Day 1 Recap--No one loses quite like Dwight Howard

How awesome are the NBA playoffs? Seriously, the Pacers almost shocked the world, Dwight Howard accomplished something only Hakeem Olajuwon and um, Bonzi Wells can claim to have done, and the 76er’s nearly capped off an epic comeback against the Heat. And if you needed one more scrap of evidence, my father—who never, ever, ever watches basketball—tuned in for about twenty minutes.

So here are some thoughts from day one of what will be a busy two months for my television, and a frustrating one for friends and family.

Jason Kidd is alive…

Where the hell did that come from? He had flies buzzing around him and the vultures were circling just last week. For Jason Kidd to score 21 points and hit six threes after his worst three-point shooting season since 2003 is truly incredible. It remains to be seen if his performance can be replicated, but if Kidd does what he did tonight regularly we’ll all have to reevaluate the Mavericks chances in the playoffs.

Derrick Rose is preposterous…

It’s really the only way to describe what he did to the Pacers—who, I might add, thoroughly outplayed Chicago for 47 minutes. It’s not simply the stats Rose puts up; it’s how he puts them up that has so enthralled America. It’s how he slithers through the paint dodging bodies like a runningback and explodes through the hole like Barry Sanders. It’s how he makes difficult shots look easy, and impossible shots seem effortless. Rose approaches every spinning off-balance layup, every lefty-banker, every step-back jumper like he’s solving a Rubik’s Cube. Scoring is a math problem, and Derrick Rose happens to be Albert Einstein.

Portland’s most obvious flaw was evident for all to see…

For all the advantages Portland seemed to possess against the Mavericks, we had ONE concern, one issue that has plagued the Blazers all season. How do they score when opponents pack the paint and concede the outside shot? Aldridge got his points (from about 234 alley-oops) but neither Batum, Fernandez, Miller, Mathews, Wallace or Roy could knock down the simple eighteen-footer. And tonight wasn’t an outlier, Portland shot 37.3 % from 16-23 feet for the season, the second worst mark in the league. Their length bothered Dirk for most of the night, but they just couldn’t convert enough buckets to take advantage. Of course, even an average night from Jason Kidd might have led to a Portland victory…game two will be telling.

Oh, and Andre Miller might be the only point guard in history to shoot three-pointers flat-footed.

The Orlando Magic may just be in trouble…

Dwight Howard did everything short of physically assaulting Atlanta’s big men for 46 minutes, and Orlando still fell well short of a win. I didn’t take game one as a hit to Howard’s MVP candidacy, but rather, validation that his supporting cast is simply rotten. Dwight scored 46 points on 22 shots, dunking, shooting over, shooting around, shooting through, and generally ravaging any Atlanta big man he could get his hands on. He went 14-22 at the line (solid for Howard), grabbed 19 boards (six offensive), turned in a highlight reel block, and even sported a goatee for good measure. But besides Howard and point guard Jameer Nelson, the other seven guys played like I would after an appendectomy. They can’t expect to win anything if Jason Richardson hits only two shots and Hedo Turkoglu is about as much of a factor as Earl Clark. Oh…Earl Clark didn’t play.

Random fun fact: According to Basketball Reference, Dwight Howard is the only player in NBA history to score 45+ points and grab 19+ boards in a playoff game and lose. And Howards one of only twelve guys to score 45+ in a playoff game since 1991 and lose. Can we call this the Kobe Bryant club?

Indiana’s performance was fluky…

For those thinking it might be a series after all, SORRY.

-Indiana shot 56% from deep (10-18). They’re a middling three-point shooting squad, 16th in the NBA in terms of percentage (35%) and Chicago is the best team in the league at defending the three-ball by a WIDE margin. Don’t expect Indiana to get hot like that for the rest of the series…the stats just don’t say it will happen.

-For most of the game Indiana was lights out from 16-23 feet (44% for the game), an area of the floor they normally struggle with. Tyler Hansbrough was also incredible, knocking down seven of ten jumpers from 16-23 feet.

-Indiana gave Chicago their best shot…and lost. That is not good for the psyche. Especially when your coach looks like Colin Cowherd. That is most definitely not good for your psyche.

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated