NBA Playoffs: Recap of Day 2 of the 2011 NBA Playoffs
The second day of NBA Playoff action was just as exciting as the first. Another weekend quadruple-header included its share of division rivalries and teams on upset alert.
The afternoon started in San Antonio with a nail-biter between the top seed in the West, the San Antonio Spurs, and the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
The second game of the day featured the defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the upset-seeking, seventh-seeded New Orleans Hornets. Los Angeles is looking for their third-straight title and Phil Jackson's fourth three-peat.
Game 3 of Sunday was Atlantic Division rivals facing off as the New York Knicks visited the Boston Celtics which went down to the wire. Both teams, with their share of new faces, looked to gain control of one of the more intriguing series in this year's playoffs.
The night capped off with another division rivalry as Northwest foes, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets, put on a show for the Oklahoma City crowd.
San Antonio Spurs (No. 1) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (No. 8), Game 1
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Final Score: Memphis Grizzlies 101-San Antonio Spurs 98
No Manu, big problem.
The San Antonio Spurs opened up the 2011 NBA Playoffs hosting the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies. There was speculation that the Grizzlies tanked the end of the season so that they could face off against the Spurs.
The Spurs were missing their leading scorer and closer in Manu Ginobili, and they could have really used him at the end of the game.
The Grizzlies were in control of the first half, ending it with a 45-43 lead, but the Spurs regained the lead in the third quarter, taking a 74-70 lead.
The fourth quarter was where the Spurs really felt the impact of missing Ginobili. After a pair of George Hill free throws, San Antonio had a 98-94 lead with 1:06 left in the game. They never scored again.
Memphis center Marc Gasol cut the lead to two with just under a minute to play. Gasol had 24 points on the afternoon, to go along with nine rebounds. On Memphis' next possession, Shane Battier hit a go ahead three-pointer.
Battier, who was acquired at the trade deadline, added 10 points off the bench, and connected on his only two three-point attempts.
San Antonio was led by their two veterans, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. Parker led all Spurs scorers with 20 points and was constantly dueling with Memphis guard Mike Conley. Conley added 15 points and 10 assists for the Grizzlies.
Duncan opened the game looking like the Tim Duncan from the late 90s and early 2000s. Duncan had 16 points and 13 rebounds in over 36 minutes of play.
As well as Duncan played, he and the other San Antonio big men could not contain Memphis forward Zach Randolph.
Randolph had a game-high 25 points and added 14 rebounds. Randolph had a very efficient night, hitting 10 of his 15 field-goal attempts.
Memphis was able to steal Game 1 of the series, and it will be interesting to see how the series unfolds if Manu Ginobili continues to be bothered by his injury.
According to a story by ESPN's Chris Broussard, later on Sunday, Zach Randolph was granted a four-year, $71 million contract extension.
Los Angeles Lakers (No. 2) vs. New Orleans Hornets (No. 7), Game 1
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Finals Score: New Orleans Hornets 109-Los Angeles Lakers 100
Many people predicted this series to be completely dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers, but the New Orleans Hornets had other plans.
Point guard Chris Paul led the Hornets to a nine-point victory of the defending champs. Paul led New Orleans with 33 points and 14 assists and four steals.
Paul received a lot of help today, especially from some of the reserve big men who are playing more with the absence of All-Star David West. Carl Landry, acquired from the Sacramento Kings, added 17 points. Aaron Gray also added 12 off the bench.
The big reason for the Hornets victory, they did not turn the ball over. New Orleans turned the ball over only three times compared to the Lakers' 13 turnovers.
New Orleans also received a big boost off of the bench from point guard Jarrett Jack who added 15 points and five assists. He was able to give Paul a few minutes of rest as he shot the ball effectively, hitting five of his six field-goal attempts and did not turn the ball over.
Willie Green, another backup guard, added eight points off the bench, including a few big shots in the fourth quarter. Green connected on four of his seven attempts.
Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 34 points, shooting 50 percent from the field. Bryant also added five assists and four rebounds, but turned the ball over five times as well.
Pau Gasol had a poor shooting day, hitting only two of his nine attempts and managing only eight points and six rebounds.
Lamar Odom also had an uncharacteristic night with 10 points and only one rebound.
The Lakers did not receive the production from their bench that they had hoped. With Steve Blake out of the lineup, they brought up Trey Johnson from the NBA D-League, but he only saw a few minutes of playing time.
New Orleans' bench outscored the Lakers' bench 39-21.
Bryant tried his best to keep the Lakers in the game, but the Hornets played better down the stretch. With just over six-and-a-half minutes to play, Bryant knocked down a three to cut the Hornets' lead to three, but the Lakers never got any closer.
New Orleans was the third team to win a road game in the playoffs, and only hours after the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies upset the San Antonio Spurs.
Boston Celtics (No. 3) vs. New York Knicks (No. 6), Game 1
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Final Score: Boston Celtics 87-New York Knicks 85
Ray Allen does it again!
In a back-and-forth matchup between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, Ray Allen hits the go-ahead three-pointer with 11.6 seconds left on the clock, giving the Celtics an 87-85 lead, which they held on to after Carmelo Anthony missed a three-point attempt in the final seconds.
The Knicks seemed to have control after going into the half with a 51-39 lead, but as the game became more physical in the second half, Boston was able to fight back.
Ray Allen had 18 of his 24 points in the second half including three three-point makes.
Less than two minutes into the first quarter, Anthony went to the bench with two quick fouls, but Bill Walker was able to energize the New York offense with seven first-quarter points.
Amar'e Stoudemire had 12 of his 28 points in the second half including a circus-style layup and a thunderous dunk that gave the Knicks an 82-78 lead with 2:47 left in the final quarter.
The big question for the Celtics entering the playoffs was what kind of production they would receive from the center position. Veteran Jermaine O'Neal gave them great production while contributing 12 points, connecting on all six of his field-goal attempts.
O'Neal had his biggest impact on the defensive end, turning away four shots.
Anthony had a tough shooting night, hitting only five of his 18 attempts from the field. Anthony had a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds, but settled with a contested three.
Chauncey Billups added 10 points on a poor shooting night, going 3-11 from the field, but hit a big three with just over four minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, Billups had to leave the game with less than a minute remaining due to a strained knee.
New York was out-rebounded by 10 rebounds against the Celtics, 44-34.
Toney Douglas hit a three-pointer with just under 38 seconds remaining, three of his eight points. The three gave the Knicks a three-point lead.
After an alley-oop from Rajon Rondo to Kevin Garnett, New York had a one-point lead and an opportunity to add onto it. On the ensuing possession, Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul while trying to gain post position on Paul Pierce.
With 21 seconds remaining, out of a timeout, Ray Allen in-bounded the ball to Paul Pierce, set a screen for Pierce and popped out for the three which was helped by a Kevin Garnett screen that tripped up Toney Douglas.
Rondo did not shoot the ball particularly well, and was given plenty of open looks, but almost had a triple-double. Rondo had 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 4) vs. Denver Nuggets (No. 5), Game 1
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Final Score: Oklahoma City Thunder 107-Denver Nuggets 103
In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder fight back after a rough first quarter to defeat the new-look Denver Nuggets 107-103.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 41 points, 25 of which came in the second. Russell Westbrook added 31 of his own and led the Thunder's second quarter charge with 21 first half points.
After the first quarter, Denver led 33-24, and their offense looked like it was unstoppable out on the court. After some energetic plays on both sides of the ball, the Oklahoma City faithful were reinvigorated and on their feet by the end of the second quarter.
Nene led all Nuggets' scorers with 22 points. With a few explosive dunks late in the fourth quarter, Nene gave the Nuggets a 99-98 with under four minutes to play.
Denver's exciting new duo of Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson added a combined 22 points. Felton did not shoot particularly well, hitting only four of his 11 shot attempts, missing all four from three-point range.
Denver was missing their starting shooting guard, Arron Afflalo. Wilson Chandler, acquired in the Carmelo Anthony deal, started in his spot.
At the end of the night, there was just too much Durant and Westbrook for Denver to handle. Along with his 31 points, Westbrook added seven assists and six rebounds. Durant also added nine rebounds of his own.
Oklahoma City received very good production from their backup point guard, Eric Maynor. Maynor added 12 points off the bench while hitting five of his seven attempts, including a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to put the Thunder up by four.
Although Denver shot 50.6 percent from the field, they only connected on four attempts from beyond the arc, 25 percent on the night. Denver also attempted 33 free throws but only knocked down 21.
Westbrook, who is not known to be a shooter, was on-point from downtown on Sunday night. Westbrook hit three of his four attempts from long range.
Durant added three three-pointers as well. Durant and Westbrook combined to hit two more threes than the whole Denver team.
Denver came out firing but cooled down as the game progressed. Durant and Westbrook showed their maturity and leadership in the second half, leading their team to a hard-fought victory over a division rival.
