Empty the Bench

‘Twas the first Monday night of the 2007 NBA playoffs, and…

Detroit 98, Orlando 90: ‘Sheed Wallace banked in a fadeaway, one-handed three-pointer as the shot clock expired late in the fourth quarter, and got a few chances to use his famous catchphrase (“Ball don’t lie!”) en route to a double-double. Nobody threw any baseball bats at Darko Milicic, and the home team yawned their way to a deceptively easy 98-90 victory over the visiting Magic.

The series shifts to Orlando for Games Two and Three on Thursday and Saturday afternoon. Down 2-0 games, and with their monster talent Dwight Howard really struggling through his first playoffs thus far, the Magic will have to get much better efforts from Howard (who reportedly played through a stomach illness), Jameer Nelson, and just about everyone on the bench if they want to extend the series past four.

Nelson has just looked just plain bad during most of this series, shooting a combined 7-21 FG for 19 points, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. He’s a nice enough player, but I still don’t think he’s Orlando’s long-term answer for the starting point guard spot. Outside of Milicic’s 14-point effort on Saturday, coach Brian Hill has gotten very little from his bench. Tonight the lone bright spots were Hedo Turkoglu, who started the game 7-7 from the field and finished 10-14 for 22 points, and Grant Hill, who went for 21 points. The score would have been much more lopsided without them. For Detroit, business as usual. Nothing especially spectacular about their effort, but they got the job done and were in firm control of the game from start to finish, despite again letting the Magic hang around longer than they should have. Chauncey Billups finished with 21 points and 8 assists, while Tayshaun Prince notched 18 points and 6 boards.

Houston 98, Utah 90: On TNT’s pre-game show, Charles Barkley and the rest of the crew had a few good laughs at Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko’s expense after AK-47 suffered a mini-breakdown at practice the other day. Upset with only logging 15 minutes during the Jazz’s loss Saturday night, not to mention his minutes and play for the season in general, the Russian was so exasperated that he started tearing up and looked like he was about to bawl. Puzzling, because this guy has a ton of talent and he’s proven that he can be a top-level NBA player. You gotta hate seeing him twist in the wind and putting himself out like this, but he hasn’t helped the situation with his play on the court, either. We’re hoping he can clear his mind and still make an impact this series against Houston.

Tonight wasn’t his night, however. Kirilenko started but accomplished little else, logging 0 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers in just 17 minutes of action. I don’t think it’s personal with coach Jerry Sloan; he has no choice but to play the guys who give his team the best chance to win. Right now, that’s Matt Harpring at the small forward spot.

The Rockets, after trailing most of the first half, outplayed the Jazz after the break and took a 2-0 series advantage with a solid eight-point win at home. Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming combined to score 23 of the Rockets’ 39 first-half points, and McGrady finished off with 31 points, 10 boards, and 5 assists, though he did shoot a pretty low percentage from the field (9-29). Utah’s 2007 All-Star Mehmet Okur suffered through one of his worst games of the season at an extremely inopportune time. He didn’t drain his first bucket until early in the fourth quarter, going 2-14 FG for 6 points and 9 rebounds on the night. Carlos Boozer, on the other hand, was dazzling, keeping the Jazz in the game until almost the very end with 41 points (tying his career high), 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Rockets seem to be settled in and over their opening-night jitters, which is bad news for the struggling Jazz. This could end up being a surprisingly short series.

Possibly Related Content:

1. NBA Playoffs Dance: Jazz vs. Rockets


2. Rematch Special: Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets Playoff Preview


3. The Utah Jazz Have Found the LA Lakers’ Weak Link: Jordan Farmar


4. Let’s Give it Up for the Jazz (and Warriors)


5. NBA Playoffs Dance: Pistons vs. Magic