NBA Playoffs Game One(s)

What a weekend of Game ones in the NBA Playoffs! Almost every game that was played came down to the last few moments of the game. There were a few shockers as history was made for some teams. Memphis won their first playoff game in franchise history in dramatic fashion.

The Grizzlies shot 55 percent overall from the field and 50 percent from three point range, only the seventh time that has happened to the Spurs in the playoffs since 1997. Congrats to the Grizzlies on their first win. Chris Paul showed the Lakers that he is still a force to be reckoned with the league as he fell three rebounds shy of a triple double in New Orleans 109-100 win against the Lakers. Paul finished with 33 points, 15 assists, & 7 rebounds as the Hornets dished out the first blow.

Indiana played 46 minutes of good basketball until, this year league MVP Derrick Rose showed up and made some huge plays down the stretch. Chicago came back from 10 down to win the game as Rose finished with 39 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks as he carried his team down stretch. His biggest play without doubt was his pass to Kyle Korver as he hit a three pointer to give the Bulls their first lead of the game. MVP's make MVP plays and Rose did it when it really counted. Atlanta played well and finally ended their 5 game playoff losing streak and Miami also won but who cares?

The game I really want to talk about is the Knicks, Celtics game last night in Boston. The Knicks came to play last night as their defense (yes defense), was the talk of the town. In the first quarter, the Knicks only trailed by one when it was over and that was with Carmelo Anthony out with early foul trouble. The Knicks had an incredible second quarter both offensively and defensively as they scored 28 points and allowed Boston just 15 points and took a 51-39 lead into half time.

The third quarter was pretty much all Boston as the Knicks shot just 20 percent and Boston's defense tightened up allowing New York nothing easy. Somehow, the Knicks still had a five point lead going into those final 12 minutes, ahead by the score of 64-59. The fourth quarter was a dogfight from start to finish as both teams traded runs to get ahead. Then, a turning point in the game came when Chauncey Billups went down holding what was believed to be the same thigh injury he suffered during the regular season. Nevertheless, with Billups out, Douglas stepped up hitting a huge three pointer with 37.8 seconds left to give the Knicks an 85-82 lead. Boston ran a quick alley-oop play to Garnett that nobody on the Knicks saw coming and the lead was cut to one.

The biggest turning point in the game then happened. With the team needing a score and one more stop, Carmelo Anthony committed a very very costly offensive foul as he threw his elbow upwards while attempting to get position on Pierce. This later led to Boston getting a clutch three point shot by Ray "Jesus Shuttlesworth" Allen with 11.6 to go. Carmelo missed the potential game winner as Boston took Game On3 87-85. The Knicks played a great game all around, and Amar'e had a monster game (28 points, 11 rebounds), but some key mistakes down the stretch gave Boston the opportunities they needed. I am proud of my Knicks doing everything they could to win but it didn't happen for them last night. Lets hope they can put forth the same effort and this time come away with the victory and even up the series and one apiece.

Thats all for now sports fans. Until next time!

Deuces...

By: Scott Snowden

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