The playoffs are where (amazing happens, but I kid) little guys make their names big. Stepping Up brings you the first NBA playoffs installment after a weekend of Game 1's. I figured I'd hit you up with a slice from each series. Y'know, get the juices going. It's hard not to rave about the big name players, so some of that might occur as a "side effect." For the most part, though, I'll try to give you the quiet things loud that you may have missed if your intent was not wholly attentive. When no glue guy (note: glue is generally transparent or at least translucent) sticks out, what I'ma throw at you is an "aspect," meaning a facet of some name-player's game that is not highly touted, that they're not known for. Okay, here we go!
Cavs-Pistons: Really, no surprises here. Lebron and Co. put 'em away. End of story.
Celtics-Bulls: We know the Celts are limping, and it wasn't a runaway W, but the Bulls still impressed. The entire team is kind of on the cusp of name recognition, so we'll go with the first of this installments aspect-props. Without Tyrus Thomas' jumpshot, this game ain't the same even with Derrick Rose's record tying effort. Apparently, Thomas' struggles from outside the paint just a hoax and he's been improving all along (via Dwyer). Still, it's impressive, (semi)unexpected, and big, big, big. Six points in overtime for Tyrus Thomas' jump shot. Count it!
Hawks-Heat: No surprises here either, at least not on the court. Josh Smith’s flash leadership perhaps, but you knew if anyone it would be him since JJ is a fader. Hawks fans, though, really brought it Sunday. It was so loud in Phillips Arena that the players couldn’t hear the coaches. The huddles actually moved out onto the court and away from the raucous crowd. You gotta think that that contributed to the Hawks running it up (or the Heat putting it down).
Lakers-Jazz: JVG turned a nice phrase with, "Ariza’n to..." live, or at least watch. Ariza was a highlight for the Lakeshow, but again we knew that was coming. In the losing effort, AK-47’s on the ball D kept the Jazz at least with a semblance of being in it. Joey Crawford’s ran a nice close out to stop a premature free throw, and looked a bit like Hannibal Lecter. The refs might be said to have stepped up with lots of fouls called and free throws attempted (The Jazz led the league in fouls committed and lead all playoff teams in opponents free throws attempted, and they committed four more fouls and thus gave up eight more free throws over their averages). Without a lot of surprises though, this series really calls for a call out. Jerry Sloan should really be called out for not believing in his team and then, during the game, trying to play mind games a la Phil Jackson. Maybe he's just bitter he's never won CoY despite the imminent HoF induction.
Nuggets-Hornets: Man, the Nugs looked like flying monkeys out there, and that’s no dig on them. They just seem to float around the rim, poised to jam it home. It's rarefied air up there, really. Especially evinced by Chauncey's big bombs-away night (8 for 9 from 3 equals 24, mama). Birdman was a spark plug, but what's really deserving of some credit: Birdman fan art. There was a bit of high art going on with those signs in Denver. Something like this:
Rockets-Blazers: We would be remiss not to mention Yao Ming's going Christian Laettner on dem young'ins, even though he's got about a billion point 0 on the household name recognition scale. He needed to come through, and he did. More relevantly for Stepping Up was Aaron Brooks. Pundits said Brooks’ contributions would be the difference, and they were. However, I don’t think there’s any difference needing to be made. Rockets would win this without Brooks dropping 27. After one, it looks like the young Blazers got themselves a stinker of a match-up. You could attribute the game one loss to jitters or to uncanny Rockets’ brilliance, but Portland hasn’t done well against this opponent all year. It’s too bad, since heading in to the playoffs it looked as if the Blazers would give fits to any team but Houston.
And those are your players/aspects stepping up in the first weekend of post-season play. It all continues tomorrow. No rest for the giddy, people. No diggity? No doubt.
