Four Down
2013 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 4
Guerrilla Radio - It was two minutes into the third quarter when Dwight Howard, well, went all Dwight Howard and got himself ejected from Game 4 of the Los Angeles Lakers first round series with the San Antonio Spurs last night, effectively ending one of the worst experiments of throwing team chemistry out the window to chase the allure of superstar talent melding in NBA history. After Howard's ejection, Kobe Bryant made an appearance on the bench to give the Lakers fans one last thrill, but by the end of the third quarter - the Spurs were up 20 points and LA super fan Jack Nicholson was leaving the building. The final score was 103 to 82 and this rapid playoff exit was the first time the 16 time Champion Lakers have been swept out of the first round since 1967. Last night's player of the game for me was Dejuan Blair who played some huge minutes off the bench for the Spur's depleted front court. Dejuan had 13 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes and seemed to constantly be making plays the entire time he was on the court. Having dispatched the Lakers quickly, the #BlackAndSilver will now have roughly a week off to get healthy (with Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw nursing injuries) and prepare for a second round match up with either the Golden State Warriors or the Denver Nuggets.
While I'm ecstatic that the Spurs have eliminated their long time rival in dominant fashion, a much more important story broke today in the world of sports. NBA center Jason Collins, who finished last season for the Washington Wizards became the first American professional athlete playing in one of the four major American professional sports leagues (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL) to announce he is gay. This was a courageous announcement and a major advancement for gay rights within the American sports landscape which is tragically behind the curb when it comes to the acceptance of homosexuality. While there have been professional athletes who have come out of the closet after retirement, it is dumbfounding that in 2013 not a single one had done so as an active player; until today. Hopefully, Jason Collins' courage will usher in a sea change in progressive openness within professional locker rooms and he can serve as a role model for any athlete at any level thinking about coming out of the closet. He will likely serve as inspiration for countless young athletes to see that there should be nothing to fear in being openly gay. The best part of following this story today was seeing the groundswell of support from the NBA community towards Jason Collins. As a life-long NBA basketball fan, I am thrilled to see that community rally around Collins and I'm happy that it was a basketball player who was the first to break down this barrier.
Featured Image Source: SBNation
Headline Image Source: Famous Fix
Three Down
2013 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 3
Sleep Now In the Fire - Last night, the LA Lakers waved the white flag of surrender rather than making a stand against the San Antonio Spurs in their home city. The #BlackAndSilver manhandled them 120 to 89, dealing the historic franchise their worst home defeat in playoff history. While the writing has been on the wall for some time regarding this disastrous season for the Lakers, keep in mind that this is still the same team that many pundits predicted could win 70 games last summer when Dwight Howard and Steve Nash were brought in to team up with Kobe Bryant.
There isn't a whole lot to say about the Spurs performance, other than they are rounding into the same type of overpowering machine as last year. This type of systematic dismantling of opposing defenses propelled them to win their first ten playoff games in 2012 without a defeat. Of course, we don't want to replicate last year's results. I would much prefer that the Spurs face some adversity earlier in this year's playoffs. Speaking of adversity, it was really disappointing to hear that Russell Westbrook is out indefinitely. If a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals is in the cards, it would be much more gratifying to take on Oklahoma City at full strength. Hopefully Westbrook can get sooner rather than later.
Back to last night's carnage, my player of the game was Cory Joseph. He has been playing tough and has been active around the basketball throughout the series and is noticeably contributing to the cause. I know that Coach Pop gets plenty of credit for being a genius and what not, but pulling Cory Joseph out of the D-League to become the Spurs starting point guard earlier in the season when Tony was injured was a brilliant move. Pop could have easily filled that hole with a combination of Patty Mills and Gary Neal and just bode the time until Tony returned. Instead, he gave Cory the confidence boost he needed to take his game to the next level and become an effective player. That foresight is paying off in spades right now. Hopefully, Cory can continue to have that Speedy Claxton type high energy presence off the bench behind Tony. If so, we might be looking at lights out, guerrilla radio at the Staples Center tomorrow.