In breaking news, NBA players do in fact have normal human emotions.
The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder both bounced back from embarrassing Game 1 losses to even their respective conference semifinals matchups, and while adjustments on the court played a huge factor, events during Tuesday’s off day seemed to inspire both of these downtrodden teams to come together.
First we saw Roy Hibbert return from a pathetic scoreless, rebound-less performance to post a career playoff-high 28 points. Ironically Hibbert, who seemed to be “Gone Fishin” in a mental sense since the all-star break, was apparently inspired by Paul George taking him out on the water for some old-fashioned male bonding.
I’m not buying it. Sure, it’s a nice gesture by the Pacers’ star, but I think the conversation on that boat probably played a bigger factor in Hibbert’s remarkable turnaround.
It might have gone something like,
Hibbert: “Damn, I haven’t felt that awkward since I was the only 7-foot kid at my middle school dance”
George: “Dude that’s what happens when you play video games all season, you act like a teenager on the court. Look man, time to wake up, you’re absurdly tall, I don’t care how shook you get when we drop the ball down to you, just take your time, maybe pivot on two different feet a few times cuz they ain’t gonna call travels, and put up that hook like Kareem.”
Who knows what George Hill was doing during this heart to heart, that guy’s from the Kawhi Leonard school of deadpans, but clearly Hibbert’s teammates said something to help him regain his confidence and come out strong, which is absolutely vital to the Pacers’ title hopes.
The Thunder revitalized their title hopes in a much more public fashion as Kevin Durant didn’t leave a dry eye in the house with his heartfelt acceptance of the MVP on Tuesday.
While the entire speech was important from a human perspective, Durant professing his support of Russell Westbrook could play a huge role in these playoffs. I’m sure their chemistry isn’t as strained as the media might insinuate, and that they aren’t nearly as demonstrative off the court as they are when there team is getting rolled by an unstoppable Chris Paul, but in publicly declaring that he has his teammates’ back, Durant joined the rallying cry of “Let Westbrook be Westbrook.”
Now that people have lost interest in LeBron’s Gulliver-esque travels through the midgets of the Eastern Conference, Westbrook is perhaps the most scrutinized player in these playoffs, and isn’t really deserving of all the criticism. He’s good for a couple of really bad turnovers, and while he makes about half of them, takes some really questionable shots, but there may not be anyone that plays with as much energy and passion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-zsZlU2HU
It might take more than two superstars to win an NBA title, yet if Durant and Westbrook can effectively share the load as they did last night, finishing with incredibly similar lines (Durant had 32 and Westbrook had 31 points, both took 22 shots and finished an assist SHY of a triple-double, because nobody should recognize scorekeeper’s making up stats), they’re a very tough team to beat.
In fact, Durant and Westbrook nearly became the third pair of teammates to post a triple double in the same game in NBA history. They would’ve joined Jason Kidd/Vince Carter, and Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen- a duo that this Thunder franchise would love to see emulated in the near future.
Russ and KD don’t have much help, but is there much difference between Serge Ibaka and Horace Grant, or between Reggie Jackson and B.J. Armstrong? The Thunder’s young superstars are capable of winning it all if their chemistry is good on the court, and as we saw in both games last night, sometimes that depends on the chemistry off the court.
