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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Sayson: Kings-Mavs series: Saving grace
By Homer Sayson
Second overtime
CHICAGO—If you’ve been watching the ongoing 2004 NBA playoffs, you probably had a hard time keeping your eyes open. Games such as Detroit’s 108-82 mangling of Milwaukee and the 72-71 clunkfest between LA and Houston last week took the fun away from a sport that sells stiff competition and pleasant continuity.
Indiana and Minnesota are no fun to watch either. The Pacers and Timberwolves are quickly disposing of the Celtics and Nuggets, respectively, and they’re doing it with barely any resistance. The NBA ought to change its slogan from “Destination Finals” to Destination Boredom.
But thank God for the Kings and the Mavs, that won’t be necessary. Sacramento and Dallas are making the first round of these postseason a must-see TV. In Game 1 of their series, the Kings and Mavs combined for 221 points, harkening back to the good old ’80s, when teams ran up and down the floor trying to outscore each other in wild abandon.
BREATHTAKING. Last night’s Game 2 thriller, which the Kings won 83-79, didn’t have the same flow as Game 1, but it was breathtaking. The lead changed hands like an aberrant metronome, the Kings and Mavs ran as if they had ants in their pants, while the full-house crowd at Arco Arena roared like a rocket engine.
In the end, Brad Miller’s jumper with 34.1 seconds to play, gave the Kings the lead for good, sinking the Mavs to a 0-2 series deficit.
Ripped for their soft defense, the Mavs and Kings played excellent D last night. Dallas held Sacramento to 30-of-81 from the field (37 percent), while the Kings harassed the Mavs to a 30-of-93 shooting clip (32.3 percent).
Both teams also showed some rebounding prowess. Dallas pulled down 52, Sacramento 48.
Brad Miller was the hero, but Chris Webber was the The Shining Star and Mike Bibby was The Savior. C-Webb unleashed a triple-double with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. Bibby had 24 points, and his triple with less than four minutes to go gave the Kings a boost of confidence.
The Kings-Mavs series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Sunday morning (Cebu time). It will only get better.
SEEDS OF CONFUSION. Bonifacio Mercado Jr.(mercado.bn@cite.edu.ph), a PE college instructor, asked how the NBA standings are computed. He wonders why New Jersey (47-35) is seeded No.2 in the East while Detroit, which has a better record, is only a No.3 seed.
The NBA’s playoffs rankings are determined according to each team’s record after the 82-game regular season schedule. Although New Jersey’s record was inferior to Detroit, the fact that the Nets were Atlantic Division champs gave them a No.2 seed.
The same can be said of the Lakers and the Spurs in the West. LA had a 56-26 mark while San Antonio logged 57-25. But because the Lakers won the Pacific Division, they were seeded No.2 while the Spurs dropped to No.3. In the event these two teams meet in the second round, the Spurs will have homecourt advantage by virtue of their superior record. Ditto with the Pistons and Nets.
ABC 5’S POOR SIGNAL, AGAIN. “It’s been more than two months since I sent you an e-mail criticizing ABC 5, but after all this time, nothing has changed.”
That from reader Jay Marquez (junlovs13@yahoo.com), who continues to suffer from the continued no-showing of PBA games in “Talisay and all the way down south.”
Jay, I’d like to believe that ABC 5 is trying to address the problem, but the pace with which they are doing it is annoyingly slow. The manager of this TV station e-mailed me once saying ABC 5’s “reception” kinks will be ironed out. Apparently, the man has more bark than bite. All sizzle, no steak.
But PBA-deprived fans like Jay need not sulk because Stephen Gesalan of Argao (sbgesalan@yahoo.com), an electronics and communications engineer, has “made an antenna that can receive UHF band particularly channels 21, 23, 29, and 47.” Stephen says, “I don’t have any problems watching the PBA and I’m very willing to share this antenna with them. If they’re interested they can e-mail me.”
Lastly, from tmed@mysmart.com.ph: “What will happen to Grant Hill next season, and what can you say of the LA Lakers of 2005?”
Grant says he’ll attempt a comeback next season, although management will be more pleased to see him retire and clear some salary cap space for Orlando. As for the Lakers, nobody knows what they’ll look like in 2005. At best, they will retain everyone. At worse, they could lose Kobe to free agency and lose Shaq via trade.
(homsay@hotmil.com)
(April 22, 2004 issue)
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