That Just Happened! : Thur. April 26, 2007

You'll have to pardon the recaps today, I've been sleep deprived all week and I'll have to do my best to sum up my thoughts as I laid on the couch watching the games.

Detroit Pistons 93, Orlando Magic 77
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... wow, Dwight Shrute sure has been showing up a lot bigger than Dwight Howard the past couple weeks... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Utah Jazz 81, Houston Rockets 67
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZ... Wait, FOUR people on the Rockets scored???? How long have I been asleep? Did they do away with the shot clock again???? This next game better be the best goddamn game I've ever seen.

LA Lakers 95, Phoenix Suns 89
You got lucky NBA, real lucky. In all seriousness, Kobe turns in the best individual performance of the playoffs with 45 pts, 6reb, and 6ast. He shot 15-26 from the field, 2-3 from behind the line, and a perfect 13-13 free throws. The other big story was Kwame Brown waking up from a much longer nap than the one I took earlier and the Lakers finally showing up as a team to take care of the intangibles. The Lakers' commitment to playing hustle defense and rebounding managed to hold the Suns to 75 field goal attempts (compared to 92 in the previous blowout). This is the mysterious "dictating the pace" against the Suns that we hear so much about, even allowing them to shoot .480 from the field isn't devastating when you can limit their shots.
Henry at TrueHoop has an interesting look at a Lakers conspiracy theory that could rain on some parades however.

Best Of:

Police Academy: Kobe Bryant - 45pts, 6reb, 6ast. Gets the honor for not only turning in a great line, but for whatever he said that woke up the rest of the stiffs on his team.

Super Troopers: Kwame Brown - 19pts (8-14 shooting), 6reb, 2blk. Mainly for not rolling over for the rest of the playoffs after he hurt his ankle.

Car 54, Where Are You?: The five guys on the Houston Rockets who couldn't score one point. 5 men, 76 combined minutes, 0 points?? Really? Five guys personally just took the Rockets from legit contenders to possible victims of a first-round comeback.

Sam Cassell Quote of the Night: (on Kobe)"He's no Jordan, but he's definitely not Harold Miner!"