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| Paul George recorded the first triple-double of the 2013 playoffs (Image from: USA Today) |
The Pacers had a balanced attack with 6 players in double figures. Their supposedly poor offense erupted for 107 points thanks to a triple-double by Paul George. He recorded the first trip-dub of his career and the 1st for the Pacers in the playoffs since Mark Jackson did it in 1998. George had a lot of help with guys like Lance Stephenson and Gerald Green combining for 24 points. The Hawks were thoroughly out-rebounded by 16 boards and they shot only 14 free throws compared to the 34 of the Pacers. My X-Factor for the Hawks, Kyle Korver only had 5 points. These are recipes for losing.
#Manu #realtalk
The Lakers were hanging around in the 3rd quarter before Manu Ginobili scored 8 straight points to put the Spurs up by 13. Ginobili finished with 18 points on 19 minutes in just his 2nd game back from a hamstring injury. His health will dictate how fast the Spurs can eliminate the Lakers.Tim Duncan had a double-double while battling Howard and Gasol. Kobe Bryant was watching the game at home and he was tweeting the whole time. He had some suggestions (or criticisms) on what the Lakers were doing. It was quite entertaining to read but Kobe's tweets took away some attention from the actual game. Maybe that was a good thing since the Lakers' loss.
#Birdman #FightingClowns
The Heat began their quest for back-to-back titles by demolishing the Bucks in the 2nd half. LBJ was dominant as usual with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. He also had a couple of nasty dunks. Chris Birdman Andersen brought life to the home crowd with his energy and hustle plus 10 points and 7 boards. The Heat bench totally outplayed the Bucks as they were led by Ray Allen's 20 points. The Bucks only had Brandon Jennings (26 points) and Monta Ellis (22 points) score in double digits. Larry Sanders battled foul trouble all game long while Ersan Ilyasova finished with just 2 points on 1-7 shooting.
#blowout #ThunderUp
The last game of the weekend also ended in a rout. The Thunder made sure that Harden and the Rockets were not winning in OKC. Westbrook flirted with a trip-dub while Kevin Durant had 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. KD also finished with an impressive +34 for the game. Harden struggled by shooting 6-19 while Jeremy Lin's playoff debut was much worse with just 4 points in 32 minutes. The Rockets only chance of winning a game was to make a lot of threes and that did not happen as they shot 8-36 from deep while the Thunder had a more efficient 10-24. Kevin Martin had a decent game with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
#Stats #News
- The home teams are undefeated 8-0
- 6 of the 8 games had winning margins of at least 12 points
- Miami had a +15 rebound edge & +3 blocks edge vs the taller and bigger Bucks
- Paul George went 17-18 from the foul line
- Nash had 16 points and 3 assists in his first game after missing 8 straight games
- Greg Smith of the Rockets was -34
- David Lee is out of the playoffs with a torn hip flexor
Paul George with a chase-down block
LeBron James finishes a nasty lefty dunk
#Player of the Night
Paul George, Pacers - 23 Pts, 11 Reb, 12 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 17-18 FTs
#Tweets of the Night
Kobe Bryant
Nothing worse then watching your bothers struggle and u can't do crap about it #realtalk
I see my tweeting during the game is being talked about as much as the game itself. Not my intention , just bored as I guess #notagain
#Game Recaps
Final Score:
Indiana 107, Atlanta 90
Indianapolis,
IN (Sports Network) - Fueled by a triple-double from Paul George, the Indiana
Pacers took the early upper hand in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal
series with the Atlanta Hawks by coming through with a 107-90 victory at
Bankers Life Fieldhouse. George amassed 23 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds
to lead Indiana to its first Game 1 triumph in a playoff set since 2006. The
Pacers' four other starters also scored in double figures, with George Hill
contributing 18 points and Roy Hibbert 16 to the near wire-to-wire win. David
West and Lance Stephenson added 13 points apiece for the Central Division
champion Pacers, who dominated the Hawks at the foul line to claim the opener.
George did the majority of his damage from the charity stripe, draining
17-of-18 free throws on the afternoon, and Indiana finished 30-of-34 from the
line compared to a 7-of-14 performance from Atlanta. Indianapolis native Jeff
Teague paced the Hawks with 21 points and seven assists. Josh Smith had 15
points and Al Horford scored 14 in the loss, though neither was a factor during
the second half.
Final Score:
San Antonio 91, LA Lakers 79
San Antonio,
TX (Sports Network) - With the Los Angeles Lakers saddled without their top
player, the San Antonio Spurs drew first blood in their opening- round playoff
series with vintage performances from their three best. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker
and Manu Ginobili combined for 53 points and the Spurs pulled away in the
second half to record a 91-79 victory over the Lakers in Game 1 of a marquee
Western Conference quarterfinal matchup from the AT&T Center. Duncan
notched his 139th career playoff double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds,
with Parker adding 18 points and eight assists while coming up with three
steals. Ginobili, sidelined by a strained hamstring down the stretch of the
regular season, showed little discomfort in putting up 18 points off the bench
while connecting on 3-of-5 shots from 3-point range. The seventh-seeded Lakers
closed out the schedule with eight victories in nine games, including a 91-86
triumph over the Spurs in Los Angeles last Sunday. And despite the return of
point guard Steve Nash from an eight-game absence, Los Angeles couldn't
overcome Kobe Bryant's unavailability caused by a torn Achilles the two-time scoring
champion suffered in the season's third-to-last contest. Dwight Howard and Pau
Gasol tried their best to carry the load in the Lakers' first playoff game
without Bryant on the court since 2000, with Howard amassing 20 points and 15
rebounds and Gasol turning in a 16-point, 16-rebound, six-assist effort. Nash
finished with 16 points in 29 minutes, but the Lakers were plagued by 18
turnovers and a 3-of-15 showing from beyond the arc.
Final Score:
Miami 110, Milwaukee 87
Miami, FL
(Sports Network) - No team has ever headed into the NBA playoffs on a bigger
roll than the Miami Heat. On paper, the defending champs are expected to wash
away the Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat looked like every bit the part of the
favorite in their postseason opener. LeBron James had 27 points, 10 rebounds
and eight assists in Miami's wire-to-wire 110-87 rout of the Bucks in Game 1 of
this Eastern Conference first-round series. James tallied those 27 after tying
a playoff career low with only 11 shot attempts. He made nine of those tries.
James had only taken just 11 shots in a playoff game twice before. Ray Allen
netted 20 points, Dwyane Wade added 16 and Chris Bosh finished with 15 for the
Heat, who went 30-2 since the All-Star break, the best second-half winning
percentage in NBA history. That mark topped the 31-4 record the Utah Jazz
posted during the 1996-97 season. Brandon Jennings, who predicted the Bucks
would defeat the Heat in six games, tallied 18 of his 26 points in the first
half for Milwaukee, which closed the year by dropping 15 of its last 21 tilts.
Monta Ellis recorded 22 points in defeat. The Bucks haven't won an
opening-round series since 2001. Game 2 is slated for Tuesday in Miami.
Final Score:
Oklahoma City 120, Houston 91
Oklahoma
City, OK (Sports Network) - It was one of those nights where everyone seemed to
be making shots in Oklahoma City. Even a fan nailed one from half- court that
won him $20,000. Kevin Durant had 24 points, six rebounds and four assists in
the Oklahoma City Thunder's 120-91 wire-to-wire rout of the Houston Rockets in
Game 1 of this Western Conference first-round series. Russell Westbrook tallied
19 points, 10 assists and eight boards, while Serge Ibaka added 17 points and
seven rebounds for the Thunder, whose 29-point margin of victory was the
largest in the postseason since moving from Seattle. OKC shot a sizzling 53
percent (44-of-83) from the floor. James Harden netted 20 points on just
6-of-19 shooting for Houston, which is in the postseason for the first time in
three years. The biggest reason why the Rockets were able to post their first
playoff berth since 2008-09 was because of their All-Star guard Harden. The
former sixth man of the Thunder was dealt to the Rockets prior to the start of
the season and finished fifth in the NBA with 25.9 ppg.
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