as the Thunder–who would know what to expect from these guys. On paper one would think the Thunder should beat the Nurkic-less Blazers, but then again one would think a team with Russell Westbrook as their point guard should never lose a series to a team with Rickey Rubio as their point guard.
I watched and blogged on this Thunder team for 82 games this season and I wouldn’t bet a quarter on or against this Thunder team of dysfunction which went even more Little Miss Sunshine this season without Carmelo than they did with Carmelo. What does it say when Carmelo Anthony might have been the most mature player on the Thunder roster last season?
You could take Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, Bobby Knight and John Wooden in their primes and my guess is even with that assemblage of psychiatric and coaching wisdom you wouldn’t be able to turn Russell Westbrook into a championship point guard in the NBA.
So you know what I’m doing this OKC-Portland series? I’m rooting for my old small forward off that OU championship team of ’78 to get his Portland Trail Blazers past the Thunder in either six of seven games. I’m pulling for Terry Stotts because it’s sad to say at this point it’s hard for me to root for the Thunder until they can prove to me their ways have changed as far as respecting the game and the way one should compete game in and game out.
In closing…I would ask to both Berry Tramel and Royce Young why they keep asking Russell Westbrook questions and even care why he doesn’t answer your questions.
Why do you care/? What does it matter to you that a pampered, spoiled, petulant overpaid pro athlete isn’t sharing his inner thoughts with you?
It doesn’t matter. Get over it and allow Little Nick Gallo and the Thunder brass to do their thing.
Next question….as in who emerges in the West to play the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.