Sacramento @ Seattle

[spursupporter]

seattle is quite dangerous....

poor bibby having an off night

[boutons]

both teams shot under 40%

[Gerryatrics]

I never thought I would say this, but the Sonics won this game with their dominant inside play. Jerome James and Reggie Evans had eight offensive rebounds, fifteen total... apiece. James also had seventeen points and five blocks, I think this may have actually been the first double-double in his career. That's really sad actually, but at least he picked playoff time to finally man up and earn the bloated paycheck he's been getting the last couple of years while he's played every night like it was a casual pickup game with some local seniors instead of the freakin' NBA.

The Sonics also did a good job of getting to the line and creating turnovers. Hopefully their three-point shooting can pick back up and they can put the Kings away, they can't afford to celebrate too early and let the Kings get back into the series.

That was an awesome game, I just wish I could have been at the Key to see it instead of being stuck at home. I couldn't get a stinking ride into Seattle. Not having a car sucks. I'm hopefully set for Tuesday though, I'm excited about that.

[orhe]

that game was weird...

[alamo50]

Kings will come out on top to face the mighty Spurs.

[sickdsm]

Kings look like if they get healthy it should be a cakewalk. Hell, anyone can rebound against Thomas and Skinner.

[boutons]

"weird"

What's weird is how the Sonics, Kings, and Mavs came out so flat for the first playoff game, with offenses way under their season averages.

Spooks me about which Spurs are gonna show up today @SBC.

[Obstructed_View]

That's what happens when you rely on offense. The Spurs shouldn't have that problem.

[boutons]

"Spurs shouldn't have that problem."

As a rule, when Spurs suck on offense, they suck on defense. A game where the Spurs' defense holds the fort until the offense stops struggling is an exception to the rule. The focus, commitment, energy, teamwork required to play Pop's defense carries over to the offensive end.

[Obstructed_View]

I partially agree with that. The reason that seems to be the case is because when they forget to play defense it's at the beginning of the game, so their defense isn't holding the fort, it's clawing them back into the game. Typically they start off playing good offense, forget to play defense, and then the offense goes away, usually due to what you said, that the defense carries over to the offensive end. They then have to lock down to try to regain their rhythm.

As a rule, when the Spurs aren't playing good defense, it's because they forgot to, usually because the offense is going pretty well. I say again: In the playoffs, they should not have that problem because they probably won't forget to play defense.

[td4mvp21]

^^thats not exactly true. There have been a lot of games where we have sucked on offense, but our opponent did too because of defense. BUt you are right, the latter has happened a lot before too.

[exstatic]

seattle is quite dangerous....

poor bibby having an off night

Seattle isn't dangerous, they just got the easiest draw from the bottom half of the WC bracket. Sacramento has been in a freefall for months.

[ShoogarBear]

Bobby Jackson had a good game in his first game back, the regular season finale. He also sucked (0 for 7) against Seattle, and yet the Kings only lost by 5 on the road.

I still think the Kings take this one, and if Jackson gets back into shape they can still be dangerous.

[CosmicCowboy]

yeah...the health of Bobby Jackson and Brad Miller will be the x factor for the Kings to get out of the first round...

[Obstructed_View]

Sacramento is a veteran team that is capable of playing better than they have lately. I don't think they are finished, but if Jerome James suddenly decides to play for the whole series it could be tough.