It’s down to a question of strength now in the NBA Playoffs. The players and teams have reached the point where all the conditioning and training are starting to pay off.
Strong is not just muscles. Players at this level have to be mentally strong as well and keep themselves in control out on the floor in the public eye. Both Noah and Mohammad crossed over the line during some rough moments. Andersen got tangled up with Nate Robinson and came down sort of on top of him but, it was a legit play and Birdman was trying to get off of him when Noah arrived and pushed him away strongly.
We all understand trying to protect a fellow teammate from harm and in the heat of the moment well, it was just a little too much.
Mohammad pushing LeBron James to the floor was one of the more memorable moments of the contest. The big guy doesn’t get pushed down too often. That was way overboard and the offending Bull was promptly ejected from the game. He did get a resounding round of applause which probably made him feel better, but Mohammad was wrong. What if everyone started that kind of behavior?
The Bulls raged and the Heat kept their cool, guess who won. It’s great to play with passion the sport thrives on it. Passion fuels both the players and the fans and keeps the sporting events alive and vital for all of us. But the Bulls went overboard on the passion scale in game 3 back home at the “Madhouse on Madison”… and it lost them the lead in the series.
It was age before beauty in the game when the young and flashy Warriors of Golden State hosted the battle scared group of seasoned pros from San Antonio.
Kevin Durrant can not guard Marc Gasol for a whole basketball game we found that out on Saturday. Once again it was a question of strength and conditioning that won the game for Memphis. If the Thunder had Russell Westbrook it would be another story. But they don’t and this is the playoffs.
The match-up of the Pacers verses the Knicks is a good example of strength against strength. These guys are tough. Defense is paramount. In the first quarter of game 4, the score was Indiana 18 New York 15. Not a lot of fancy shooting going on here. Just head-to-head, down in the trenches basketball. Bring it on.
