Watching Derek Fisher emerge as maybe the MVP of Game 2, and in only about 10 minutes of burn no less, it occurred to us that the Lakers (among a bunch of other teams) could really have used D-Fish this year. He can run the point, make clutch defensive plays, knock down timely threes, and at 6-2 still guards the other team’s top perimeter player when need be: T-Mac in the Houston series and Baron Davis in this one. (Yeah, T-Mac usually smoked Derek, but at least he played him tough.) Last night Fisher only took one shot — a corner three in overtime — and it proved to be the dagger. Earlier in the fourth he forced Boom Dizzle (36 pts, 7 asts, 4 stls) into a turnover that was another key moment in the game … Of course, Fisher did all of this at the end of a day in which his daughter had surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor between her eye and her brain. After the surgery he flew from New York to Utah for the game and didn’t even suit up until midway through. Huge props to Derek for thriving despite a situation most people can’t even imagine going through … For a minute, though, it didn’t even look like there would be overtime. The Jazz started terribly. From the tip-off, it went like this: foul on Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur fires a pass to an unaware Matt Harpring out of bounds, Golden State scores, Andrei Kirilenko shoots an airball, Deron picks up his second foul, Deron sits down … So with Fisher still on the way and Deron on the bench, Dee Brown got some playing time that he wouldn’t normally get. And five minutes in, he suffered a scary neck injury when Memo landed on top of his head at an awkward angle. Last we heard, Dee was at the hospital, but is OK … After Brown’s injury, the Jazz had to run AK-47 at the point, and he showed just why he’s such an invaluable piece of that team. Kirilenko finished with 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists and 6 blocks … When Paul Millsap wasn’t making his life hellish, Al Harrington (17 pts) actually had a decent game. Nice sequence where Al made a strong cut to the basket for a layup, then stole the ball from Harpring on the other end and dunked while letting out a scream. The Jazz fans booed him for that one … Did you see the one kid in the crowd with a hat, bandana and Deron Williams jersey? We haven’t seen anyone look that gangsta in a Jazz jersey in, well, ever … One silver lining for the Warriors: when they were up by three in the final minute, they didn’t slow it down and switch their style like they did to blow Game 5 against Dallas. That’s the thing with Golden State; maybe they don’t make the “smart” play all the time, but that’s just how they play. As soon as they change it up, they’re no longer in a comfort zone. That’s why we can tolerate all the rushed shots they take … What doesn’t get a pass, though, is Stephen Jackson costing the Warriors buckets at least once every game because he’s arguing with the refs at the other end of the court. Last night he did it again and the resulting five-on-four allowed Memo an open three. That has to drive Golden State fans nuts … Speaking of unnecessary shots, how about Okur’s double-clutch trey with 16 seconds left and Utah down three? The crazy part is, you knew Memo (23 pts, 18 rebs) was gonna pull as soon as he got the ball, even with plenty of time on the shot clock … If this were an NBA Finals game, Mickael Pietrus runs the risk of joining the Nick Anderson Hall of Fame. Same for S-Jack and the John Starks HOF … The Jazz’s ball movement in OT was fantastic, up until Carlos Boozer (30 pts, 13 rebs) sent a bad pass out of bounds and Okur followed it up by single-handedly blowing a 3-on-1 break. Utah got it together, though, setting up Fisher’s dagger … Rebounding edge was 60-32, Utah. Ugly. But as Naomi pointed out, “Shouldn’t there be at least one blue jersey in the key tryin’ to crash the boards?” Forget size differences and Boozer’s strength — GS isn’t rebounding because they don’t put anyone under the hoop unless Andris Biedrins is in. And how about Nellie in the post-game press conference not pulling any punches about Al Harrington’s poor rebounding. Nellie even brought up that the guards had better per-minute rebounding averages than Al … Paul Pierce isn’t going to play for Team USA this summer, opting to stay fresh for the Celtics. USA Basketball boss Jerry Colangelo says that means Pierce is out for the ‘08 Olympics since he’ll be missing his second straight Team USA event since being named to the program … We’re out like The Truth …
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May 10th, 2007 at 1:36 am
Amar says:
My prayers for the speedy recovery of Fisher’s daughter and Dee Brown. This is an emotional victory, and the Jazz were a few bounces away from going back to Oakland down two games. Instead they played well in the clutch to come from behind both times. (Most come from behind wins in the season … look it up) Holding serve is good, but nothing is earned if they go back to utah all tied up. Don Nelson not calling for a trap when Andrei was the PG is a bad decision, J-Rich’s step back three had two feet on the line, and Andrei fouling out on S-Jax falling down on his own wasn’t good. Having one PG leave in an ambulance isn’t good. Having your starter get two fouls in 1 minute isn’t good. Baron had a very good game, but how did GS not win this, with all of their advantages? (23 turn overs, 8 gazillion steals…) Oh yeah, because their entire team was out rebounded by Andrei, Carlos and Mehmet.
May 10th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Brock says:
Dime Crew,
I love your work, I still read it everyday. But, remember when you guys used to be funny? I mean your inside analysis of the hoops world is great, but you are really taking yourselves seriously. Loosen up, talk about the hot ladies sitting behind the bench, give us inside info about what is going on at the game that we can’t tell from the TV broadcast (like the time I was at a Pistons/Heat game and Steve Smith was asking a fan to slip him peanuts on the low during the game). That was your best stuff. Great job otherwise.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Johnson says:
I was at the game, I have no voice and my ears are still ringing. I get home and I see people complaining about how the Utah fans are terrible and quiet. I want to say they don’t know because they weren’t there, but was it really that bad of performance by the fans? I’ve never been to a game like that before, and I don’t know what else everyone could have done.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:26 am
dagwaller says:
I loved watching this game. Both teams are full of unorthodox players, and neither one really matches up with the other. A lot to say, but I think that sums it up. Thanks to both teams.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:52 am
The Jed says:
Great game last night. I’m enjoying watching Utah play more and more. Can’t say enough about how impressive Kirilenko was last night. His interior passing was crazy. I was actually surprised that his line didn’t look better.
May 10th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
weng santos says:
Sometimes, it really is just a game.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t do special things with it.
God bless Derek Fisher and his family.
May 10th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
kowtz says:
My Bud and I was contemplating who was the better Utah Jazz? Stockton-Malone? or Boozer-Deron? I picked the latter hands down, mainly because they have better supporting casts…
Boozer and the Mailman pretty cancels each other out… And waht Deron lacks in Stockton’s shooting and passing, he makes up for his driving to the basket skills and speed…
Then there’s AK47 and bryon russel, need I say more, fish is a bit more desirable than shandon anderson, and old utah may take the cake on SG position for jeff…
Buth Memo for Ostertag? hahaha… nuff said… get Utah a legit SG and they would be a force to reckon with… can’t wait for cj miles to come back…
* Also, this must be the best series of the playoffs… I mean you are watching basketball before science was infused with it… I have not seen and NBA game played this way since, well since I was born I guess… Even the showtime lakers had some science in them…
It looks like you’re watching ebb on rucker park… J-rich’s stepback three, s-jack’s crazy front leading dribbles, then step back 3’s, transitiopn 3’s, Centers jacking up double pump 3’s,AK47 threading the needle to booze, and off course AK47’s insane fly swatting that resembles the “EA nba live 2003″ game, where balls fly the whole lenght of the court when your blocked…
The way this series is going, they should just settle game 7 on the arcade, see which team is more accurate… and I would definitely watch that…
NBA officials attention: get S-Jack, Baron, and J-rich on the all star week end next year, and have them play a three point shoot amonst themselves… hahaha…
Funny sitch: Reggie Miller always stressed that, for those who are watching GSW for the first time, the bad shot selection is just how GSW plays, this is what brought them here, and they will have to live and die with it… again these are not bad shot selections… this is just how GSW plays…