NBA Playoff Journal (May 7)
by Larry Ness
The Hawks were embarrassed by their Game 1 performance (a 43-point loss) and played much better in Thursday's Game 4. Atlanta led 57-49 at the half (team had scored just 71 points in all of Game 1) but the Hawks couldn't keep up with the Magic. Howard was in foul trouble in each game in Orlando's first round four-game sweep of the Bobcats, averaging just 26.5 MPG, 9.8 PPG and 9.3 RPG. However, "Superman" has been unstoppable in the first two games of this series. He followed his 21-point, 12-rebound and five-block effort in Game 1 by scoring 29 points and grabbing 17 rebounds last night (8-of-9 FGs / 13-of-18 FTs).
Three of Howard's teammates joined him with 20-point games with Carter getting 24 (he's shooting 50 percent in this series) plus both Nelson and Lewis had 20 points. Horford had 24-10 for Atlanta, Crawford 23, Johnson 19, Smith 18-9 and Williams 9-11. Despite Atlanta's much better effort, the Hawks still lost by 14 points. As for the Magic, they haven't lost this postseason (6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS) and last lost a game back on April 2 at San Antonio, 112-100. That's 12 straight wins (11-1 ATS) and a 26-3 mark going back to February 28.
Home teams continue to roll in the 2010 postseason, posting a 7-1 SU and 6-2 ATS mark in the opening stages of the second round. That ups the overall record of home teams this postseason to 39-14 (.736) and 35-18 ATS (66.0 percent). There have been 26 overs, 25 unders and two pushes. "Zig Zaggers" lost with the Hawks last night, falling to 20-21 ATS this postseason. Two huge Game 3s are on tap for tonight. The Cavs and Celtics meet in Boston at 7:05 ET with the series tied at one-all. The Suns and Spurs follow from San Antonio at 9:35 ET (ESPN has both games).
Boston hadn't won a playoff game in Cleveland in six tries since 1992, before winning in Game 2. Now the Cavs will have to win a game in Boston, where they haven't won in the postseason since the '92 conference semis. The game is a pick'em and the total is 192 1/2. The Spurs have 'owned' the Suns since 2003, winning playoff series in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008 against Phoenix but now find themselves down 0-2. It's fair to say that Game 3 is a "must-win" situation for San Antonio. The number reflects that, as the Spurs are favored by 6 1/2-points (total is 205 1/2).
My Playoff Journal resumes on Monday at 2:00 ET. Have a great weekend.
Good luck...Larry
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