High-flying Josh Smith dominated the game inside. While Joe Johnson stepped up from the outside when the Hawks needed him. Atlanta now has a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series for the first time in 40 years. Johnson took control in the fourth quarter to finish off a 27-point effort and Smith finished one assist shy of a triple-double (21 pts, 14 rbs, 9 asts) as the Hawks ran away from the pesky, but outmanned, Milwaukee Bucks for a 96-86 victory in the Eastern Conference playoffs Tuesday night. Smith is playing as though he's still upset about being snubbed for the All-Star game, when teammates Johnson and Al Horford were selected but he stayed home. He's certainly a player capable of taking control of a series in many ways and is the player that makes this team go, as he demonstrated with his near triple-double, not to mention two blocks and two steals.
The Hawks aren't taking anything for granted, even though they've seemed capable of pulling away any time Milwaukee tries to make a run. Last season, Atlanta blew out Miami in its playoff opener but then lost at home and had to go the full seven games. This time, the Hawks took care of business on their home court. They'll head to Milwaukee on Saturday night with a commanding 2-0 series lead, the first time they've won the first two in a best-of-seven series since the Western Division semifinals in 1970.
Again, the Hawks' balance and size advantage on the inside were just too much for the Bucks, who knew they'd face a huge challenge in this series after 7-foot center Andrew Bogut took a hard fall late in the regular season (seemingly breaking every bone in his arm) and was done for the playoffs. All five Atlanta starters reached double figures for the second game in a row, and the 4 and 5 spots sure took advantage of Bogut's absence. Smith had the crowd on its feet with four thunderous dunks and a couple more above-the-rim lay-ins. While, Horford was nearly as dominant, scoring 20 points, snatching down 10 rebounds and blocking three shots. Johnson then took over in the fourth quarter. After Milwaukee had closed the lead to single-digit range, he buried four straight jumpers, the last of them a 3 from the corner, pushing the Hawks to an 87-74 lead that essentially finished off the Bucks.
Johnson also led the defensive effort against Bucks rookie phenom Brandon Jennings, who followed up a 34-point performance in Game 1 with just nine points on 3-of-15 shooting. John Salmons led the Bucks with 21 points and Ersan Ilyasova came up big off the bench with 13 points and 15 rebounds, but Jerry Stackhouse was the only other Milwaukee player in double figures with 15 points. The Bucks shot only 41 percent from the field (37 of 90). The Bucks head home, hoping to turn things around in the next two games. But it seems tough especially considering that they've led only three times in the series (never by more than two points) for a total of 1 minute and 32 seconds.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Kevin Garnett? No problem as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat easily Tuesday night in the Eastern Conference playoffs. With the "Big Ticket" out, the "Ticket Stub" filled in. The good-humored but hard-playing Glen Davis was the starter in KG's place while the Celtics' emotional leader served a one-game suspension, as Boston rolled to a 106-77 victory that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra called "embarrassing." Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds, and Ray Allen heated up in the third quarter to end up with 25 points. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 29.
With Garnett serving a suspension for elbowing Quentin Richardson in Game 1, Davis started and went aggressively to the basket to grab missed shots and draw fouls. The Heat took a 29-25 lead on a dunk by Jermaine O'Neal. But the Celtics then went on a massive 44-8 run over the next 16 1/2 minutes to go ahead 69-37 with 5:38 left in the third quarter, capped by one of Allen's five 3-pointers in the period. The Celtics never looked back as they led by 25 to 33 points the rest of the way.
Tempers stayed under control throughout the game, just three days after a skirmish with 40 seconds left in Boston's 85-76 game 1 victory led to Garnett's suspension without pay and Richardson's $25,000 fine. Garnett wasn't allowed in TD Garden, but made a prerecorded appearance on the scoreboard above midcourt during a timeout after the Celtics scored 19 straight points to take a 44-29 lead with 2:56 left in the first half. He encouraged the fans and when the scoreboard followed with a "Let's Get Loud" message, they raised their voices. Richardson was booed almost every time he touched the ball. Game 3 is Friday night in Miami.
Peace and Much Love to Ya :)
No comments:
Post a Comment