 |
|
Thursday, June 23, 2005
NBA FINALS, GAME SEVEN LIVEBLOG: THE DETROIT PISTONS VS. THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS
NBA FINALS, GAME SEVEN LIVEBLOG: THE DETROIT PISTONS VS. THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Alright let's get it going! I'm hyped. This has been a great series and could go either way.
This will be the first time a Game 7 has been played for the NBA title. I hope both teams are ready to give it their all. All eyes are on Chauncey Billups and Tim Duncan to lead. The X Factors are Manu Ginobili and Richard Hamilton. Who will be the role player that will step up tonight?
We start coverage in a few minutes.
8:45: I know I know...I'm a TNT mark, but the thought of ABC broadcasting Game 7 of the Finals is really a letdown. It would have been great to see Kenny and Charles break down the game and emphasize the thought process going into the playoffs and the emotion that these guys will come out with. That's something you won't get out of Bill Walton and Greg Anthony, as both have been terrible analysts as the playoffs have progressed.
8:54: Ahmad Rashad is interviewing David Robinson. The Admiral talked about the last time the Spurs played in a Game 7, and emphasized the worries that pop up in the players' minds once they get to that point. However, the objectives are still the same, and if you accomplish them, you're going to win. Robinson's been disappointed with Duncan's demeanor, as it seems as if he's been unsure of himself. I agree with the Duncan comments.
9:04: Al and Hubie take over, and Hubie states the key factor is how much Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince can contribute. That's very true. The Spurs need to hit their free throws, as they're only 59% for the series.
Tafoya talked to Popovich earlier, and he said they need to come out to play ball with some energy, and they need to be strong with their half-court defense. They then went to Stuart Scott (ugh) and all he did was talk about the mood in the locker room and whether Rasheed Wallace was nervous. Scott is becoming more and more of a joke.
Brooks and Dunn are singing the national anthem. Not bad.
9:12: Starting lineups. I get a kick out of hearing them play the old Undertaker theme for Detroit's entrance. The Pistons look pretty focused...or are they nervous?
You would have thought the Spurs front office would have had the jumbotron video updated before the biggest game of the year. Hell they still had Robinson on the video, and he's been retired for two years. Massenberg and Nesterovic too.
9:19: Tipoff starts, and Duncan starts it off with a nice kiss on the glass. Sheed comes back on the other end and hits a baby hook over Duncan, and thats followed by a nice mid-range basket by Ginobili. No defensive plays so far. 6-4 Detroit.
9:21: Ben Wallace already has four points, as he hit a mid-range jumper from off the baseline, and then caught the ball while slashing the lane. He's been impressive in this series, as he's shot 60% from the field.
Ginobili is getting warmed up as well, and Larry Brown may have to have Prince switch off with Rip Hamilton or someone else. 10-6 Pistons.
9:29: The refs aren't playing games tonight, as they are calling every hand check. I don't really like that rule, but it it's a rule, then call it. I just can't stand the inconsistency of calls between games.
Duncan and Horry are doing a pretty good job with perimeter defense. They're going to have to, because Ginobili is on the bench with early foul trouble. Billups too. Game's tied at 12.
9:42: Robert Horry comes out blazing, as he has eight points in the first quarter. Ben Wallace has six, and Rip has four. The Spurs have not taken advantage of Chauncey Billups's absence due to foul trouble. They've made a few big plays on the defensive end, but have trouble converting. End of the 1st quarter, and the Spurs lead 18-16.
Second quarter's coming up.
9:51: Ginobili is back in the game, and he makes an impact by dishing the ball off to Tony Parker for the three. Very good play there. However, the Spurs are having problems on the defensive end, as they are falling for the pump fakes, which ends up giving the Pistons great looks at the basket. Prince, who's their best long-range shooter with the exception of Billups, isn't going to miss them all. Rip isn't either. Game's tied at 23.
9:57: Duncan's starting to get his groove, as he's got eight points, but he needs to get on the boards more. The refs are calling it very tight, especially when Duncan gets the ball. Meanwhile, Tayshaun Prince is still contributing, and possibly for the first time Rip is leading the team offensively. Game's tied at 25 with 5:50 left.
10:09: I think the biggest reason why neither team can get into an offensive rhythm is because the refs are trying to call each and every violation. Now while I do believe that violations should be called no matter what, the fact that the officiating has not been consistent (and never has) been enough to create an offensive platform around those calls.
A Ben Wallace gorilla dunk (10pts) gives Detroit the brief lead until Ginobili hits his second three to give the Spurs the lead by two with 2 and a half left before halftime.
10:15: The Spurs will have to do something about Ben Wallace, as he has scored six of Detroit's last eight points, all by dunks. Someone's missing their assignment.
A Parker layup ties the game at 37 with a minute left.
10:24: Halftime. Pistons lead by one, 39-38.
Neither team is shooting the ball well, but there have been some positives on both sides offensively. Ben Wallace leads all scorers with 12 points. When's the last time you heard that?
The Pistons are getting good looks at the basket; they simply aren't dropping. Chauncey Billups had a very quiet 1st half (4pts) due to foul trouble, something that will have to change if they are going to win this game.
The Spurs need to get Duncan the ball early and let him set the pace. In a tight game like this, he could make or break the team, but he is more likely to make it if the role players do their job. Robert Horry should never be the team's leading scorer (10pts) because that means Parker and Ginobili aren't doing their jobs either. Muhammed and Bowen have done nothing in this game so far, and they should consider giving Horry minutes over Muhammed for the time being due to his performance so far as well as his experience (this is Muhammed's first playoff run).
Second half is about to start in a minute or two.
10:40: No the hell ABC ain't. They had a live performance of QUEEN as the background for the first half highlights video package. My goodness.
Stuart Scott said LB told the Pistons that training camp starts in 103 days, and half of you won't show up on time, so they need to lay it on the line tonight. I don't know what the hell that means, but it's funny.
Tafoya said Popovich stated the Spurs are making stupid mistakes on defense and aren't taking smart shots. He questioned why they double teamed Elden Campbell on a play in the first half. I don't know either. I can guess the culprit though.
The second half has started.
10:44: Sheed picked up his fourth foul quickly in the third quarter. Not good. That means Duncan should be ready to rock in this quarter. Game's tied at 39.
10:49: Duncan can't buy a basket. He's missed his first three attempts in the second half and is not 4-12 from the field. Either he steps up immediately or Detroit will pull away with this one. Pistons have the biggest lead of the game, 44-39 with 8:44 left in the 3rd.
10:55: Detroit pulls out to a nine point lead before Parker stems it. The Spurs need to start hitting some baskets, and Duncan needs to get on the boards. Just as I said it, Duncan gets the basket and the foul. Duncan's first points in 14 minutes. His ft hits and the lead is cut to four, 48-44.
10:57: As soon as I click the "publish" button, the Spurs grab the rebound on the other end and Ginobili dashes back to the basket to score a layup. The Spurs are starting to gather momentum, and Billups has yet to get hot. Pistons up by two.
11:03: The Pistons regroup and are getting good shots from McDyess and Prince. McDyess is creeping his production in, as he's 5-6 so far tonight. Meanwhile, Duncan still has problems in the paint, and he's not taking advantage of Wallace being out of the game.
McDyess just got his first foul, and now Ben Wallace is in the game by himself. If Duncan can't get it done now, he'll never get it done. And just as I say that, he gets the basket and fouled...hits the ft. Pistons lead by only one, 52-51 with 3:15 left.
With McDyess out, Duncan has become red hot, as he should be. He has 10 points in this quarter. However, they can't gain much traction on Detroit, who continues to find ways to score. Billups gets fouled, and he hits his two fts to give the Pistons the lead, but then Ginobili drives the lane with the DUNK and reties the game at 55.
11:13: Duncan really exposed Ben Wallace in the third quarter. Once McDyess and Wallace hit the bench, Duncan showed that Ben Wallace was no match for him. Duncan did whatever he wanted to on the boards, because there was nobody to help Ben. McDyess and Ben has been running wild because Duncan has virtually had no help down there.
A long range 2 by Hunter ties the game at the end of the 3rd quarter at 57. McDyess and Wallace return. Will they provide the spark to push Detroit over the edge, or has Duncan truly found his groove? We'll see.
11:26: This crowd is getting loud. Detroit is handling the pressure well, but it's tough to match this Spurs run. Horry's still contributing as he hits a big three. On the other end, Sheed is determined to keep the Pistons within distance at all costs. Bowen's now hit a three, and Detroit takes a timeout as the Spurs have their biggest lead, 57-51 with six minutes to go in the game.
11:32: As Hubie mentioned, and I noted on OkayPlayer, Chauncey Billups is 1-5 for 8 points in this game. No excuses there, as the Pistons have not gotten him into this game and Rip has tried to do it all.
Sheed continues his clutch shooting from Game 6, and they might need him to be the hero before it's all said and done with. But Ginobili and Horry have come into their own on both ends of the court, and they are making plays in the 4th as well. Spurs lead by four, 63-67 with 4:37 left in the game.
11:39: Chauncey has finally scored, which makes the only points for the Pistons that Sheed didn't make (Sheed had 6 in this quarter). Unfortuately for the Pistons, the Spurs are red hot. Duncan hits a long-range jumper from the baseline, which has been a rarity in this series, and the next possession has Ginobili drilling a three-pointer. The Spurs have the Pistons on the ropes, as it's 72-65 with 2:46 left.
11:41: Sheed airballs a desperation three from the wing. Once again, not good. However, Bowen fouls Billups, which puts them in the bonus. Billups goes 1-1. Ugh. There's going to be a lot of criticism coming his way tomorrow if they lose.
Duncan's missed his last two attempts, but the Pistons can't get any kind of traction. Spurs up by 6 with a minute and a half to go.
11:47: The game isn't over yet. Billups hits a nice 9 footer to cut it to four. Duncan's fouled, and goes to the line...he hits his first. And his second....MISSES. He's 5-6 tonight from the line, but he needed that shot. 73-68 with 1:01 left.
11:53: That might be the game folks....Bruce Bowen made a HUGE block on Chauncey Billups, and on the other end, Ginobili drives the lane and makes it an eight point lead. The Pistons takes it downcourt, and Sheed makes ANOTHER three to cut it to four. Ginobili gets fouled and goes to the line, and hits both. 77-71 with 22 seconds remaining, and Detroit takes their last timeout.
11:55: The Pistons are going to use up every second they can. The crowd is chanting Horry's name as he takes his fts after being fouled. He hits....both. This would be a great way for him to retire.
Rip drives the lane and he scores and is fouled with 10.7 seconds left...gets the basket as well. Rip hits the ft, and the Spurs lob it to the other end of the court to Ginobili and he runs down some time before he's fouled. Ginobili hits both fts.
The Spurs are the NBA Champions. What a great game. This series was definitely what the NBA needed. 81-74.
12:04: Thank goodness Tafoya's doing the post-game interviews and not Scott. Ginobili's happy, and speaking drunken English. Horry's got his sixth ring, which he thinks is right up there with his third ring with the Bulls. That's pretty cool.
Here's the trophy presentation. Mike Tirico introduces David Stern, who gets booed. *LOL* Stern screwed up the presentation speech. That's a crying shame.
The CEO sounds like he's been drinking a bit. Words are kind of slurred as well.
12:10: Duncan wins MVP. That's not surprising. Duncan says there were several MVPs on the team, which is true. He states he never listened to the criticism and only focused on what he wanted to do and what he wanted the team to do, which I don't believe. Of course, when it comes down to it, Tim Duncan is still Tim Duncan, and will always be Tim Duncan. Groundhog Day.
12:15: Tony Parker is cuddling the MVP trophy as Tafoya interviews him. Tony says Duncan stepped up big, and it was his biggest night of the series for him. He's grateful to be with this club, blah blah blah....
12:19: Scott interviews Larry Brown in the locker room. Brown says Duncan was spectacular, Horry made stops, Bowen did his job, etc. Brown congratulates Popovich, and talks about how proud he was of his guys. Scott asks him about his Mayo clinic visit next week. He says he wants to come back, and he hopes to have an answer soon. A quick camera shot shows a very dejected and tired Rip Hamilton.
Well folks, that's about it. Al Michaels and Hubie Brown shake hands, as they should because they did a great job calling the Finals, and they end coverage with a video package.
Tomorrow I will post a series recap. This was definitely a great one.
Thanks for reading. I definitely appreciate it.
Posted at 08:39 pm by Expertise
Home
|
|
 |
