WOW! What a day of games in the western confrence of the NBA playoffs. Two of the three games really showed a powerful dominant team and I have really started to see the teams that will probably win this series. The first game of the night was the Spurs in Memphis as they took on the Grizzlies, the Spurs being down 2-1, fell again, going down 1-3 in the series. The final score was 104-86 and the first half was actually semi close, both teams taking the lead at different times. Yet in the third quarter Memphis really took charge scoring 30 points to San Antonio's 15. From there on in the fourth quarter they continued the lead scoring 26 points to San Antonio's only 21. Tony Parker led the Spurs in this terrible defeat scoring 23 points along with Splitter with 9 rebounds. On the Memphis side the scoring was led by Conley with 15 points and 7 assists. I must say this game really shows that Memphis has came into this series to play, and win, they are energized and the number one seeded Spurs just don't appear to have an answer for them, they are an older team, playing a team of young talent. I see the series being over with Memphis winning 4-1, San Antonio just isn't the team we predicted.
The second game of the night was the one that I had a lot of questions about. After Brandon Roy's large comeback in game four of the series, I didn't know what to expect, the Mavs played great at home, but then so did the Blazers. This game last night would really start to answer some questions in arguably the closest series in the west. Dallas came out to play though, Portland went cold in the fourth and they had a huge win over the Blazers 93-82. Nowitzki played great on Dallas' side scoring 25 points along with Chandler's huge 20 rebounds. On the other hand, Miller led the scoring for the Blazers with only 18 points and 7 assists. After this game with Dallas up 3-2 in the series, I see Portland winning a close game at home again to tie the series 3-3. But ultimately, I see Dallas winning at home in game seven to clinch the series 4-3, just because of their homecourt advantage and due to their trend of winning well at home.
The last game of the night was a do or die for the struggling Nuggets, who had lost their two stars to the Knicks earlier in the season. The Nuggets down 3-0, needed this win and at home this was their best chance. Lawson led his team to the 104-101 win with 27 points, which was a high for him. Galinari came in to effect after the first half and put up 9 points as well. Durant again dominated the scoring on his team with 31 points and Ibaka with 14 rebounds. The Thunder who could have swept the series 4-0 with this win, didn't look like they wanted anything in that sort. The Nuggets on the other hand where energized and had the crowd on their side. After a nine point lead at the beginning of the fourth, the Thunder almost made a successful comeback to beat the Nuggets. But late freethrows by Felton sealed the deal as they went up three points with only seconds remaining. This game here does show me that the Nuggets have what it takes to beat the Thunder, as long as their players are making their freethrows and shots. Yet, this close win was at home and Denver does have one of the worst road records in the league. I could see the fired up Denver team to possibly carry some momentum off of this game into beating the Thunder on Wednesday, but most likely the Thunder will win, either 4-1 or 4-2.
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