Pacers put the Heat on stole; Duncan leads Spurs past Clippers (with TNT notes)
This cat keeps going and going and going and going…
Not a fan of the San Antonio Spurs robotic genius flow. I wanna see sick athleticism all over the floor coupled with skill and clutch play. That being said, the Spurs rock you to sleep slowly with precision and mishaps are at a minimum. With Tim Duncan playing the way he is at this advanced NBA age, if the Spurs are hoisting the trophy in June, do not be shocked. They beat up on the Clippers last night. The Parker/Paul match up was a wash, so Tim Duncan took over and became a major factor in the Spurs 108-92 win in Game 1.
In Miami, many today will question whether LeBron James should have been involved (TNT crew discuss) in last shot and also if Chris Bosh’s injury will derail the Miami Heat from NBA title aspirations. Both are fair questions and after last night’s 78-75 loss at the hands of the Pacers in Game 1, the Heat better get it together. Mario Chalmers said the last play was drawn up for him. I don’t have a problem with that. I do have a problem with LeBron missing free throws in a big spot and what made it worse was the shot of Pacers president Larry Bird. Can you imagine what was going through his mind as player after player clanked the first and then the second at the free throw line?
To the notes…
TNT’s coverage of the 2012 NBA Playoffs continues Wednesday, May 16, at 7 p.m. ET with a doubleheader featuring the Boston Celtics @ Philadelphia 76ers (Game 3) followed by the Los Angeles Lakers @ Oklahoma City Thunder (Game 2).
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Indiana Pacers (78) @ Miami Heat (75) – Series tied 1-1
Announcers: Marv Albert (play-by-play) and Steve Kerr (analyst) with Cheryl Miller (reporter)
Kerr on Miami missing Chris Bosh due to his injury and what it means to the Heat:“This is about defense…and Bosh is a big part of that.”
Kerr on the difficulty of playing the Heat:“You cannot beat Miami when they’re playing fast.”
Kerr on how difficult it is to play against the Miami Heat: “You cannot really sense how fast Miami’s defense is until you play against it. Indiana has to rely on its execution to try and create offense and I’m not sure if they [Pacers] are good enough.”
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Sprint Halftime Report
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith
O’Neal on the Indiana Pacers 7’4” center Roy Hibbert:“He should be devastating with his moves. His attitude should be ‘I’m dominating.’ He should be more demonstrative with his moves. He should be more aggressive and he should go up to dunk it every time.”
Barkley on the key to the Pacers success in the series: “The key to the series [for the Pacers]…unless Danny Granger and Paul George play better, this team is not going to win.”
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TNT’s Miller interviewed Indiana Pacers forward David West following their win:
West:“We can’t celebrate over this. Our mindset is to win the series. We’re going to remain aggressive.”
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Los Angeles Clippers (92) @ San Antonio Spurs (108) – Spurs lead the series 1-0
Announcers: Matt Devlin (play-by-play) and Mike Fratello (analyst) with Marty Snider (reporter)
TNT’s Snider interviewed Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro following the first quarter of play:
Del Negro on the Clippers first quarter:“We don’t want to get into a track meet with them [San Antonio]. We’ve got to be smart.”
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Sprint Halftime Report
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith
Barkley on the Spurs mental toughness:
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Fratello on the Spurs pace and acumen of play in Game 1:“When you [Clippers] are running low on energy, low on gas, it’s tough to keep up with the passing [of the Spurs].”
Fratello on the heightened expectations of the L.A. Clippers after acquiring Chris Paul:“He was the big reason why they have become so much tougher mentally and physically…once they acquired Chris Paul everyone expected, ‘Wow, Chris Paul, we’re going to win the whole thing.’”
TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan following his 26-point, 10-rebound night in the Spurs win:
Duncan:“We expected to go ahead and attack the basket. Early on I was just trying to get the rust off and get it going.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith
Barkley on the Spurs momentum:“I felt the Spurs had a little too much rest. They started off pretty slow. But once the game got going they picked it back up and do what the Spurs do…win at home.”
O’Neal on the Spurs:“They have been together so long and have so much experience that nothing impresses them. They know what to do, they know how to do it and they know when to do it. That’s why it looks so easy.”
Smith on Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich: “He exposes what you can’t do. If you aren’t good at doing something, he is going to expose it. He exposes everything that other teams are weak at.”
Barkley on the rest of the Clippers/Spurs series: “Chris Paul is not going to dominate in this series. I see the Clippers winning one game because their flaws are going to show.”
TNT reporter Marty Snider interviews Clippers guard Chris Paul in the locker room after the game
Paul on what the Clippers need to work on:“We missed a lot of layups, we didn’t get to the free throw line enough. But we felt like there were some good things we did and we just have to stay the course.”
O’Neal on the mentality Clippers forward Blake Griffin needs to have:>“The mentality Blake has to have is ‘I have to outplay the almighty Tim Duncan.’ The Playoffs is where you make your name. Tim Duncan is a legend, if you want to be a legend you have to go at the legend and you have to take care of the legend.”
Barkley on the Clippers’ Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan:“It is going to be a learning experience for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan because their flaws are really going to show this series.”
On the Spurs, I’m feelin you: five years ago, I couldn’t stand to watch them, but I actually think they play a much more aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball today.
For starters, they get out on the break a lot more, with a number of players besides T Parker able to push the pace (including some surprises like Kahwi Leonard). Perhaps more importantly, they can run plays in the half-court, everyone knows their role and exactly where to be, throw in a lil improv from Parker, Ginobli, Duncan, and even Capn Jack, and I’ve found myself really enjoying watching them play.
Besides, like I said the other day, the Clippers are frustrating to watch because of all the ice-grilling and flopping. Sure, the dunks are nice, but as a team – from the coaches on down – they have absolutely no idea how to execute in the playoffs, either on offense or defense. Defensively, did you see how many wiiiiide open jumpers the Spurs were allowed to shoot? I kept waiting for the adjustment from vinnie-the-black. I’m still waiting. And offensively, the answer cannot be Chris Paul attempting to make magic after the screen roll has failed for the umpteenth time. Ugly ugly basketball the Clippers play.
Add in the fact that high flyers Griffin and Jordan cannot be trusted to play in the 4th quarter, which means Kenyon Martin and the gawdawful Reggie Evans must play. And then the baskeball gets even uglier… I say good riddance to lob city, see you in the fall…
Vinnie will have the summer off looking for a job. it may not even be in basketball
Mizzo — I had the exact same thought re: free throws when they showed Bird’s face.
@LP — I agree with you on the Clippers. The Spurs are just thanking their lucky stars they missed the Mighty Black Bears of Memphis. The Seige of the River City by 18th Dynasty look-alike Zach Randolph would have been all they could take down there. Memphis got in the flow too late, and blinked with that large lead in Game 1. That would have made for a better series.
With that said, I think the Clippers may make some adjustments to make this series tougher. The playoff identity of this team has to be different than it’s regular season identity because Griffin is not THAT DUDE. The offense has to go through CP3 and someone else. Butler, Martin, Bledsoe, and Nick Young are going to have to make it happen.
The Spurs have subtly mixed in a little athleticism with the aging vets. As for the free throws, no doubt the great ones sitting back having to watch the MVP and others clank them has to be driving them insane.
T3, I was going to say the same thing regarding the opportunity lost in a potential Spurs-Grizz series. Thutmose (or were you leaning more toward Akhenaten? lol) had the type of ability to make Tim Duncan bow down in the Valley of Kings. Sadly Griffin does not have this ability – but he’s about to learn lol! Duncan bout to school this young hype-machine and teach him the finer aspects of pf wizardry.
I don’t, however, share your optimism regarding the Clippers actually making this series competitive because the adjustments to which you refer would require more from vinnie-the-black than I think he’s capable of. So Chris Paul is just as hamstrung with this Clippers team as he ever was with any of his Hornets teams. In fact, I think he and David West would have been better off had they both stayed in New Orleans. I know that was not an option given the fact that the league controls the team, but I’m just sayin… In fact, I agree with Mizzo in that it is hard to understand why Marse Stern would giftwrap the best pg in the league to a terminally underachieving team owned by a racist asshole. But I digress…
@LP – Its simple stern makes made sure a star player goes to a large market city. We all know that the life blood of the NBA is to make sure that the large market/top 10 market teams are competitive. The NBA is not the NFL where Green bay and Pitt can play in the superbowl and everyone and their mamma watches the game.
Indy and the Spurs play in the finals and you would be lucky to get 5 million people to watch that crap each game. As big of a star Lebron is he played teh spurs in the finals and more people saw the movie water world then that god awful finals. The only reason Miami gets good ratings is because of all those stars and the hate that people have for them knee grows trying to be free thinking and form their own team.
I still argue that the reason Lebron gets hate from the media and many of the owners was not because he left the Cavs. Its because he left the Cavs not for Boston, LA, Chicago, NY and etc. He was basically a run away slave who didn’t run away to the designated plantation.
To show how fixed sports is and how foolish and dumb the fans are….. the media and fans applauded Paul to the Clippers as a win for small market teams. Since big old bad LA and NY didn’t get Paul.
I tell you sports truely is reality TV………bread and circus folks, bread and circus.
Umm how does pacquiao say that gay folks should be killed and no one in the media calls him out and his fucking commercial is being played during the NBA playoffs. Ain’t they the same folks that did the stop anti-gay bashing commercial that has been running since Kobe said the 3 letter word last year??
When I meantion LA I mean the Lakers.
@Origin
LMAO…I heard a blip about Pacuiao, but that was it. They’re so fixated on the darker hue that the tanner hue has already set the table…O_o
@LP:
It’s a mess. CP3 would be better off with David West. David Stern is a funny dude. I’d venture to say he’s one of the most treacherous, deceitful people in all of professional sports. That press conference between him and Tom Benson was PRICELESS.