First Day of the NBA Playoffs

A triple-double, a high-scoring and close game, and a missed shot that could have sent a game to OT... not a bad way to start the playoffs.

The star of the day, of course, was my MVP LeBron James. In his first career playoff game he notched a triple-double, scoring 32 points, dishing out 11 assists, and grabbing 11 rebounds just for good measure. But even beyond the boxscore, I was just impressed with the way he controlled the game... he played at the pace he and the Cavs wanted to play at, he hit some outside jumpers, and absolutely blew by his man nearly at will. He didn't really force things either. He did take 27 shots, but I can't really remember "bad" shots, he was getting doubled on every possession and he was patient when it came.

Cleveland basically played a very good game, Washington played very poorly, and that's mostly what there is to it. Donyell Marshall played well off the bench with 19 and 7 in 23 minutes, but he was set up more than once by LeBron. For Washington, the big 2 really struggled, shooting a combined 15/47 for 48 points. However, this shoudln't really be too disconcerting for the Wizards, because Arenas, Jamison, and Butler will play better. The biggest thing they should be worried about is that they don't really have any way to stop LeBron. Heck, I saw former Dakota Wizard Billy Thomas on LeBron at times today, and well, if that happens often, they're in big trouble.

I was not able to watch San Antonio/Sacramento today, and this turned out to be a lucky break, because the Spurs dominated 122-88. What the heck happened here?

By the same token, I didn't catch anything but highlights from the Miami/Chicago game (the weather was just great, and well, tennis was a good time), but it looks like this was a fine game, as the Heat won 111-106. Looking at it, the thing that stands out is Shaq scoring 27 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and swatting 5 shots. He's basically been resting since the end of last year's playoffs (if you've followed the Heat at all, I'm sure you know this), so he should have a lot left in his tank. Be afraid Eastern Conference, because if "The Diesel" can summon up some of his play from the days of old, then Kazaam, the Heat are back to being a very, very legitimate threat to hang with Detroit.

I did catch the 2nd half of the Clips/Nuggets game, and even though it was close, I can't really say it was all that exciting. The Clips led by 10 heading into the fourth, but had to hold on for a 89-87 win. Carmelo had 25 points in this one, but he only shot 9-26, and that had a lot to do with the fine defense of Quentin Ross and Cuttino Mobley. One thing I have to say is that aside from Carmelo and maybe K-Mart, the Nuggets are really, really boring to watch, mainly because they can't hit an outside shot. (they were 1/6 from downtown last night). Another underrated factor in this series is the strong alien/non-alien ratio for the Clips. I don't care what you say, there is no way that Sam Cassell and Chris Kaman are from Planet Earth. And you're not going to convince me otherwise.