OKLAHOMA CITY, April 30, 2012—Saturday’s slate of first games for the NBA playoffs were littered with story lines. Could Sunday keep it going?
Spurs/Jazz was the first game on the docket, but didn’t give us much drama. The Spurs were expected to win, and they did. Maybe the only interesting story line was that the Spurs won game one, which they have had problems with in the past.
The always drama-filled Lakers were host to the Denver Nuggets. There had been a few different story lines coming into the game. Would Kobe Bryant defer more to Andrew Bynum, since the Lakers played great while Bryant sat with injury? How much would the suspended Ron Artest’s absence affect the rotation?
Bynum had a triple-double for the first time for a Laker since Wilt Chamberlin. With 10 blocked shots, Bynum dominated on the defensive end. Bryant had 31 points telling us that maybe if these two figure it out they might be able to go deep into the playoffs.
Artest did not factor into the game, but we are finding out now that Jordan Hill, who helped fill in for Artest, has a warrant out for his arrest.
So the plot thickens!
Boston’s last championship came in 2008, and the team that gave them the most trouble was the Atlanta Hawks. They rematch this year, but with Atlanta having home court advantage.
The Celtics were making a comeback when Boston guard Rajon Rondo took offense to an official’s call and bumped him getting himself kicked out of the game.
Atlanta won and it looks like Rondo will be suspended for Game 2. Keep your eyes on this one.
Once again, if you stayed up late for the last game, you were in for a treat. The Clippers were getting hammered by the Grizzlies, at one point down by 27 points.
Then the Clippers rocketed a 26-1 point run and won the game 99-98.
At the end of the third quarter the Clippers were down by 21. Point guard Chris Paul was taken out of the game but said that he begged to go back in. He did and it paid off. It was a historic win for a historically horrible team.
Can Game 2, or any game, match up with what we saw in the opening weekend? Is this the most story-filled collection of first games ever?
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Read Part One here
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