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So.....
...what if I told you that the NBA Playoffs are buckwhild *and* the Atlanta Hawks just won pivotal game 3 against the #1 Eastern Conference seeded Indiana Pacers, 98-85? And they did it with Paul Millsap shooting 27 FG%? They won behind a 59 point second half against the defensive minded Pacers, with Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, and DeMarre Carroll leading the way. The Hawks took 34 three point attempts and went to the line 37 times (Indy was at 20 and 21 respectively). The Pacers 51 rebounds didn't mean much when the team shot 32 for 85 (37.6 FG%). It was close down the stretch, but Teague made the shots when he needed to. Kyle finally got his threes to fall as well.
The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at home, in Overtime 98-95-- and well, that's another feather in the cap of the lower seeded teams. OKC couldn't make a three to save their live (5-28, 17.9 3PT%), and shot poor enough to play in the Eastern Conference (39.1 FG%), AND Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both had 30 point games. No one else stepped up for them, and the balanced Memphis attack carried the day. Close game, close victory. That's what matters at this point in the season.
Last, but not least, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 98-96. Again both teams struggled from deep (common thread last night), and again, the winning team finished with 98 points. Klay Thompson had 26 points (but 2/11 from deep), Stephen Curry had 15 assists, and Draymond Green had a double double with 4 blocks and 3 steals -- but I think you have to see that Harrison Barnes, David Lee, and Andre Iguodala did not have the types of games they are expected to have. For the Clipps it was the usual suspects, Blake Griffin finished with 32 points (but went 2/9 from the FT line), DeAndre Jordan had 14/22 with 5 blocks, and Chris Paul had a double double of 15 and 10 with 2 steals. J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford both made shots (5/11 FG each), including 3/6 from three.
Synchronicity?
Anyway, onto the Utah Jazz players:
| FG | 3PT | FT | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | G | Min | PTS | M | A | % | M | A | % | M | A | % | REB | AST | A:TO | STL | BLK | BARPS | / Min | +/- | ||
| 1 | Paul Millsap | ATL | 3 | W | 38 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 27.3% | 1 | 4 | 25.0% | 7 | 8 | 87.5% | 14 | 4 | 0.67 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 0.87 | 20 |
| 2 | Kyle Korver | ATL | 3 | W | 35 | 20 | 6 | 9 | 66.7% | 4 | 7 | 57.1% | 4 | 4 | 100.0% | 6 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 0.77 | 12 |
| 3 | DeMarre Carroll | ATL | 3 | W | 41 | 18 | 6 | 8 | 75.0% | 2 | 4 | 50.0% | 4 | 6 | 66.7% | 4 | 2 | udf | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0.61 | 16 |
| 4 | Kosta Koufos | MEM | 3 | W | 17 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 50.0% | 5 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0.76 | 9 | ||||||
| 5 | Derek Fisher | OKC | 3 | L | 16 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 33.3% | 1 | 1 | 100.0% | 1 | 1 | udf | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0.38 | -8 | |||
Yup, Millsap leads the charge! And Carroll had a good game after being a no show in Game 2. I think we're all happy that Kyle is making threes again. But we're most happy that Kosta is having a bigger impact than Fisher.