In the battle of the game’s best jerseys, it’s funny that old man Andre Miller is using the same tactics to embarrass people in the NBA that the old, fat dude with the nasty back sweat is using to bust your ass at a local YMCA. Golden State/Denver was supposed to be crazy — uptempo and out of control — and instead, their Game 1 developed into a back-n-forth mud bath. The Nuggets pulled it out by two, getting a game-winning circus layup from Miller, who scored 28 points off the pine in the W, 18 of them in the final frame. Miller, who’s so old he probably voted for Jimmy Carter, typified this one. It was ugly, boring and entirely not what we expected. We thought we’d see Stephen Curry (19 points, nine assists) splashing from 30 feet, the Nuggets running harder than a Jamaican sprint team, and a blood-thirsty crowd. Instead, it was so awful that even one of the worst NBA players ever thought it sucked. …
https://twitter.com/BigMay42/status/325735426541359104
David Lee went down early in the fourth quarter with one of those injuries that you just know is gonna be bad. He said he heard a pop. We thought we heard the Warriors’ season being flushed down the toilet. It’s being diagnosed as a strained right hip flexor, and in the best case scenario, Lee is out for 48 hours. There’s also a good chance that we won’t see him again this season.
There were a few positives to this one though. First, thanks to @ramonashelburne, we confirmed that Wilson Chandler (who had 12 boards in the first half alone) is a very legit sneakerhead. He was supergluing an old pair of Air Raids that Nike doesn’t make anymore during the pregame. That’s love. Then there was Andre Iguodala‘s fashion choice, which still didn’t help him score at all (eight points). …
The Clippers 112-91 Game 1 win over Memphis was over long before Chris Paul dropped a pull-up triple into Memphis’ heart with just over two minutes to go. It didn’t really matter that CP3 had 23 points or that the Clips’ guards pulled down the pants of the Grizzlies’ guards and spanked them. It didn’t matter that L.A. had three bench players score in double-figures, or that they played a super small lineup in the fourth quarter (Paul, Bledsoe and Billups) that turned this one in an inevitability. This one came down to one stat: rebounds. The Clippers won that battle, 47-23, in one of the ultimate “wait… what?” stats you’ll see throughout the entire postseason. … Keep reading to hear why Avery Johnson should be pissed right now…
We bet Avery Johnson watched Brooklyn’s Game 1 blowout over Chicago yesterday with a disgusted look on his face, not being able to turn away as Deron Williams dropped the gauntlet on the Bulls’ heads. Where has this Deron Williams been? He turned it up towards the end of the season, and continued his run against Chicago yesterday, pounding the Rose-less Bulls for 22 points and seven assists. You can’t fault Johnson, even if Williams publicly questioned his offense and seemed content to launch off-balance bombs during the New Jersey/Brooklyn Johnson reign. But it has to kill him now, knowing every coach’s future is directly tied into how well they get along with their best player. D-Will is feeling so good now with P.J. Carlesimo that he’s even reaching back into his youth to pull out dunks like this one:
In Chicago’s 17-point loss, they were outscored 40-8 in points in the paint during the first half. Read that again. Joakim Noah tried to give it a go, but had no lift, had no energy and really struggled to get up and down the floor. And then there’s a strong possibility Derrick Rose won’t be playing at all. That’s hard to deal with, especially when you consider the extra boost the Nets got from watching Jerry Stackhouse rock the joint during the National Anthem. … Carmelo Anthony might’ve had 36 points, and yeah, J.R. Smith had one of the nastiest dunks we’ll probably see all postseason, but don’t get it twisted: New York didn’t win this one. The Celtics blew it. During Game 1 of perhaps the most anticipated Eastern Conference First Round Playoff series (that’s not saying a whole lot), the Knicks overcame a shaky start to put the Celtics in a hole, 85-78. Check out some of these numbers. Boston’s field goals in the paint during the first half (19) as compared to the second half (seven). Anthony’s second half buckets (seven) compared to the Celtics’ second half buckets (seven). Or how about this one, our favorite: of the Green Machine’s 78 points, 74 of them came from starters. You can’t go on wasting 26-point games from Jeff Green in the playoffs. … J.R. Smith‘s first quarter slam over the previously mentioned Green was probably the best play of the day.
Keep reading to see what player exclusives debuted yesterday…
The start of the playoffs always means hot new kicks, and yesterday, the Jordan Brand released a boatload of dope new player exclusives for just about everyone that wears the Jumpman sigil. Check out some of the PEs for Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton and Gerald Wallace.
Remember when we told you we thought Nate Robinson might break out a few of his ridiculous custom Air Jordans from Mache for the playoffs? Turns out he did, killing necks with the all-red 13s … And we’re going to leave you with this video of Big Papi breaking it down for a Red Sox crowd because after what they went through, this is just too amazing — even if it doesn’t have anything to do with basketball. … We’re out like D-Rose‘s playoff comeback.
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