NBA Update

We're about halfway through the conference semi-finals, so it makes sense to do another update.  Here's where things stand in each of the four series:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:


Boston 2 - 2 Philadelphia

Here is the starting lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers:

Jrue Holiday (G) (UCLA) (21 yrs old)
Evan Turner (G-F) (Ohio St.) (23 yrs old)
Andre Iguodola (F-G) (Arizona) (28 yrs old)
Elton Brand (F) (Duke) (33 yrs old)
Spencer Hawes (C) (Washington) (24 yrs old)

Not exactly Murderer's Row.  The leading scorers are Holiday and Iguodola, and I don't remember ever seeing those guys in college.  But the Celtics consist of Rondo, three old guys, and a bunch of guys who aren't very good.  So Philadelphia has been keeping it close.  Boston won the first game 92-91, but then Philly picked up its first playoff win in Boston since 1982, beating the Celtics 82-81.  After the teams went to Philly, the Celtics responded with a 107-91 win, and they were cruising along in Game 4, up 46-31 at the half.  But the Celtics are old, and they faded down the stretch, blowing their whole lead and falling 92-83.  I still think the Celtics will win the series, but I also think it doesn't matter very much -- neither of these teams is very good.

By the way, the Sixers have gone back to their old red-white-and-blue uniforms, and they look great.  This is clearly the all-uniform series.

Miami 2 - 2 Indiana

Here is the starting lineup for the Indiana Pacers:

George Hill (G) (IUPUI) (26 yrs old)
Paul George (G-F) (Fresno St.) (22 yrs old)
Danny Granger (F) (New Mexico) (29 yrs old)
David West (F) (Xavier) (32 yrs old)
Roy Hibbert (C) (Georgetown) (25 yrs old)

Now this lineup is far more obscure even than the Sixer lineup.  I remember Hibbert from his time at Georgetown, and I think I've heard David West's name, but I had literally never heard of the other three starters before a few weeks ago.  IUPUI?  Fresno State?  It just shows you don't know.  The most famous player on Indiana's team, by far, is Tyler Hansbrough of UNC.  In the playoffs, he's averaging 15 minutes and 4 points per game.

To give the Pacers credit, they were put together by Larry Bird, who won the Executive of the Year Award.  (He has also won Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Coach of the Year, making him the only man to have all four of those trophies.)  They are also coached by Frank Vogel, a UK grad and Pitino disciple who seems to know what he's doing.  But these guys should not beat any team with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Sure enough, in Game 1 the Heat rolled over Indiana 95-86.  But Miami's third tenor, Chris Bosh, suffered an abdominal strain and has not returned.  All year, people have been saying that Bosh isn't very good, but you could have fooled me, because the Pacers won Game 2 in Miami, 78-75, and then blew out the Heat at home in Game 3:  94-75.  Since the media treat every NBA season as simply a test of whether LeBron can live up to the hype that they have given him, this immediately became a huge deal.  But in Game 4 -- with their season potentially at risk -- LeBron and Wade showed the Indiana fans that their reputation is not just hype.  Here were their numbers today:

LeBron:  14-27 from the field, 12-16 from the line, 40 points, 18 rebounds, 9 assists
Wade:  13-23 from the field, 3-3 on three-pointers, 30 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists

The Heat rolled 101-93.  Now that they have regained home court advantage, they should be able to take this series.

WESTERN CONFERENCE


San Antonio 3 - 0 L.A. Clippers

Tim Duncan and the Spurs have four NBA titles:  1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007.  If they win this year, Duncan will have as many rings as Kobe.  And they may do so.  Bill Simmons of ESPN describes them as the best European team he's seen.  But personally, I don't think passing, shooting, running a good offense, and hitting the open man are necessarily European qualities.  To me, it's just fundamentally sound basketball.

Oklahoma City 3 - 1 L.A. Lakers

In my opinion, this has been the best series, because it's the only one where two potential champions are playing each other.  The young guns from OKC already knocked off the 2011 Champ (Dallas) in Round 1, and now they are taking on the Champ from 2009 and 2010.  The Lakers, coming off a difficult series with Denver, didn't put up much of an effort in Game 1, losing 119-90.  But the next three games were crackers:

In Game 2 in OKC, the Lakers led 75-68 with just over 2 minutes to go, but gave up the last 9 points of the game to fall 77-75.

In Game 3 in L.A., the Lakers made 41 of 42 free throws to pull out a pulsating 99-96 victory.

In Game 4 in L.A., the Lakers led 92-81 with 7:45 to go, but again faded down the stretch.  With the score tied at 98 and 34 seconds to go, Kevin Durant stole a pass from Pau Gasol.  Seventeen seconds later, he nailed a three-pointer to put OKC up for good.  The Thunder won 103-100.

I have to give the Lakers credit.  They are old, but they've been giving it everything they've got, and if these games were only 40 minutes long they might be up 3-1.  But Gasol in particular is not what he used to be, and Kobe (who had 38 points in Game 4) is not getting enough help from the rest of the team to beat the Thunder.  I will miss Kobe if the Lakers are eliminated in OKC on Monday night, but I'm getting excited about a series between the Spurs and the Thunder, which would feature the only two really good offenses left in the playoffs.