Except for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 1 of the opening series in the 2009 NBA Playoffs turned out to be an upset for the three of the four home teams. The San Antonio Spurs lost to the visiting Dallas Mavericks 105-97, while the Houston Rockets prevailed over the Portland Trailblazers 108-81 in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls surprised the defending champions Boston Celtics in overtime 105 - 103, while Cleveland crushed Detroit 102-84.
Chicago Bulls 107, Boston Celtics 105
Derrick Rose played like a veteran in his first play-off appearance scoring a record 36 points and 11 assists for a rookie to lead all players of the Chicago Bulls to victory over the Garnett-less Boston Celtics. Rose tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's score (while Jabbar was in Bucks) in the most points by a rookie in their 1st playoff game in the NBA. Not even Micheal Jordan did that in his rookie year. I was cheering for the Bulls all early morning long (the game started 1230AM Sunday) and I was really impressed with how the Bulls ran the game right from the opening quarter. The Bulls were more aggressive inside but it was Rose and Rondo who stole the show at the start of the first half firing and blazing their arsenals. The Boston Celtics were behind as many as 11 points but Rondo was their for the team to bounce back.Game 2 is Tuesday morning in the Philippines, the anniversary of the 1986 playoff game when Jordan scored 63 points against Boston -- in a Bulls loss. In fact, Chicago had not beaten the Celtics in 10 postseason games since the Chicago Stags beat Boston in the 1948 Basketball Association of America quarterfinals.
Another surprise was Ray Allen's poor shooting percentage all night long. He shot an unbelievable 1 of 12 field goals only. This was how he played anyway last season, but without Garnett around, he has to rise up on the occasion.
Yao 
Ming recorded a perfect 9 of 9 field goals, scored nine of Houston's first 11 points and finished with 24 in the Rockets' 108-81 victory over the Trail Blazers on Saturday (1230AM Philippine time).
It was the opener of their first-round playoff series.The Rockets led by as many as 31 points in the second half and there was simply no way the young Blazers could catch up.Yao scored all of his points in the first half, and added nine rebounds. He hit all nine of his attempts from the field and all six of his free throws (can you believe that?). Portland centers Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden had no answer for the seven-time All-Star from China. Yao rested the entire 4th quarter.
Brandon Roy had 21 points for the Blazers in their first playoff appearance since the 2002-03 season. Portland embraced the young team this season, and some 10,000 fans showed up at a downtown rally earlier in the week in support of the team.
Ming recorded a perfect 9 of 9 field goals, scored nine of Houston's first 11 points and finished with 24 in the Rockets' 108-81 victory over the Trail Blazers on Saturday (1230AM Philippine time).It was the opener of their first-round playoff series.The Rockets led by as many as 31 points in the second half and there was simply no way the young Blazers could catch up.Yao scored all of his points in the first half, and added nine rebounds. He hit all nine of his attempts from the field and all six of his free throws (can you believe that?). Portland centers Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden had no answer for the seven-time All-Star from China. Yao rested the entire 4th quarter.
Brandon Roy had 21 points for the Blazers in their first playoff appearance since the 2002-03 season. Portland embraced the young team this season, and some 10,000 fans showed up at a downtown rally earlier in the week in support of the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment