11/21/24
April 18, 2011
Hornets Upset Lakers to Open Series: Chris Paul scored 15 points in the final five minutes and had 14 assists to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 109-100 upset victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in their NBA playoff series opener Sunday. It was the first time in 16 playoff series openers that Lakers coach Phil Jackson lost.
posted by rcade to basketball at 10:07 AM - 12 comments
And Atlanta beat Orlando.
posted by tommybiden at 10:57 AM on April 18, 2011
Just a personal opinion: seems like this year's NBA playoffs are shaping up to be some of the most interesting in a long, long time.
posted by mayerkyl at 11:02 AM on April 18, 2011
My favorite team is stuck in a series with everyone's second favorite team. After game 1 I don't really want to watch this series anymore. I feel like the Thunder are going to win it on the strength of a thousand star calls and I'm going to end up resenting Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for something that the officials are doing.
posted by tron7 at 11:06 AM on April 18, 2011
Why do I have a feeling that the referees are going to be doing everything short of actually wearing gold jerseys in game 2? (Not that I care about this series, or the NBA in general. Just sayin'.)
posted by TheQatarian at 11:45 AM on April 18, 2011
This was a great game. Chris Paul played out of his mind yesterday and you wanna talk about a misamatch, why was Pau Gasol on CP3 a few times? I know it was during a switch but where was the help defense? CP3 just made Gasol look silly.
The Celtics were very lucky to sneak past the Knicks
A win is a win and I'm sure the Celtics will take that any day.
(Not that I care about this series, or the NBA in general. Just sayin'.)
Why comment about something you clearly don't care about? Just sayin'
posted by BornIcon at 12:43 PM on April 18, 2011
actually wearing gold jerseys in game 2
Won't matter unless a couple of big guys already wearing gold jerseys show up.
posted by cixelsyd at 01:24 PM on April 18, 2011
My favorite team is stuck in a series with everyone's second favorite team.
I thought this was going to be you trying not to say that your favorite team is the Heat.
posted by bender at 01:48 PM on April 18, 2011
I feel like the Thunder are going to win it on the strength of a thousand star calls and I'm going to end up resenting Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for something that the officials are doing.
Not unless they get help from their teammates. I don't think they can keep up that production for an entire series. Still, it's unfortunate for you they are playing your team because they are great to watch.
posted by bperk at 04:44 PM on April 18, 2011
It would be nice if this were a conference final. I think the THUNDERNUGGETS are the two best teams in the Western Conference at the moment. That said, and back to the actual post, I think the Lakers are as likely to take the next four as the Hornets are to win any more games. Even if Paul plays as well as he played last night the Lakers are just too big and skilled to get beaten in a seven game series by this Hornets squad.
posted by tron7 at 05:48 PM on April 18, 2011
I was at the second to last Lakers regular season game at Staples Center where they lost to Oklahoma City. I sat sixth row.. two observations are 1. Russell Westbrook is uh-mazing, and B. Ron Artest is an old, old man.
posted by phaedon at 09:17 PM on April 18, 2011
Regarding Westbrook ... It amazes me how many top tier NBA players come out of UCLA and at the same time how mediocre UCLA has been the last decade.
posted by cixelsyd at 11:50 PM on April 18, 2011
And Memphis beat San Antonio. The Celtics were very lucky to sneak past the Knicks (I'd like to sing along with the chorus of "They took the Knicks' best shot and won", but the Cs looked like their own worst enemy out there). Amazingly, even Chicago had a hard time with the Pacers.