1. Zach Randolph is really good. The 29 year old power forward finished with a career playoff high of 34 points and added 10 rebounds in leading the Grizzlies to another upset win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City today. Randolph grabbed 4 of the Grizz's 17 offensive rebounds, hit a wide array of shots from inside and out, and gave the Thunder fits on both ends of the floor. Plus any time you outscore Kevin Durant, who finished with 33 points, you've had a pretty good day. If Randolph plays like this the whole series, he's going to make prediction that the Thunder would win the series look pretty stupid.
2. The Grizzlies are tenacious on defense. Oklahoma City turned the ball over 18 times resulting in 23 points for the Grizzlies. More than anything this was the difference in the game. Having defensive stars Tony Allen and Shane Battier on the roster certainly doesn't hurt, but the whole team has bought in. Nothing came easy for the Thunder all night, and they shouldn't expect things to get any easier. Russell Westbrook will have to do better than his 7 turnovers for the Thunder to bounce back in this series.
3. The Heat are not intimidated by the Celtics any more. Everything the Celtics threw out the Heat, the Heat had an answer for. Any time the Celtics made a run, the Heat locked down and extended the lead back out. Paul Pierce lost his cool and got himself ejected, Dwyane Wade finally overcame his struggles against the C's and finished with 38 points, and James Jones channeled his inner Steve Kerr and drilled 5 3-pointers and finished with 25 points. Miami never looked like they were worried and they have to be confident heading into Game 2.
4. Rajon Rondo will be the key to this series. Rondo was in foul trouble early and never got into a rhythm. He finished with 8 points 7 rebounds and 7 assists, but was just 3 of 10 from the floor, seemed tentative to take open shots and turned the ball over 5 times. He wasn't outplayed by Bibby and Chalmers persay as they combined for just 5 points, but it was certainly a subpar effort from Rondo. Delonte West is Rondo's backup and he's not capable of doing what Rondo can so Rondo has to stay on the floor for the Celtics to win this series.
5. Ray Allen is an unbelievable shooter. Dogged by Dwyane Wade all night, Allen still finished 9 of 13 from the floor and hit 5 of 8 3-pointers. In 5 playoff games, Allen has now hit 21 of 34 3-pointers in his 5 postseason games, whopping 61.8%. Not bad for a 35 year old.
No comments:
Post a Comment