DELAYED I was yesterday in writing this column. That’s because I watched the Portland-Denver game in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs.
Exciting, nail-biting and so tight was the game that I just couldn’t leave it. It needed four overtimes before Portland escaped with a 140-137 victory.
The last time that four overtimes had happened in the NBA was in 1953.
There was no single star in the Trail Blazers’ win. The team itself was the hero, although special mention goes to both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Include the seldom-used Rodney Hood, who hit a crucial three in endgame.
Because of the length of the game, the main players from both sides averaged playing nearly 60 minutes each.
Denver’s mainstays like the seven-footer Nikola Jokic was on the floor nearly 65 minutes. If it’s any consolation, the Serbian became the first seven-footer to have ever played that long in an NBA playoffs.
Jokic played magnificently, but his efforts went for naught as his team’s loss gave Portland a 2-1 lead over Denver.
Closer to home, San Miguel Beer and Magnolia break their 1-1 deadlock tonight (Sunday), again at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
The Beermen, clearly correcting their off-key offense in Game 1, immediately sped to a 10-point halftime margin, built 20-point leads in the third quarter before cruising to a 108-101 victory.
It would be a surprise if SMB could not make it 2-1 after tonight’s Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven Finals, considering the huge momentum it gained from Game 2.
But then again, isn’t every championship series basically a duel between coaches and a platform to transform the players into acting out roles assigned them by their mentors?
Every game in a Finals series is different from each other. It takes the cunning and creativity of a coach to extract a win from even the most complex of situations.
To win, Magnolia coach Chito Victolero must approximate Leo Austria’s vaunted coaching prowess marked by six crowns won in eight Finals.
In a coaching duel, mind-reading is the key.