NBA Playoffs - Day 19

Miami Flops New Jersey

Miami 111 New Jersey 89

It was payback time for the Heat. Miami blew the Nets out of the arena to tie the series at 1-1 and avenge their dismal performance in the 1st game. It was Miami's game from the start negating Richard Jefferson's presence in the Nets line up. They came out smoking in the 1st quarter leaving their opponents confused and submerged in errors which the Heat turned into basket after basket. Dwayne Wade led the Heat onslaught with some terrific shooting . Magic Johnson said ' The superstars of the team normally show their wares in road games ' . Wade sure showed it last night right at home . The other superstar of the team , Shaq , toned down his power moves ( he was only assesed 2 fouls in this game ) to the delight of his coach. ' We challenged him to make the adjustments ' Pat Riley said. The move paid dividends with some dunks and put backs. Even Net's Collins was happy , I guess. There was no ' mauling ' from Shaq last night. Although, the scores say there was.

Steve Kerr said in the past , that rules of the game had been changed to minimize the ' dominance ' of big men. Mikan , Kareem and Wilt's eras were all punctuated by changes .
The gods of basketball widened the shaded area during Mikan's time . During Karrem's NCAA days ,
dunking was disallowed . Actually , what the refs are doing now is not an anti Shag rule. The rule against dislodging your guard on the way to the basket has always been there. It's just that the implementation of this rule is recently been in effect.
Imagine the number of championships won because this ' rule ' was not in effect then. The Lakers benefited from its non implementation. The Spurs might have 1 or 2 more rings . Sacramento Kings at least 1. Careers of some players might had been lengthened with the early implementation of this rule. Blazer's Sabonis might still be in the NBA today. I think Sabonis humiliation at the hands of Shaq contributed to his early retirement. ' I own Sabonis ' Shaq used to declare after every LA's victory over Portland . Divac might still be doing his thing up to now. There is no doubt that his back injury was hastened by Shaq's constant pounding.

But most of all , the early implementation of the ' anti Shaq rule ' , might have prevented ' flopping ' from reaching its present art form !

Clippers Rebound From Defeat

LA Clippers 122 Phoenix 97

The Clips learned the lesson of 1st game and won handilly against the Suns . LA outrebounded their opponents by more than twice and had enormous advantage in 2nd chance points. ' Coming into the game , I know we have to put some fire into the game ' said Mike Dunleavy .
The Clippers did just that with their constant barrage in the lane early in the game. Casell led the Clips determined effort to win 1 game before heading back to LA. ' it's not a series until you win one on the road ' the veteran guard said . Phoenix was a step slower than the pace they set in the first game . And their 3 pt. shooting , usually the Suns saving grace , failed them this time. ' We don't have a lot of energy tonight ' said Steve Nash.
The Clips have tremendous advantage in the middle with big guys Kaman and Brand. ' We got the size advantage ' said Dunleavy. ' As long as we keep our bigs down there , that's supposed to happen '. Kaman has a field day indeed . The Michigan grad used his height on put backs and rebounds . The big , 7'0'' center, does'nt have to worry about Evans this time .
Some people wished Kaman will cut his hair or lose it completely.. There is something weird about a hairstyle that is extra long at the back and very thin in front . It's as if you can compensate for hair deficiency in one area by making the other area abundant. I'ts not like in basketball , if you have a hard time scoring , you rebound and assist to make up for it ' . the so called hair experts said.

' It's OK if you want a career in wrestling after basketball ' they added