Game 7 thoughts
If you subtract the Rockets' six-minute run at the start of the fourth quarter, the Jazz won the other 42 minutes of Game 7 by a combined score of 95-78. That's 17 points better than Houston and a pretty good indication, I think, of just how impressive the Jazz were.
You have to be happy for Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams after the names they made for themselves in this series. Boozer was vilified across the NBA after bolting Cleveland to sign with Utah; all Williams heard his rookie season was that he wasn't Chris Paul.
If you were watching at the end of the second quarter, the Jazz ended the half on an 8-2 run after Houston had closed to 45-41. Williams and Boozer accounted for all eight of the points, including a Boozer dunk off the screen-and-roll from Williams.
They're a pretty good 1-2 combination. Boozer spun past Yao Ming for dunks in addition to grabbing rebounds and hitting jumpers over him. Williams owned Rafer Alston in every way and now will see what he can do against Baron Davis.
Which brings us to the Rockets, who had no business blowing a five-point lead on their home court with six minutes remaining. The final numbers for Tracy McGrady look good - - 29 points, 13 assists - - but let's get real about what kind of factor he was late.
When star players find a way to deliver, McGrady went back to his jumper. He missed a three-pointer and a 17-foot fadeaway with 4:28 left. That was it. He didn't take another shot until his layup in the last 10 seconds of the game. He shot 39.4 percent for the series.
The Rockets realized they had no other option on offense, so they went inside to Yao, who had 15 in the fourth. Whether the result of Andrei Kirilenko's defense or his own love of the jump shot, McGrady was a non-factor when his team needed him most.
McGrady now has been part of three of the 12 NBA teams in history to blow a 2-0 series lead and lose in a best-of-seven. McGrady played two good games in this series - - Games 1 and 5 - - and was thoroughly disappointing the rest of the time.
Then again, he can't do it on his own. The Rockets made 7 of 21 three-pointers in Game 7, with Alston going 2 of 8 in what amounts to his only job on offense. Shane Battier, who hit four three-pointers in the first half, got only one shot in the second.
The Jazz fulfilled their goal of getting better every game and capitalized against a Houston team that looks like certified playoff chokers. I wonder what will happen now, given the way Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy answered questions in this series.
Every time Van Gundy was asked about the possibility of blowing the series lead, he answered the same way: "Wrong players. Wrong coach." The message being that if anyone was thinking about it, they didn't belong on the team.
Clearly, there will be changes made in Houston. They need depth in the worst way. Their defense was nonexistent in Game 7. The Jazz, meanwhile, will be playing with house money against the Warriors in addition to having home-court advantage.
I've seen the Warriors enough to know that they don't want to play the defense necessary to beat a Jerry Sloan team. It takes a lot of effort when the Jazz are coming at you with a back screen from somewhere on every possession.
For that reason alone, I think the Jazz will win. The only question is how much energy do the Jazz have left to play a team that will run and run and run. The last thing they want to do also is give up home-court advantage right off the bat with a Monday loss.
-- Ross Siler
You have to be happy for Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams after the names they made for themselves in this series. Boozer was vilified across the NBA after bolting Cleveland to sign with Utah; all Williams heard his rookie season was that he wasn't Chris Paul.
If you were watching at the end of the second quarter, the Jazz ended the half on an 8-2 run after Houston had closed to 45-41. Williams and Boozer accounted for all eight of the points, including a Boozer dunk off the screen-and-roll from Williams.
They're a pretty good 1-2 combination. Boozer spun past Yao Ming for dunks in addition to grabbing rebounds and hitting jumpers over him. Williams owned Rafer Alston in every way and now will see what he can do against Baron Davis.
Which brings us to the Rockets, who had no business blowing a five-point lead on their home court with six minutes remaining. The final numbers for Tracy McGrady look good - - 29 points, 13 assists - - but let's get real about what kind of factor he was late.
When star players find a way to deliver, McGrady went back to his jumper. He missed a three-pointer and a 17-foot fadeaway with 4:28 left. That was it. He didn't take another shot until his layup in the last 10 seconds of the game. He shot 39.4 percent for the series.
The Rockets realized they had no other option on offense, so they went inside to Yao, who had 15 in the fourth. Whether the result of Andrei Kirilenko's defense or his own love of the jump shot, McGrady was a non-factor when his team needed him most.
McGrady now has been part of three of the 12 NBA teams in history to blow a 2-0 series lead and lose in a best-of-seven. McGrady played two good games in this series - - Games 1 and 5 - - and was thoroughly disappointing the rest of the time.
Then again, he can't do it on his own. The Rockets made 7 of 21 three-pointers in Game 7, with Alston going 2 of 8 in what amounts to his only job on offense. Shane Battier, who hit four three-pointers in the first half, got only one shot in the second.
The Jazz fulfilled their goal of getting better every game and capitalized against a Houston team that looks like certified playoff chokers. I wonder what will happen now, given the way Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy answered questions in this series.
Every time Van Gundy was asked about the possibility of blowing the series lead, he answered the same way: "Wrong players. Wrong coach." The message being that if anyone was thinking about it, they didn't belong on the team.
Clearly, there will be changes made in Houston. They need depth in the worst way. Their defense was nonexistent in Game 7. The Jazz, meanwhile, will be playing with house money against the Warriors in addition to having home-court advantage.
I've seen the Warriors enough to know that they don't want to play the defense necessary to beat a Jerry Sloan team. It takes a lot of effort when the Jazz are coming at you with a back screen from somewhere on every possession.
For that reason alone, I think the Jazz will win. The only question is how much energy do the Jazz have left to play a team that will run and run and run. The last thing they want to do also is give up home-court advantage right off the bat with a Monday loss.
-- Ross Siler
9:12 AM
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2 Comments:
Ross,
I think it's an error to write that McGrady has been part of 3 of the 12 teams to blow 2-0 leads in seven-game series. The '07 series against the Jazz is one, obviously. And the Rockets were up 2-0 against the Mavs in '05. But the only other time a McGrady team has blown a lead in a seven-game series was against Detroit in '03, when the Magic were up 3-1, not 2-0.
Ross,
Your blogging is awesome. You've been an outstanding addition. It's nearly as good as my favorite baseball newspaper blog.
Keep it up.
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