Woah, just when you thought things were making sense in the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers get blown out by the Washington Wizards, the Houston Rockets finally get a game back from the Utah Jazz, and the Toronto Raptors get a win over the Orlando Magic.  God these middle row games are fun!  If there was one thing that would kill me about the late-90s playoff series between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat it was that they would swing back and forth between home games and away games, only to find that New York would always pull off those game 7 wins.  Damn you John Starks, you too Allen Houston!

And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t watch a single second of the Atlanta Hawks versus Boston Celtics or Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers games.  I need a break somewhere, and 1 v 8 will always lose.

I only really watched the Cavs v Wiz game because I’m on the East Coast and a 10:30ET starting playoff game is gonna get cut off.  I did catch the first half of the Rockets v Jazz, but first halves are for basketball dorks.

Like I said last time, if the Wiz can finally get some of their shots to drop, then they’ll take a game from the Cavs.  DeShawn Stevenson who had been sucking big time finally made a dent and went 5-7 from 3’s.  Maybe Soulja Boy cheering him on from the stands got him fired up.  By the way, how appreciative do you think Soulja Boy is to LeBron James right now?  LBJ makes one reference to him, and now his name is being repeated on a daily basis during the NBA playoffs to millions.  “The NBA, where unknown rap-stars happen.”

Surprisingly, I think what really turned things around in this game were Roger Mason, Jr. and Antonio Daniels, as well as Caron Butler finally findinghis damn shot.  Roger Mason just put up a solid game, fueled by having home-court.  But all three of them did something which I didn’t see them doing in the previous two games, which was be aggressive to the basket.  They weren’t just settling for jumpshots (most of the time), and there were very few times that they stopped moving the ball to take quick shots.  They stayed in their offense, and let plays develop, instead of just taking quick shots.

Also, the play of Brenden Haywood is irreplaceable.  5-6 from the field, and 4-4 from the FT line.  Tell me most teams wouldn’t want that from their starting centers?  Also, he gives the Wiz someone to drop the ball into.  I can not, can not, can not stress the importance of having an inside out game in the NBA.  Someone to drop the ball into, and then kick it out.  If this was the NFL, it would be as important as having a solid running game.

Not to give too much credit to the Wizards, but Cleveland looked FLAT, and there’s a really obvious reason for this.  The Wizards were playing foul based defense in the first two games.  Anytime the Cavs would go to the basket, someone on the Wiz would foul them.  This creates a couple of problems.  First, the Wiz don’t feel the need to play defense anymore, when they can just foul, and second, the Cavs don’t need to have intensity, because they can just lazily head towards the basket and get fouled.  Since the Wiz stopped, it threw Cleveland off.

Game 4 is gonna be close.

As for the Houston Rockets, I have one name for you, Rafer “skip to my lou” Alston.  I absolutely hated when the Miami Heat gave this guy up.  He was playing for us right after the debacle that was Anthony Carter (let’s ask Denver Nuggets‘ fans how much they like him), and he played so solidly.  He is a true point guard in this league, and it was alsointeresting to hear that he was an “And 1″ touring baller.

Anyway, you can see how much more comfortable Tracy McGrady isnot having to run the offense.  Not to mention bringing Bobby Jackson off the bench, instead of having him start makes a huge difference.  Houston finally looked like they had an ability to keep up with Utah, instead of chasing them the whole game.  In that situation, the whole “scrappy team” mentality is a HUGE advantage. 

I don’t even think there’s anything that you can say against Utah.  They played their game, they played solid, and they just dropped the game.  This could be a huge problem for Utah.  It reminds me of Madden Football.  Some teams are just as good as any other team, but when it gets to those last minutes, your QB always seems to make in INT.  Then, you have the 5th round rookie you drafted who may not have the awesome stats as QB #1, but for some reason he always makes those last minute completions.  Damn, I love Madden Football.

Tonight’s games: New Orleans Hornets (-5) at Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons (+4.5) at Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs (-6.5!) at Phoenix Suns.

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