Friday, May 01, 2009
By Roz Juarbe
The NBA playoffs offer teams and individual players a chance for redemption. Dwight Howard sat out Game 6 against Philadelphia because of a suspension, but Orlando rose together as a team to win big as a road dog, 114-89. "People questioned our toughness all season. That's an unfair criticism," Stan Van Gundy said. "Don't tell me they aren't tough."
There was some redemption for Rashard Lewis, who has been scrutinized since signing a six-year, $118-million contract. Lewis stepped up, scoring 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting. "We wouldn't be where we are without Dwight, but these other guys want to prove that they can get the job done. They dominated the game from beginning to end," added the coach.
Boston can use some redemption defensively, as their defense has waned ever since Kevin Garnett went on the shelf. They actually played well for a while without last year's defensive player of the year, but it's clear more and more his abscence is a major problem as their defense has been poor in the postseason. The young athletic Bulls are playing them to to toe. The Celtics had seemed on the verge of concluding the series with an 18-0 run over a five-minute span late in regulation in Game 6. But they squandered a 99-91 advantage one the way to a triple overtime loss.
"With an 8-point lead, if you're a good defensive team, all you have to do is play defense," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "You don't have to score again. You literally don't have to score again. But we didn't do that. We just stopped playing. We had a chance to close it out. We saw that score and we just stopped playing. We let a team shoot, again, close to 50 percent against us. We're supposed to be a defensive team, we've got to be better defensively. I know we scored 127 points; that's dandy. But if we're going to win, we're going to win with our defense."
Speaking of motivation, how about Lamar Odom of the Lakers? He's third on the team in scoring, averaging 17.7 points a game, first in rebounds, collecting 8.3, and first in field-goal percentage, making 67.6% of his shots. He's even made half of his six three-pointers. "It's what I expect out of myself," Odom said. "I'm in that groove." The inside story is that Odom has a lot to play for. He's in the final year of a contract that's on the Lakers books for $14.1 million. Don't be surprised if he continues to play like a beast the rest of the playoffs -- a big contract is at stake.
By Roz Juarbe
The NBA playoffs offer teams and individual players a chance for redemption. Dwight Howard sat out Game 6 against Philadelphia because of a suspension, but Orlando rose together as a team to win big as a road dog, 114-89. "People questioned our toughness all season. That's an unfair criticism," Stan Van Gundy said. "Don't tell me they aren't tough."
There was some redemption for Rashard Lewis, who has been scrutinized since signing a six-year, $118-million contract. Lewis stepped up, scoring 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting. "We wouldn't be where we are without Dwight, but these other guys want to prove that they can get the job done. They dominated the game from beginning to end," added the coach.
Boston can use some redemption defensively, as their defense has waned ever since Kevin Garnett went on the shelf. They actually played well for a while without last year's defensive player of the year, but it's clear more and more his abscence is a major problem as their defense has been poor in the postseason. The young athletic Bulls are playing them to to toe. The Celtics had seemed on the verge of concluding the series with an 18-0 run over a five-minute span late in regulation in Game 6. But they squandered a 99-91 advantage one the way to a triple overtime loss.
"With an 8-point lead, if you're a good defensive team, all you have to do is play defense," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "You don't have to score again. You literally don't have to score again. But we didn't do that. We just stopped playing. We had a chance to close it out. We saw that score and we just stopped playing. We let a team shoot, again, close to 50 percent against us. We're supposed to be a defensive team, we've got to be better defensively. I know we scored 127 points; that's dandy. But if we're going to win, we're going to win with our defense."
Speaking of motivation, how about Lamar Odom of the Lakers? He's third on the team in scoring, averaging 17.7 points a game, first in rebounds, collecting 8.3, and first in field-goal percentage, making 67.6% of his shots. He's even made half of his six three-pointers. "It's what I expect out of myself," Odom said. "I'm in that groove." The inside story is that Odom has a lot to play for. He's in the final year of a contract that's on the Lakers books for $14.1 million. Don't be surprised if he continues to play like a beast the rest of the playoffs -- a big contract is at stake.
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