Portland Trailblazers head coach Terry Stotts has a quote by the late, great Jack Ramsay hanging in his office that reads, “Teams that play together beat those teams with superior players who play more as individuals.” While that philosophy proved enough for Portland to upend the star-powered Rockets, it came up just short for a couple teams during Saturday’s juicy slate of Game 7s.
With Zach Randolph suspended for the Grizzlies’ season-deciding game, head coach Dave Joerger found himself in the same conundrum as Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson. Both teams were outsized at nearly every position, and outmatched from an overall talent standpoint, yet they managed to put the favorites on their heels by playing together.
Granted the shock value of Memphis’ small ball lineup wore off by halftime, but the Warriors deserve a ton of credit as they not only forced the Clippers to sweat out their first round series in seven games, they nearly went into the Staples Center and shocked the world with an upset.
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And it would’ve been a shock. From Andre Iguodala’s banked three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, to Jordan Crawford being Jordan Crawford by mucking up the game and somehow getting buckets, this game was reminiscent of March Madness the way the Warriors seemed to get lucky when it counted most.
I mean Draymond Green, whom beat reporters said was hitting about 20 percent of his outside shots in warm ups, came out 6 for 6 from the field and 4 for 4 from downtown. Yet in the end the more talented team won. Not just in this series, but in all of the first round matchups thus far.
In the end, these results are better for the NBA, because unlike the single elimination NCAA tournament, we’ll get a superior product in each subsequent round. If the first round was still a best of five format, we’d be looking at a couple series in Hawks-Wizards, and Grizzlies-Clippers that frankly would not rate as well or be as interesting as the current matchups.
While the underdogs played together, and played well under the circumstances during “Game 7 Saturday,” the stars came through went it mattered most and ensured that the favorites played on. As we conclude what may go down as the most entertaining first round in NBA Playoff history with two more Game 7s this afternoon, give credit to the underdogs for their effort over the last couple weeks, because even if they don’t pull off the upset, it’s been fun to watch.
