Even though I said I didn't care who won this series, which is still true, that doesn't mean that I am not going to watch it. And I am glad I watched last nights game to witness one of the greatest shooting performances in the history of the NBA playoffs....JJ Barea just couldn't miss. Weaving in and out of the defense, hitting floaters and threes like he was playing on the beautiful out door courts of Puerto Rico, and not in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
In all seriousness, that little guy can ball, but this game was obviously about Dirk Nowitzki. The big German scored 48 points, on 12-15 shooting, and an NBA postseason record 24-24 from the free throw line. The previous record for most free throws made without a miss was held by dickbag Paul Pierce when he went 21-21 in 2003. We can get into my hatred for Paul Pierce at another time.
Dirk was and is completely unguardable. Serg Ibaka could have been inside his uniform and it wouldn't have mattered. When Dirk is making jumpers there is just nothing a team can do about it. The announcers on ESPN were calling for the Thunder to send help for Ibaka more often, but double teaming Dirk won't accomplish much of anything. His strength is his ability to get his shot off up and over defenders because of his high release, so shooting over two defenders is no different than shooting over one.
On the Thunder side, Kevin Durant did work as he always does, putting up a very impressive, yet completely overshadowed 40 points, to go along with 8 boards and 5 assists. Who knows how many points he would have put up if Russell Westbrook actually gave him the ball. I have never seen a more selfish point guard than Westbrook. He takes horrible shots, and completely ignores Durant when he is calling for the ball. If I was the coach of the Thunder, who looks like a miniature version of Liam Neeson, I would remind him that he has the best scorer in the NBA on his team, stop taking shitty shots, and give him the damn ball. Or else he should get the real Liam Neeson to karate chop his throat until the lesson is learned. And yes, I know Westbrook just had only the 5th triple double in Game 7 history, but Derek Jeter hit two home runs on Mother's Day, and what as he done since then? Unless Westbrook changes the way he plays, it isn't going to matter if Dirk averages 10 points the rest of the way, the Thunder will have no chance.
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