The Heat Subdue The Sixers; We Wish We Could Stop Talking About Derrick Rose

One thing about the playoffs, if you watch enough games, you can begin to expect what’s going to happen next. That’s not to say they aren’t fun, but sometimes things can get very predictable. After a weekend of basketball sent from the gods, we couldn’t really expect a repeat. Yet that’s not even what we’re talking about. Miami and Chicago both nearly lost Game 1s at home against inferior opponents. If you know anything about the NBA Playoffs, Game 2 blowouts from the higher seeds were completely expected. The Heat did their part, but Indiana refused to throw the white flag in Chicago … While the Pacers have showed a grittiness throughout that we honestly didn’t know they had, their lack of a shot-creator down the stretch was a killer. While Derrick Rose (36 points, 8 rebounds), Carlos Boozer (17 points, 16 rebounds) and Kyle Korver were getting good looks in the final few minutes, Indiana faltered. Danny Granger (19 points) forced the action way too much. Without Darren Collison (who left with an ankle injury in the first half), the visitors led late but couldn’t hold on, dropping another close one in Chicago, 96-90, to fall behind in the series 2-0. In the second half, the Bulls finally strung together a few good quarters after losing five of the first six quarters in the series. Once again it was Rose scoring late, as well as finding his teammates for buckets. None were bigger than Korver’s corner three that extended the Chicago lead to five with just a minute left. Indiana played catch-up the rest of the way … Indiana actually went up by nine in the first half, and had Chicago playing in circles. The Bulls tied their season-high with 22 turnovers, six of them from Rose, and shot just 36 percent in the first half. But they stayed close by pounding the glass, picking up a dozen offensive boards in the first half alone … T.J. Ford, in his first action of the series, hit a three-quarters shot to end the third, tying it up going into the fourth … How dangerous are the Pacers going back home for Game 3? At the half, Charles Barkley basically said if Indiana had one real superstar, they could be a great team, calling them “loaded” at every position. Chuck, you aren’t misinformed. You are flat out wrong. Indiana won 37 games this year. Just because they’ve played a couple of nice games doesn’t mean anything. It’s too small of a sample. One person who is really stepping up though is Paul George. Check out these defensive stats from him: four blocks, three steals and 18 deflections. That’s absurd … Serious question from TNT last night: has there ever been a point guard that could finish like Rose can? … Miami went up 2-0 in their series with a 94-73 whipping of the 76ers, Philly continuing a season-long trend of struggling against some of the NBA’s top defenses. LeBron James (29 points) was consistent throughout the game, as was Chris Bosh (21 points, 11 rebounds). In the first quarter of Game 1, Philly had 31 points and shot 60 percent. Last night, they had 13 on 20-percent shooting. Sure, they missed some shots they should’ve made (we counted at least six layups they somehow bricked), but most of it was just the energy of the Heat. That all started with Dwyane Wade, who came out extremely assertive. Forget migraine headaches, Wade was in another gear for the first eight minutes, his game punctuated by a steal and then coast-to-coast dunk where he ran by everyone like a cheetah. The Heat had a plan: get Wade going early after a suspect first game. Philadelphia though, seemed lost, like they were second-guessing every move they made. That’s the reason they missed so many easy shots. After a huge Game 1, Thaddeus Young was all over the place, scoring 18 points on 20 shots, but doing so with a number of late baskets. When the game was still somewhat tight, he just couldn’t get it going. For the entire game, Philly shot barely 34 percent, and three of their best offensive players, Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams, combined for just four field goals … Joel Anthony and James combined for what might’ve been the play of the night when Anthony spiked Young’s layup off the glass and James finished the play with a sick alley-oop jam. The other candidate was Wade undressing Evan Turner with a couple of slick crossovers … Can people please stop hating on Bosh? For a while, it was funny. Then it turned awkward and weird. Now, it’s just ridiculous. We’ve seen way too many “best power forward” lists that have Bosh somewhere outside of the top 10. Bosh’s numbers were sure to go down this year as a third option. But he’s an All-Star, the type of player that can put up 25 and 10 in the playoffs. Not too many big men can say that. When he’s your third-best player, things are looking good … After going 193-135 in four seasons as the Rockets’ head coach, Rick Adelman and Houston have parted ways. There are already rumors that the Rockets could target Stan Van Gundy … The Iowa Energy’s Curtis Stinson (19.3 points, 9.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds a game in 42.9 minutes) was named the NBA Development League’s Most Valuable Player … And the flashiest point guard in this game’s history, Jason Williams, officially announced his retirement after 12 seasons when soreness in his lower back basically ended his season. You will be missed … We’re out like Philly’s offense.

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