Sunday, May 29, 2022

NBA Update

These days, you could be forgiven for thinking that the NBA exists primarily to stir the pot on cultural and political issues.  But they still play basketball every once in a while, and the shape of this year's playoff is starting to take place.  Here are the big headlines so far:

1.  Phoenix was a big disappointment.  The Suns had the Number-1 seed in the West, but crashed out at home in Game Seven of the Western Semi-Finals in a blowout loss to Dallas.  Chris Paul was terrible in this game, and it's just not clear to me that he can ever get Phoenix all the way.

2.  Milwaukee should enjoy its recent title.  The Brew Crew -- I mean, the Bucks -- went out in seven games to Boston in the Eastern Semi-Finals, and I think they are not likely to go all the way again, unless we have another pandemic.

3.  Golden State appears to be back.  The Warriors have played the type of series you normally see from the winner.  Golden State rolled over Denver 4-1, beat Memphis 4-2, and then beat Dallas 4-1.  One of the losses to Memphis and the only loss to Dallas took place in road games when the Warriors already had the series in hand.  So the Warriors had a pretty easy time getting back to the final.

4.  Miami and Boston are playing the type of old-school basketball that old people claim to like.  There's a lot of romanticism these days for violent NBA teams of the past, like the Bad Boy Pistons or the Pat Riley-led Knicks.  I didn't like either of those teams, so I'm not engaging in that romanticism, but if you like that sort of thing, the Heat and the Celtics are hammering away at each other in low-scoring games where the road team has done very well.  Here's what they've done so far in the Eastern Conference finals (home teams listed first):

Game 1:  Miami 118 - 107 Boston
Game 2:  Miami 102 - 127 Boston
Game 3:  Boston 103 - 109 Miami
Game 4:  Boston 102 - 82 Miami
Game 5:  Miami 80 - 93 Boston
Game 6:  Boston 103 - 111 Miami

My guess is that the Celtics blew their chance to win this series at home in Game 6, and that they will lose a slugfest in Miami tonight.  But slugfests are not always easy to predict, and Boston is not easy to eliminate.  Anyway, I'll check in at halftime and see if this game is worth watching.

56 comments:

  1. The Heat played their first season in 1988-89, which was around the time that Larry Bird started to become less effective due to back problems. Since 1988-89, the Heat have won the Eastern Conference six times (2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2020). They have won three NBA titles (2006, 2012, and 2013). During that time, the Celtics have won the Eastern Conference twice (2008, 2010), and have won one NBA title (2008).

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    1. It always makes my heart hurt to see how the Heat are talked about in the Miami sports media relative to the Dolphins.

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  2. Since 1988-89, the Warriors have won the Western Conference six times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022), and have won three NBA titles (2015, 2017, and 2018).

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  3. The Heat and the Celtics tip off just as the Coca-Cola 600 has a big wreck on its 192d lap (out of 400). That's the 10th caution we've had in the 600 so far, and it's anyone's guess as to whether the race will finish before or after the basketball game.

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  4. I've decided to go with the NBA game over the NASCAR, at least for now. I can't stand wrecks and caution flags.

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  5. With 6:42 left in the 1st quarter, the Celtics have jumped out to a 16-7 lead.

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  6. Here are the starters for the Celtics:

    Jayson Tatum, SF (Duke) (24 yrs old)
    Al Horford, C (Florida) (35)
    Jaylen Brown, SG (California) (26)
    Derrick White, PG (Colorado) (27)
    Grant Williams, PF (Tennessee) (23)

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    1. One change here. Grant Williams is coming off the bench. Boston's fifth starter is:

      Robert Williams III, C (Texas A & M) (24)

      And I know that gives Boston two starting centers, but that's the lineup according to ESPN.

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  7. Here are the starters for the Heat:

    P.J. Tucker, PF (Texas) (37 yrs old)
    Jimmy Butler, SF (Marquette) (32)
    Bam Adebayo, C (Kentucky) (24)
    Max Strus, SG (DePaul) (26)
    Kyle Lowry, PG (Villanova) (36)

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  8. With 2:53 left in the first, Boston leads 24-14. NASCAR's web page is still showing a caution on the 203d lap.

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  9. At the end of the first quarter, Boston leads 32-17. NASCAR's web page shows that the race is still under caution on the 207th lap.

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  10. Celtics lead 39-27 with 7:21 left before halftime. NASCAR is under caution in the 223d lap. It looks as though only 27 cars are still racing.

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  11. I just found out that Brad Stevens no longer coaches the Celtics. Apparently he's the President of Basketball Operations, replacing Danny Ainge.

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  12. With 5:18 left before half, Boston leads 45-32. The Celtics are 6-13 from 3-point range. The Heat are 1-10.

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  13. We're under green at NASCAR. Ross Chastain leads on the 249th lap. Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, and Chase Elliott are among the 10 cars no longer on the track.

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  14. Jimmy Butler is starting to get going for Miami. He has 24 points, and the Heat trail by nine, 53-44 with 1:26 left in the first half. At NASCAR, they're back under caution in the 256th lap.

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  15. In the second quarter, Miami shot 19 free throws and Boston shot 5. Of course, I'm an SEC fan, so this doesn't surprise me. Boston leads 55-49 at the half.

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  16. With 6:45 left in the third quarter, Boston leads 72-58. Celtics are 10-23 from 3-point range. The Heat is 3-16.

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    1. Bob Ryan said that somebody asked him which of these teams would win Game 7, and he said his response was, "Tell me which team is going to hit 20 3-pointers and which one is going to go 7-45 on 3s."

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  17. NASCAR is in a 14th caution in the 306th lap.

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  18. Someday I will do an entry on Claude Bolling's "Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano." In the meantime, please do yourself a favor and listen to it.

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  19. The Heat insert Victor Oladipo, one of my favorite players, and go on a 7-0 run to make the score 72-65 Boston with 5:15 left in the third. Oladipo has played 15 minutes, and is plus 13 for the game. Every other Heat is negative. Adebayo has 21 points and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes, but Tyler Herro (who is apparently injured) has zero points in only seven minutes.

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  20. NASCAR is back under green, and Tyler Reddick's Chevy leads in the 318th lap.

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    1. First time I read this through I thought you made a mistake because I had noted in the previous series that J.J. Reddick plays now for Milwaukee.

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  21. Boston leads 78-67 with 3:21 left in the third. Ross Chastain leads under green in the 329th lap.

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  22. With one quarter to go, Boston leads 82-75. Celtics are 10-27 from 3-point range; the Heat are 5-20. Oladipo is still plus 13 for the game.

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  23. At NASCAR, we have a 15th caution in the 341st lap.

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  24. Miami scores four quick points to open the fourth quarter, and Boston leads 82-79 with 10:56 left. Butler now has 33 points for Miami.

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  25. ESPN tells us that in NBA history, the home team has won 77.1 percent of Game Sevens.

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  26. More evidence that Tennessee never should have released Philip Fulmer. He eventually returned as AD, and this year UT became the first school to win the SEC men's basketball tournament and the SEC baseball tournament in the same year. That is a very difficult double, which is why it's never been done before.

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  27. In the 346th lap at NASCAR, we now have a red flag.

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  28. Boston leads 86-79 with 8:56 left.

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  29. With 8 minutes left, Boston leads 88-79. That's the score after 40 minutes, which is how many minutes they play in college.

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  30. Boston leads 98-87 with 3 minutes left. Solid performance by the Celtics after an embarrassing Game Six loss at home.

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  31. With 1 minute left, Boston leads 98-93, as Miami has scored 8 points in a row.

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  32. NASCAR is under green in the 360th lap, and Kyle Larson leads. There are only 19 cars left on the lead lap.

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  33. Boston is called for a charge, and Miami hits a 3 to make the score 98-96 with 33 seconds left. That's an 11-0 run for Miami.

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  34. Boston can't score, and Jimmy Butler has the ball in the open floor with a chance to tie. Like every single player in the SEC, he shoots a three for the lead. But he misses, and Boston gets the rebound. With 11 seconds left, Marcus Smart makes two free throws to put Boston up 100-96.

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  35. Butler's the only really great player Miami has, and he has 35 points, so I can see why he would go for the win. But if he had driven the ball and dunked it, I'm pretty sure Miami would have won this game.

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  36. With 8 seconds left, Strus (who made the last 3-pointer for Miami) tries a 30-footer that misses. Miami gets another chance with 6 seconds left, and Strus misses again. Horford gets the rebound, and he does what I always want my team to do in this situation -- with 2 seconds left he hurls the ball up into the sky, and the clock runs out. Boston wins 100-96, and the Celtics will play Golden State for the title.

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  37. Good old Al Horford, who won back-to-back national championships at Florida. That team was amazingly good. If they had all been at a Great Power, that would be regarded as one of the great college basketball teams of all time. As it was. They were so good I couldn't even get mad at them when they beat UK. They were just too good, and we needed to get better ourselves. We wouldn't have won in 2012 if they hadn't won in 2006 and 2007.

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  38. Still 20 laps to go in NASCAR, but at least they're under green.

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  39. The Warriors and the Celtics will meet in the final for the first time since 1964.

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    1. Yes. I find this finals matchup very satisfying.

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  40. With two laps to go, we were finally racing in Charlotte. Kyle Larson's Chevy was in first, and Chase Briscoe's Ford was trying to pass him. Naturally, Briscoe spun out, creating the 17th caution of the day and forcing Larson to go into one of those silly green-white-checkered overtimes.

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  41. I was watching the Indy 500 today, and former NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson, who was far out of contention, wrecked with five laps to go and red-flagged the whole race. I'm old enough to remember when NASCAR drivers could keep their cars on the track, but apparently those days are past.

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  42. So they finally try to start the race, and before they can complete the first lap of overtime, there's another big wreck. I don't even know who's left now, or what order they will restart in.

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  43. It's literally like watching the races my brother and I used to do when we were about six years old, and we'd just throw the cars all over the kitchen floor. I don't see how it does you any good to have the best car, or to be the best driver. All you can do is hope to survive all the wrecks, and then stagger across at the end.

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  44. Larson survived the wreck, but for some reason he's now in 15th place for the restart. If I really cared who won, this sort of thing would drive me nuts. Larson should have won this race 30 minutes ago, and now he won't get to win it at all, because Chase Briscoe couldn't keep his car on the track with two laps to go. This is insane.

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  45. Now Denny Hamlin, who hasn't been in contention all day, is in first. Ross Chastain is in second, and he's been good, but his car is apparently too banged up to compete. We only have 17 cars left in the race.

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  46. And so, two Toyotas, driven by Hamlin and Kyle Busch, run off and leave everyone else. Hamlin wins easily on an evening where I don't think he was ever in serious contention until the second overtime.

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  47. I watched most of the first two periods of the NHL game last night. I was rooting for the Hurricanes, in Game 7 at home against the Rangers. I was out at a Memorial Day event most of the day and got myself all jazzed about it. I went to a few Hurricanes games when we lived in Raleigh, actually took tickets at one, and our old church now operates a concession stand during the home games. I consider myself primarily a Capitals fan, but, with Washington eliminated, I was ready to go all "Caniac" for Game 7.

    About 30 seconds after I got home and flipped on the TV, the Rangers scored a power-play goal. About 10 minutes later, they scored another. I did a bunch of stuff that I needed to get done in the break after the first period, and I hustled back for the second period. Sat through and watched almost that whole awful thing until the dog insisted that she needed to go out right now. So with about two minutes on the second-period clock, Ella and I headed outside.

    Got back in to see the intermission commentary, and now the Rangers were up by 3-0! Just brutal. Closed out the night with a couple Modern Familys and saw this morning that New York ended up winning by 6-2. Boo! I think I'll now root for Edmonton.

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  48. After losing steam for the whole activity in the semis, I came back to the NBA Finals last night and was happy to watch Otto Porter Jr. and the Warriors (whom I otherwise want to hate) beat the Celtics (whom I wholly and genuinely hate) to take a lead of three games to two in the best-of-seven series. The NBA telecasts are outstanding.

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    1. He was so much fun to watch last night. I feel like it's so rare that the team I choose to root for in a given game or series actually wins, so I really enjoyed that whole Game 6. Mad props to Otto Porter Jr. I am rooting for the Warriors to advance all the way back to the NBA Finals in 2023 (and lose to the Wizards).

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