The Pistons lost to the Bulls, only so that my prediction of Pistons in 5 could come true. And I'm still feeling good about my pick of Cavs in 6.
That fulfills my obligation to mention the Eastern Conference.
Bruce Bowen, what are you thinking? You can't knee a two-time MVP in the balls the game after you get called out as a dirty player. Once someone says that you have to be on your best behavior in order to make the other guy look like a whiner. Now you've exposed yourself, and should get suspended for a pivotal game 4. How pivotal, you ask?
If the Suns win, they had back to Phoenix with home-court advantage, and momentum.
If the Spurs win, it's 3-1 and essentially over.
That Golden State/Utah series is crazy. Even after going down 0-2, I thought the Warriors were in good shape. Because they don't lose at home, and they showed they can play close enough in Utah to win. I was sure they could win both games at home, and put the pressure on Utah in game 5. But they didn't...but I'm not counting them out.
Yeah, I'm rooting for the Jazz, and I think the Jazz are playing better now, they've got to close out a team that is playing like they have nothing to lose. If GSW wins game 5, they can win game 6 at home, and that will be a crazy game 7.
Notes on the actual game: With .3 left to go in a quarter, the Jazz decided not to attempt a shot. True Hoop criticized this call. Well, any team with Derek Fisher knows that you need .4 to catch and shoot. And deep in your own end, trying to attempt an alley-oop tip in, is much likelier to result in a out of bounds turnover than a basket. Plus, no need to rile up the crowd.
Speaking of the crowd, one thing really impressed me last night. At 8:18 in the third, GS was up 60-54. Utah went on a 10-0 run to take the lead 64-60. (Nelson took a timeout at 60-60, but couldn't stop the run.) So what did the crowd do? Usually in that case, the crowd shrinks, worrying about losing. But not the Warriors crowd. They rose to their feet, cheering them on, knowing they needed to score. And they did. It was really a sight to see, a crowd on the wrong end of a 10-0 run, pulling it's team up.
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