Thursday night's NBA playoff schedule was a battle of teams tied one all. One most certainly shouldn't have been tied :/ but I digress...
Sixers/Nets
The moment I heard Embid was out I just KNEW the Sixers were cooked. Shockingly (or not), the Sixers came out strong. Tobias Harris, one of THEE most underrated PF in the league started the game strong with 16 points in the first half and ended even stronger with 29 points and 16 rebounds. The Sixers need this type of input from him every night (Duh, right?).
You know what else the Sixers need? The other big Ben in Pennsylvania to do what he does best. Score my dude! Dudley of the Nets did some trash talking before last night's game calling Simmons "average". Well, average Ben had 31 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not average. *shrug*
I would be remiss to not speak on Caris Levert. I honestly didn't know much about him until the injury last season but he and DLo, with 26 points each, tried to keep the Nets in the game...the operative word is try and I approve!
I did see some below average play however....His name was Jared Dudley. His stat lines speaks for itself - 0/1/0/0. Not even close to trying...
Philly leads series now 2-1....
Nuggets/Spurs
Who the hell are these Spurs?? Popovich hands down is one the best NBA coaches EVER! I'm convinced he could start me, my two sons and two daughters and we would win games (HAHAHA!) In all seriousness though, his ability to coach "average" players is uncanny.
Now introducing Derrick White
Derrick played excellent. He scored 26 points in the first half and helped the Spurs go on a 21-8 run to close the half. He finished the game with a career high 36 points.
Spurs got help from more than just DWhite. Derozen (25 points), Aldridge (18 points) and even Forbes (10 points) contributed to the Spurs win last night.
I think we need to put out a missing person's report for the Nuggets. Has anyone seen Jamal Murray? Is he turning into Kyle Lowry in the playoffs? He finished the game with only 6 points. I can guarantee you if Jamal is not found, that second place standing in the west will be a distant memory as the Nuggets watch the second round from their couch.
Spurs take a surprising 2-1 series lead...
Warriors/Clippers
And now the main event...
Kevin Durant reminded us of exactly who he is! I guess KD no longer cared about putting up 20-30 shots as Steve Kerr had suggested. He scored often and early. KD had 27 first half points and ended the night with 38 in only 30 minutes of play.
Steph, Klay, Looney and Iggy all ended the night in double digits. The ONLY person on the Warriors active roster to not score last night was Jonas Jerebko.
It was a beautiful thing to see after Game 2's collapse. The joy I felt while watching Pat Beverley realizing he signed a check his a$$ couldn't cash was epic!
Seeing the lead grow to the infamous 31 points did not shake the Warriors. They withstood small runs the Clippers attempted to win Game 3 by 27.
The Warriors are still on track for the quest of a 3-peat.
Warriors now lead series 2-1....
Before I wrap up my post game thoughts.....
Did anyone check out Bleacher Report's Game of Zones?! Even as a Warriors fan, I had to laugh!
Check it out if you haven't:
Dearest Jennifer is out....