Nobody clinched anything last night. Awesome.
It’s coming down to the final day
I put together my year in the D.A.Y. yesterday, so now I’m switching formats to only talk about the games that mattered. You could say I’ve been doing that anyways over the past month. Only one more day of the regular season grind, and yes it is a grind.
Lang sent me a text message last night, saying the Mavs were tanking against Golden State. Indeed. The Warriors ran over the Mavs third stringers with ease 111-82. Golden State has not clinched anything yet because the Clippers beat Phoenix, even with the Suns sticking to their regular rotation. Elton Brand led L.A. with 21 and 9, but the highlight surrounding the game has to be this quote from coach Mike Dunleavy “Dallas didn’t play their guys. Obviously Phoenix played their guys, so it tells you they (the Mavericks) probably prefer to play Golden State than us. That’s what it comes down to.” Yeah, that’s what it is Mike. They are scared of the Clippers, and would much rather face a team that keeps beating them, and is coached by the guy that developed their best player a la John Gruden and Rich Gannon for you football fans. Nothing to do with Dallas resting up a banged up roster.
I really want to commend Avery Johnson for this psychological ploy. You can tell that he has learned well from Gregg Popovich. Two seasons ago when the Suns and Spurs were the best in the West, they met up in a late regular season game. The Suns would have proven that they are on the Spurs level with a win. The Spurs would have proven hey we’re still the Spurs and we are invincible. But, if the Suns were to win that game, then it could have given them confidence and maybe planted a little doubt in the Spurs minds. So, Pop had Duncan and Ginobili sit out, and Amare scored 50 in a win that revealed nothing. In the playoffs that year, San Antonio won their Western Conference Finals showdown, in part due to their psychological edge.
Last night, by going with the B or C team, Avery prevented the Warriors from gaining what must already be a staggering amount of confidence against his team. If Dallas played Dirk, Howard, etc. and won, it would have been nice but the Warriors already know they can beat them. By holding out his two best players among others, Avery refused to let Golden State enjoy the feeling of “We OWN those guys.” Well played, Mr. Johnson. Also, by going hard to win the game, the Mavs would have been seen as panicking, feeling the need to knock a team out of the playoffs to control their own match-up. Which could be interpreted as fear. 66 win teams should fear having to play no one.
In other psychological news, I wonder about the Joey Crawford suspension and its effect on the playoffs. The good thing is that refs will hopefully learn and just do their jobs, which is to keep things fair and running smoothly, not making themselves the show. This being the NBA, I don’t think we can honestly trust them. You think Joey didn’t have any friends? How will the other refs treat Tim Duncan? When he whines about calls – which is inevitable – will Joey be in the back of their minds? I think so. Something to watch out for.
STANDINGS WATCH
Cleveland beat Phily 98-92. That means that if Cleveland takes care of business against the Bucks tonight, and the Nets beat Chicago, then Cleveland takes over the 2 seed. A Nets win in that game would wrap up the 6th seed for Jersey, delivering the Toronto-Jersey series. If Cleveland does become #2 seed, that means Jersey has won, and sets up Cleveland-Washington in the first round. The Wizards slide continued last night against Orlando, despite 48 points from Antawn Jamison. It seemed unlikely, even with the Gilbert injury, but the Wizards are now a loss away from dropping all the way to the 8th seed. I’ve been keeping a list of playoff series possibilities for a Slamonline team project that’s about to start, and I already had Detroit-Orlando written in stone. It took me all day to chisel that thing. Thanks a lot Wizards. If the Bulls beat Jersey, then Chicago holds on to the #2 seed, and we enter the world of tie breakers that might just be randomly assigned by David Stern.
Basically the East is a huge mess. The way it should be. Also Detroit beat Toronto and Atlanta beat Indy. Great.
15 Responses to “Nobody clinched anything last night. Awesome.”
Apr.18 at 8:37 am
NAS says:
CHICAGO is gonna come out of the EAST and get PASTED in the finals (4-1 or 4-2) by the MAVS
Apr.18 at 9:59 am
Keith says:
Jermaine O’Neal has got to be regretting staying at Indy. Not only is he playing with the two whitest guys ever born, he’s also playing for a horrible team. Sucks to be you Jermaine.
Apr.18 at 10:08 am
namik says:
Didnt Vince Carter and the Nets OWN the Heat last year? Yeah that worked out well for them in the playoffs…
Apr.18 at 10:15 am
Benedict says:
Avery is just another version of Gregg Popovich. Its like Star wars - Kenobi and Anakin.
Apr.18 at 10:35 am
dez says:
Jermaine and Garnett should jump ship. Their management is completely garbage.
Do the right thing, fellas
Apr.18 at 10:47 am
Tommy Patron says:
Yes, Chicago will come out of the East, but will handle business against whoever wins the west, particularly if it’s Dallas. The season series is split between the two. On 1/25 the Bulls beat Dallas 96-85, ending their 8 game winning streak, and Dallas took down the Bulls 111-99 in the Bulls 7th game of the season on 11/14. The Mavs win means less due to the fact that Chicago was trying to integrate a new $60 million superstar into a squad that relies on its chemistry to win.
Apr.18 at 1:21 pm
Darksaber says:
Oh my goodness, the league just suspended Joey “Frothmouth” Crawford, INDEFINETELY… not for trading in airplane tickets or doing ganja, no for being a grade A pain in the rectum. That’s gotta be a first right? Did he really want to go toe 2 toe with cookie? Truly? Duncan’s like, massive right? Jeez, how fantastic would that have been, the T-Dunc Robot version 12.0 against that rabid dog. N.B.A. its faaantastic
Apr.18 at 1:23 pm
Darksaber says:
Oh and Mike Dunleavy? Get a reality check prick! “Dallas would rather play GS than us”!! Shut it.
Apr.18 at 1:58 pm
joe says:
Glad to see all the Dunleavys are retarded.
Apr.18 at 2:48 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I briefly considered keeping notes on Mavs/Warriors last night until I saw Dallas’s active roster. I’m pretty sure Mavs Man and Mark Cuban were the starting backcourt.
Apr.18 at 3:39 pm
SwingMan says:
Can’t speak for any other team, but, regular rotation nonwithstanding, the last 2 games for my Suns were about as half-assed as half-assed gets. I mean, Amare with just 3 boards? Come on. Seeing it first hand, my Suns have been waiting for the playoffs the last 2 months….. With #2 clinched, the only reason the starters kept playing against Houston & the Clips was in an attempt for the team not to “get cold”, and I can see that to a point….. Take the Suns in 1993. Westphal rested his guys the last few games of the season a la Dallas and it came back to bite the Suns - to the tune of being down 0-2 in a best-of-5 in the 1st round - because the team’s rhythm was shot to hell from sitting the final week of the season…..
Apr.18 at 3:45 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
If someone makes one of those starting 5 t-shirts for the Mavs game last night, it would be the most obscure piece of clothing ever made.
Apr.18 at 7:15 pm
albie1kenobi says:
good take on Avery, Sam. that was the whole reason why i thought this game would be interesting: how avery will play his guy. completely agree with you that we are just gonna take care of business. no team’s gonna make us react differently.
mike dunleavy is not a very good coach, but he has a point. starters are starters, regardless of how they play. avery was starting his jv squad, so coach dun does have a reason to be upset. too bad clips. you need to lose tonight. well warriors should just win tonight. control your own destiny.
Apr.18 at 9:40 pm
Iversonbrotha says:
I’m a bit late responding, but Keith . . . . Jermaine is the the biggest morron I’ve ever seen in my life. For the past 2 years, he’s said that this year he’s talked to Carlisle about being a leader and . . . blah blah blah. He doesn’t have the leadership skills to lead a team through the pre-season, and yet everybody still thinks that it’s the team. Not to be dogging out on Iverson, but that’s who JO’s like. You could give em’ MJ, and he’d still find a way to screw it up with it’s imaginary ego that he has.
Apr.18 at 9:45 pm
Iversonbrotha says:
amen dez
i’m not the only person that knows just how bad the pacers management is. (notice how pacers isn’t capitalized; they have to make the playoffs first. actually, let me rephrase that:i would rather them not make the playoffs because they never are in contention.