Russ not, win not?
by Shannon Booher
Line Of The Night:
Dirk Nowitzki — 48 points on 12-15 shooting and 24-24 from the free-throw line, 6 boards, 4 assists, 4 blocks
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Big. Dirk. Like. Whut. If Scott Brooks had walked into his living room, flicked on his PS3, set the level to All-World-Pro-Star and played the Mavs, the computer might have, at its ceiling, produced a game like this. Automatic. Robotic. And he even went a stretch in the fourth, during the Jose Juan Barea Show, when he didn’t really shoot much! He didn’t even cap out! This was an all-time great Playoff performance. Become legendary.
Worst Of The Night AKA Not So Bad Of The Night:
Russell Westbrook — 20 points on 3-15 shooting, 3 assists, 3 boards, 1 steal
People were all over him again last night for his shooting percentage, but he obeyed our rule — he shot less than Kevin Durant, whose ridiculous 40-point night was overshadowed by Dirk’s redirkulous night. We are not even going to get on Westbrook too hard. He stayed aggressive. He lived in the lane (only four shots outside the paint) and foul line (14-18 there), and he shot no threes! Game 2 will be his true test. Does he go to that Kobe, hero style, our does he stick with this style game, knowing he is probably not going to miss all those shots again? Oh, but still expect a million street MCs to start giving us “I shoot more than Westbrook” lines.
For Threeeeeeeeee Of The Night:
Jason Kidd — 3 points, 3 boards, 3 steals, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3 three-point attempts
All three everything? Is there a numerologist in the building?
Enough with the blue-outs, when the other team WEARS THAT COLOR! We kept thinking it was an OKC home game when looking at that crowd… OKC probably is not feeling all that bad about this one. They had this one down to 6 points late despite Dirk’s once in a lifetime game, so if they tighten some stuff up, this will be a series… Kevin Durant looked like a creature from another world on the play where he grabbed the defensive rebound and took it coast-to-coast… Should James Harden start? Thabo Sefolosha seems to be nothing more than a placeholder in this match-up, with no real wing player for him to lock down… The Cavs win the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft via the Clippers pick they acquired in the Baron Davis deal. Yikes, that deal looks a whole lot worse now, but it’s typical Clip Joint ish… Nate Robinson, go to your room. Word to Tony Kornheiser…
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