Spurs and Nuggets Set A Playoff Tone; Ty Lawson Is A Rainmaker

At this point, every loss for the playoff teams is huge. Home-court advantages and seedings are on the line. But those trap games can get anyone. While last night was lacking in high-profile match-ups, it did provide plenty to distinguish just who is ready for the playoffs and who isn’t. Denver and San Antonio passed their tests with flying colors. Then there was Atlanta, who reinforced every bad feeling you might have about them. And in case you missed it, Ty Lawson was hotter than Hell’s waiting room … In what used to be a fun match-up, the Spurs beat what’s left of the Jazz, 111-102. They did everything you need to do to win in the playoffs: finished quarters strong (their 9-0 at the end of the half opened the game up), shot well (nearly 60 percent for the game), and didn’t turn the ball over. In typical Spurs fashion, no one on the team had a standout game, perhaps besides Richard Jefferson (20 points), but everyone played their role perfectly. And who says they are boring? Near the end of the first half, they had back-to-back dunks, first from George Hill and then an alley-oop to Jefferson … At one point, the San Antonio announcers were calling DeJuan Blair the “dancing bear” … In their last 11 games, the only team Utah has beaten was the Lakers. Go figure … Denver annihilated Minnesota 130-106, but the real story of the night was Lawson (37 points), who was close to setting all sorts of shooting records. After missing his first four shots, Lawson made 11 straight, including 10-consecutive three-pointers. Amazingly, he didn’t force anything, perhaps until his last three-pointer of the night when he caught the ball on the wing facing the crowd, and just turned and fired. He was water on everything until he missed a half-court heave at the end of the third quarter and would’ve had a chance at the NBA-record of 12 treys in a game had he not exited early in the fourth. Plus, if he had never taken that half-court shot, he would’ve set a record for most threes made in a game without a miss … The Wizards brought the biggest surprise of the night, destroying Atlanta from start to finish, winning 115-83. The game was a blowout from the beginning as Andray Blatche (23 points) and John Wall (19 points) had big nights. Wall was everywhere in the first quarter, and had one coast-to-coast move where he slipped the ball around his back, and nearly made Jeff Teague fall, before finishing with a nice flip shot. The Wiz’ announcers asked: “How do you capture the speed of light in a bottle?” … It was like the D-League All-Star team for Washington. There were a number of times where we caught ourselves asking out loud, “Who is that?” This time of the year can be either great or very depressing. On one end, players like Othyus Jeffers and Larry Owens get their shot, and guys like Jordan Crawford get to showcase their skills. But then there are the perennial underachievers, guys like Blatche, who end up taking advantage of all this. There’s nothing worse than working all year to end a top seed in fantasy basketball, only to lose in the playoffs because a dude like Blatche goes wild for 20 point/10 rebound games, as he had in every game this April before last night … On the other side, the Hawks didn’t challenge once all game. Mark them down to get embarrassed in a first-round series against Orlando because they have no identity. The one guy who really seems to care is Al Horford (21 points, 10 rebounds), but he is more a great supporting player than a star. Take a look at every great team in the league. They all have a leader and end up taking on that player’s personality. Sometimes that’s a great thing, like with Duncan and San Antonio, and other times it isn’t, like with the Hawks. All of their best players would rather be following someone else … In the first quarter of Houston’s boring 21-point win over the Clippers, Kevin Martin (16 points) got decked in the shoulder. On the way up the court, he curled into a ball and nearly had the ball taken away. There was no foul called and no timeout called. The refs are so used to Martin baiting them into foul calls that they all thought he was faking it for about 20 seconds … In the second quarter, Al-Farouq Aminu met a driving Courtney Lee at the top of a dunk attempt, sending it straight back. It was all ball (even though the refs called a foul) and probably would’ve been Top 15 from this season if the refs hadn’t screwed it up … And one of the weirder comments on the night came from Clyde Drexler, doing commentary for the Rockets. Talking about Houston forward Mike Harris, he said, “If someone like the Nets had him, he could be a star.” This is the same guy who has averages of 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 33-career games right? … Milwaukee beat the Cavs 108-101 and were led not only by John Salmons (32 points), but also by Drew Gooden (15 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists), who had one of the most random triple-doubles we’ve ever seen … We’re out like Lawson missing.

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