A big day in hoops as number-one seeded Louisville is ousted by Michigan State, Carolina flexes it's muscles over Oklahoma and The Blunder lost their third in a row.
Michigan State stunned top-seeded Louisville with surprising ease, 64-52 as Goran Suton had 19 points and 10 rebounds. The second-seeded Spartans used a controlled-pace game to perfection to advance to their fifth Final Four in 11 years; tops of any team in the nation during that span. Michigan State heads to the final four at Detroit's Ford Field House for what is essentially a home game against another #1 seed, Uconn, on Saturday. Earl Clark led Louisville, who finish the season 31-6, with 19 points.
Ty Lawson had 19 points to lead North Carolina over Oklahoma, 72-60 in a game that wasn't really that close. Only a late 9-0 run by Oklahoma made the final score closer than the game actually was, as Carolina dominated. Blake Griffin led the Sooners with 23 points and 16 rebounds as Oklahoma finished the season 30-6. The Tar Heels advance to their record 18th Final Four to play Villanova, who upset Pittsburgh, on Saturday in Detroit.
The Celtics dumped the Blunder 103-84 on Sunday using a 32-16 fourth quarter to blow the game wide open for the easy win. The Blunder were led by Russell Westbrook's 21 points, the second straight night future ex-Blunder Kevin Durant did not lead the team in scoring. Nick Collison was back in form, going 1-for-7 in 26 minutes for four points, one game removed from a 21 point outburst.
"We did a pretty good job for three quarters," coach Scott Brooks said.
The Blunder lost their third straight and fifth of six as they position themselves for a run at the lottery pick. Curiously, Durant, who normally logs many heavy minutes, only played 33 minutes in a game the Blunder were technically in until the fourth quarter. Are they resting him for next years playoff push or just ensuring another loss to gain a higher pick? Interesting strategy in OKC; take your best player out when the game is on the line.
In other Blunder developments, The Blunder sent rookie forward D.J. White back for a second stint with their NBA D League team in Tulsa. Ironically, the Blunder are 20-53, which most people consider "D league" already.
Blunder: 20-53, last place.
Playoff outlook: we're tanking games now for a higher lottery pick.
Next loss: Wednesday vs San Antonio.
Outlook: Quest for 60!
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3 comments:
[i]Are they resting him for next years playoff push or just ensuring another loss to gain a higher pick?[/i]
They wouldn't do that would they?
'"We did a pretty good job for three quarters," coach Scott Brooks said. '
Sorry, Scotty, but doing "a pretty good job for three quarters" won't cut it in the NBA. This isn't the NHL, where they do play three periods, but since it's the Blunder, I'm sure they'd still find a way to lose a game if it was reduced to three periods, especially since they're pretty much out of most of their games by halftime.
"We did a pretty good job for three quarters"
That us simply brilliant.
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