Thunder crush the Spurs in a must win game 3

The Oklahoma City Thunder demolished the Spurs 102-82 Thursday night in game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, snapping a 20 game win streak by the Spurs and cutting the Spurs' lead in the series to 2-1.  The Thunder played desperately and were energized by their home fans in limiting the Spurs' offensive juggernaut to the fewest points they have scored since January 27th.  The Spurs committed an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers leading to countless dunks and easy fast break points by the young and athletic Thunder.  Thunder head coach Scott Brooks adjusted from OKC's two previous defeats by more often using a smaller lineup, with Kevin Durant at the power forward position, which allowed the Thunder to match up better with San Antonio.  Thabo Sefolosha, a product of Switzerland, coming off a game in which he played for only 15 minutes, was the difference in the game.  Sefolosha finished with 19 points, a franchise record tying 6 steals, spread the floor by making 4 3-pointers, and played relentless defense in preventing Tony Parker from exploding offensively.  Durant led the Thunder with 22 points in a game they had to win in order to have a fighting chance of winning the series.  Tim Duncan's 5 blocks in the game made him the NBA's all time leader in career playoff blocks with 477, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by one blocked shot.

Heat Survive Overtime Thriller, overcome performance for the ages from Rondo

The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 115-111 in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Several players on both sides put together workmanlike efforts, grinding out over 40 minutes of hard fought gameplay, however no one could match the legendary performance put together by Rajon Rondo of the Celtics.  Rondo played all 53 minutes of the game, not resting for even a second, scored a career high 44 points and added 10 assists and 8 rebounds.  No other player in the Celtics' storied history has ever had over 40 points with double digit assists in a playoff game.  Rondo excelled in draining jump shots all evening, supposedly the greatest weakness in his game, and even made two 3-pointers.  Rondo's shooting forced the Heat to adjust their defensive game plan and switch on every pick and roll involving Rondo.
The Heat led by 6 going into the 4th quarter but converted only 4 field goals in the quarter.  Ray Allen, hampered by bone spurs in his ankles, willed himself through 43 minutes of gameplay and scored 13 points, including a game tying 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime.
Lebron James had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but missed a fadeaway 20 foot jumpshot over the 6'1" Rondo.  James, who took 24 free throws in the game and finished with 34 points, has to be more assertive at the end of the game.  He held the ball for the final shot in the game, but only began to make his move with under 4 seconds remaining in the game.  If he had attacked earlier and used his size advantage over Rondo to attack the rim he would have likely been sent to the free throw line with a chance to win the game.  Having said that, James' decision to take the final shot in the game is a huge step forward and may signal the end of his late game woes.  After having been criticized numerous times over the course of his career as a Heat for his refusal to take over games down the stretch, Lebron's willingness to take the final shot has to be viewed as a huge positive for the Heat.
In overtime James and Dwyane Wade, who finished with 23 points despite having been limited to only 2 first half points by the Celtics, demonstrated why they are among the game's elite, aggressively attacking the hoop to close out the Celtics.  Rondo had all 12 of the Celtics' points in the overtime period, which was marred by a questionable decision by the referees.  The referees incredulously did not call a foul on a play in which Rondo was obviously smacked on the head by Wade, resulting in a game swinging dunk by Udonis Haslem at the other end.
The Heat's role players played very well, led by Mario Chalmers who had 22 points in 45 minutes.  The Celtics poured their hearts out in the game, and their fans have to hope that they have enough left in the tank to win game 3 on their home court Friday night, in order to avoid a 3-0 deficit from which no team has ever returned in NBA playoff history.

Spurs win 20th straight game to take 2-0 series lead over the Thunder

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-111 Tuesday night to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals.  Lead by Tony Parker who scored 34 points on an incredible 76% shooting from the field, the Spurs never trailed the Thunder, and at one point lead OKC by 22. Until 2:30 remained in the 3rd quarter, San Antonio executed brilliantly offensively off of pick and roll penetration by Tony Parker, who seemed to effortlessly weave through the Thunder's defenders creating open shots for both himself and his teammates.  At that point, the Thunder unconventionally employed what became known as the Hack-a-Splitter strategy to disrupt San Antonio's offensive flow.  On five consecutive possessions the Thunder intentionally fouled Thiago Splitter, sending him to the free throw line where he converted on 6 of 12 shots in the game.  In the 4th quarter the Thunder were able to cut the Spurs' lead down to 6 points after head coach Scott Brooks decided to use a smaller lineup by removing starting center Kendrick Perkins, who was ineffective in assisting Russell Westbrook in guarding Parker on the pick and roll.  With a smaller, more athletic lineup on the floor Oklahoma City was able to make the proper defensive rotations to prevent the Spurs from having wide open shots on the perimeter.  Brooks also made an adjustment which proved to be crucial in the final minutes of the game by switching on every Parker pick and roll.  The Thunder was ultimately unable to pull through, despite monster games from its big three of Kevin Durant (31 points), Russell Westbrook (27 points) and James Harden (30 points off the bench.)  In order to win the next game, OKC is going to have to receive better performances from the rest of team, which combined for only 23 points.  The Spurs on the other hand were given a boost by role players like Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard who finished with 10 and 18 points respectively.

Wade and James dominate the Celtics in game 1 of the Conference Finals

Lebron James put up another tremendous playoff performance Monday night, as the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 93-79 in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.  James, recently named the NBA's MVP for the third time in his illustrious career, finished the evening with 32 points and 13 rebounds, and made his presence felt on both ends of the court.  Teammate Dwyane Wade, an 8-time All-Star, provided James with plenty of support, scoring an efficient 22 points on only 13 shots, and adding 7 assists, including a beautiful full court pass to James, which cemented his reputation as the league's greatest quarterback.
Despite struggling through a first quarter in which they scored only 11 points, the Celtics managed to tie the game at halftime.  However, Miami responded by shutting down the Celtics in the second half, allowing only 33 points.  If the Celtics want to have a chance in the series they have to find a way to score more easily.  Five technical fouls were called on the Celtics, including an egregious call on head coach Doc Rivers who simply uttered the words "come on Ed" to referee Ed Malloy.
Even without Chris Bosh, Miami's all-star power forward who is out indefinitely with an abdominal strain, the Heat dominated the Celtics in the paint, out rebounding the Celtics 48-33 and blocking 11 shots compared to only 1 blocked shot by the Celtics.

 

Nats sweep the Braves

The Washington Nationals swept the Atlanta Braves in front of a national audience on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, winning 7-2.  Gio Gonzalez who started for the Nats won his 5th straight game, throwing 10 strikeouts in the process.  Gonzalez's effective fastball curveball combination flummoxed the Braves who managed only one hit in the 7 innings that Gonzalez pitched.  Gonzalez, who was acquired by the Nats from Oakland this past offseason, is among the MLB leaders in all the major pitching statistics, and leads the league in strikeouts, wins and opponents' batting average.  The Nationals provided Gonzalez with excellent run support, including an 8th inning home run  by Bryce Harper, the team's electric rookie Outfielder and former first overall pick in the MLB draft.

 

Spurs take 1-0 Series lead in impressive win over the Thunder

Despite trailing the Thunder by 9 points at the beginning of the 4th quarter, the San Antonio Spurs used their vast playoff experience to overcome the deficit and take a 1-0 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.  The game was the Spurs' franchise record 19th consecutive victory.  After committing 14 first half turnovers, the Spurs did a tremendous job taking care of the basketball and valuing every possession by limiting the Thunder to only 2 second half takeaways, which prevented the youthful and athletic Thunder from dominating the Spurs on the fast break.  After San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich demanded that his team "play with a dose of nasty," and exclaimed "I want some nasty," the Spurs substantially increased their aggressiveness on both ends of the court.  San Antonio's crisp passing and offensive execution eventually wore down the Thunder, who played effective defense for the first three quarters of the game.  Manu Ginobili had a spectacular game leading the Spurs with 26 points off the bench.  Stephen Jackson played a large role in San Antonio outscoring the Thunder 39-27 in the 4th quarter, by forcing Kevin Durant, the NBA's three time defending scoring champion, to work hard for every point he scored.

First half thoughts from Game 1 of the 2012 Western Conference Finals

1. Battle of the 6th men
The series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder features a battle of the top two 6th men in the NBA.  Manu Ginobili ended the first quarter on an absolute tear, knocking down several difficult shots including a fadeaway three pointer at the buzzer, and finished the half with 10 points off the bench.  Ginobili's production is huge for San Antonio which is desperate for a player who can join Tony Parker in creating easy shots for both himself and his teammates.  James Harden, the 6th man of the year struggled with his shot, converting on only 1 of 9 shots in the half.  Oklahoma City will need him to shoot better in the second half in order to stay in the game when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook rest on the bench.
2.  San Antonio turnovers
In recent years coach Gregg Popovich has transformed San Antonio from a slow paced defense oriented team into one of the highest scoring teams in the NBA.  San Antonio attempted to play the first half at a pace that bordered on out of control.  After committing 14 first half turnovers which lead to countless easy buckets for the Thunder who excel in transition, the Spurs must take care of the ball better in the 2nd half in order to force the Thunder to try to score in the half court, which the Thunder struggle to do when they aren't making their jump shots.  Durant and Thabo Sefolosha used their length and athleticism to disrupt the passing lanes, combining for 6 first half steals.
3.  Kevin Durant, scoring extraordinaire
Durant, a Washington D.C. native, is the NBA's three time defending scoring champion at only 23 years old.  Durant led all scorers with 13 first half points, including several incredibly difficult jumpers over Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs rookie shutdown perimeter defender.  Although scoring 13 first half points is nothing special for Durant, his performance this deep in the postseason at such a young age is nothing short of spectacular.  This season Durant has continued to develop his overall game and has expanded his effect on the game beyond merely scoring by substantially improving both his passing and defense.  Durant has already matured into arguably the greatest clutch player in the NBA, and as the game progresses his play will only continue to improve.

First Post

This is the first ever post in the Pickled Sports blog.  Years from now people will consider this an historic moment!