Well, after a rough Game 1 it looks like the Bucks have figured out Trae and the Hawks. A game 2 thumping and a Game 3 fourth quarter pull away now has the Bucks in the drivers seat and the Hawks Cinderella Story sitting at about 11:56PM.
The game 1 dismantling was exactly what the Bucks needed, I guess. After grinding out a 7 game series against the Nets and coming home where they are formidable, the Bucks were still breathing a sigh of relief and figured much like the betting public—It is just the Hawks.
Now after that embarrassing loss and knowing how close they are to the NBA Finals the Bucks woke up. Their defense keyed in on Trae Young, who had a miserable game 2 (Who didn’t on the Hawks), and got an active and engaged game out of Jrue Holiday, and *gulp* Brook Lopez???? Yes, Brook Lopez, who traded in his back to the basket game for shooting three’s cause he is 7 foot and this is the NBA.
And if you are wondering if we need to hang up Missing Posters for Khris Middleton, well, he graced with his presence like the McRib at McDonalds for Game three where he took over in the 2nd half and had 38 points and 11 boards. Compare that to his 30 points combined in the first two games and you can see Bucks fans wondering if their second leading scorer was doing his annual playoff disappearing act. You know what you are getting with Giannis, it is option B and C of Middleton and Holiday that are the key to the Bucks playoff chances.
Middleton is a guy who either jumps out at you like that guy is a baller or he can completely disappear to where you look at the stat sheet and see that he wasn’t injured or in foul trouble he just sucked and was passive. The Bucks need Holiday and Middleton to be killers and assert themselves from the outset. Jrue did in Game two and Middleton did it in game three. It is time for them both to do it at the same time and from the beginning of the game.
Meanwhile, in the West…
The Suns welcomed back Chris Paul in Game 3 and quickly fell out of sync. Booker was playing with a mask after breaking his nose in three places and couldn’t get going. Chris Paul hadn’t played basketball in 10 days and couldn’t hit is mid-range J, but did have 12 assists. Those two combined to shoot 10-40, which is what I got on math tests so not very good.
Paul George, on the other hand, looked like a superstar going 27,15, and 8 on the evening. He even got a half-court shot to go in, which is always a sign you are having a night. I am just as surprised as anyone with this Paul George Playoff experience and not because he is doing well, but because he is being an absolute warrior out there. The Clippers have played something like a thousand basketball games and a 10, 000 minutes over the last three weeks and Paul George does not go down. He is like Rocky going against any opponent and he just keeps getting pulverized, but he does not go down and he keeps fighting. Maybe this run can change George’s narrative. The one where he disappears in the playoffs and is the second banana on teams to one where he is a leader and a guy who comes up big for his team as the first, second and third option.
Alas, it looks like George will have to wait another season to try and get him and the Clippers over the hump cause Game 4 was a knockout, drag out fight that saw the Suns dominate the first half and then have to survive a furious Clippers comeback int he 2nd half.
I think that has been my favorite NBA playoff theme is the big 2nd half comeback we have seen this postseason. The Clippers against Utah. The Hawks against the Sixers. I think with the how teams shoot the three(both well and not well) and the pace of play and athletes of today that 20 point leads at the half are not safe. If a team with Chris Paul who dominates and dictates the tempo can cough up a double digit lead then no lead is too much or insurmountable.
The Clippers have dug their own hole and one has to wonder how much the previous two series has had an impact on them. Not just from a fatigue standpoint, but from a we can come back from anything standpoint. They were so lifeless and lackadaisical in the first half, even in front of their home crowd, you were wondering if it the Suns had figured the Clippers out and had defensive rotations to limit drives and kicks and contested shots or were the Clippers just waiting for some spark that never came in the first half. Well that spark was a 2nd half deficit and then the Clippers made a mad dash to the finish line where they sputtered out at the end, which happens when you have to give off as much energy as possible on both ends of the court to just get back in the game, and now find themselves down 3-1 in the series going back to Phoenix.
However, this series is over. The Clippers will give a valiant effort, but at home in front of their crowd on Monday night with a chance to send the franchise back to the Finals for the first time since Charles Barkley and the 93 Suns went and get Chris Paul his long awaited Golden Ticket they will not falter. Even if there is a second half blitz.
And Now, Some News…
Car Crash…Look Away
All I can think of when I watch is—I thought you were gonna do one of these…
Ohtani, Tatis, Schwarber, OH MY!!!!!
The question we have all been asking ourselves-
I picked a helluva time to give up smoking weed.
And they said Hollywood ran out of ideas!
Again, I picked a helluva time to give up smoking weed.
I can only imagine being high and watching this move when the space sequence happens and wondering if I went to the wrong movie or is this the best weed I have ever had in my life. Then Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon would play and it would go like this…
Stay lit.