NBA Round-Up: Maybe Atlanta Is Good

Atlanta Hawks 103, Chicago Bulls 95 (Series: 1-0 ATL)

Derrick Rose will be named the NBA’s MVP today, drawing ire and criticism from the people who believe that LeBron James and his multiple Player of the Month awards should have sealed the deal. As for the people who argued in favor of Dwight Howard – like those of us who believe the Orlando Magic would have won 10 games without him this season – they have crawled back into their holes of self-loathing and inner misery.

Anywho, Rose looked more like a Meh-VP (*holds hand up for high five*) last night as the fired-up 5-seed Hawks took Game 1. For the first time in weeks, Joe Johnson looked like a guy who makes $18 million a year, as he scored 34 points to lead Atlanta. Rose, on the other hand, had a respectable 24 points and 10 assists, but he missed 16 shots, including a few doozies near the end, and he didn’t make it to the free throw line once. It also didn’t help that he rolled his ankle by stepping on Jamal Crawford’s foot on the very last meaningless play of the game.

Quote of the game: “We’re the team that nobody talks about.” – Jamal Crawford. (Because that’s the kind of team that always makes the NBA Finals.)

UPDATE: If you love America, Uproxx has the video of Jim Cornelison singing the National Anthem before last night’s game.

Dallas Mavericks 96, LA Lakers 94 (Series: 1-0 DAL)

This game was a doozie, kids. The Lakers somehow blew a 16-point lead in the third quarter, as the Mavericks were playing flat out sloppy for most of the game. But Kobe Bryant’s teammates apparently decided to one-up the sloppiness by watching Mamba single-handedly keep the game the close when Dallas finally got its act together. Ultimately, human-chocobo hybrid Pau Gasol slopped the lead into the Mavs’ hands with seconds left and Kobe ran out of super juice on his final attempt to win the game. Phil Jackson said the Lakers gave it away, which takes away from the 28/14 night for Dirk Nowitzki, but Phil’s right, because aside from Kobe, his team looked horrendous.

I think it is fitting that Eddie Murphy has been sitting courtside at Lakers games. It’s just setting us up for a great analogy.

Also, this happened:

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