|
By Simon Fishler SportsLine.com NBA Editor |
April 28, 2000
There's a lot to be said for been there, done that when it comes to playoff basketball.
Just look at the teams that have had the most success in the first week of the 2000 playoffs. The five teams that lead their first-round series, 2-0, all hold a big edge in players with postseason experience.
How big? Here's a breakdown of how many combined playoff games the starters on the five teams have compared to their opponents.
It doesn't hurt that those teams have home-court advantage, but the main theme so far has been the playoff-tested veterans coming through in the clutch.
There's Scottie Pippen, who has played in more postseason games than any active player, taking over in the crunch and leading the Blazers to two close victories over the Timberwolves. Pippen's 184 playoff games ties him with Robert Parish for the fourth-most ever. He could pass Magic Johnson (190) and Danny Ainge (193) if Portland pushes through to the Western Conference finals.
There's the duo of Karl Malone and John Stockton, good for a combined 310 postseason games, leading the Jazz against the Sonics. Both are shooting better than 60 percent from the field and are averaging a combined 51 points -- Malone 36.5, Stockton 15.5 -- in the first two games of the series.
On a lesser scale, there's Latrell Sprewell (25-game playoff vet), the spark to the Knicks' run to the Finals last year, schooling the postseason rook Vince Carter in New York's two squeakers at Madison Square Garden.
In a sequence that tells all, Spree stuck a jumper in Carter's face to give the Knicks a one-point lead with eight seconds to go in Game 2. Carter had a shot to win it, but instead he passed it to little-used reserve Dee Brown for a 3-pointer that clanged off the rim.
That's a shot Carter will have the chance to take again. And a few years from now, after a few more postseason scars, he probably will take it and make it.
And then there's Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse (seven playoff games) who had two chances to either win or lift the Pistons into a tie with the Heat in Game 2 in the final 30 seconds. On his first slashing drive he took it in on Dan Majerle (112 playoff games) and Alonzo Mourning (44) and lost the ball in the airspace above the rim. The second time he slipped in the key and just flat-out lost it before he could make a move.
John Stockton and the Jazz have handcuffed the less-experienced Sonics.(AP)
Sizzlin' … the countdown
5. Spree 2, V.C. 0 NBA bad-boy Latrell Sprewell contained NBA golden-child Vince Carter in both games and hit the game-winning shot in Game 2 to give New York the 2-0 edge in the series. 4. Milwaukee 'D' The Bucks were the fifth-worst defensive team in the NBA during the regular season (101 points allowed a game), but in getting a split on the Pacers' home floor in the first two games of the playoffs, they gave up just 89.5 points a game and held Indiana under 40 percent field-goal shooting in both games. 3. Perfect pair The 74-year old duo of Karl Malone (.622 from the field) and John Stockton (.619) have put the Sonics on the brink. 2. Mr. Playoff The critics said 34-year-old Scottie Pippen was washed up. They're not saying that anymore after Pip's powerhouse performance in the first two games of the playoffs (24.5 points, eight rebounds, 2.5 assists a game). 1. Familiarity breeds success The teams with the players that have been through the playoff jungle many times before are succeeding so far this postseason. Fizzlin' … the countdown
5. Not like Mike In the mad din of Madison Square Garden in the waning seconds of Game 2, Vince Carter had a chance to knot up the series with New York at a game apiece. He drove the ball toward the top of the key and inexplicably pulled up and passed it to reserve Dee Brown, who hadn't taken a shot in the game, for the potential game-winning 3-pointer. It went clang, putting Toronto in a 0-2 hole. 4. Bench slob The Kings' bench, dubbed the "Bench Mob", was supposed to be one of the few advantages Sacramento had over the Lakers in the first-round series. They haven't come through, though, particularly lead bench gunner Peja Stojakovic, who has scored a combined six points on 2-for-12 shooting in the two losses at L.A. 3. Disaster in Indy Who's The Man in Indy, Jalen Rose or Reggie Miller? It was neither in Game 2 against the Bucks. They combined for a measly 21 points on 8-for-25 shooting in just the sixth loss all season for Indiana at Conseco Fieldhouse. 2. Disappearing act Allen Iverson sounded off about how he's treated like the "12th player" on the Sixers by management after he popped in 40 points in the Sixers' Game 1 win at Charlotte. Then The Answer played like a guy that should be buried on the bench, missing 16 of 21 shots and scoring a career playoff-low 13 points in an overtime loss to the Hornets in Game 2. 1. Baked in Salt Lake First, the Sonics get blasted by the Karl Malone's 50 points in Game 1, then they don't guard anybody in Game 2. The Jazz are shooting a gaudy 51 percent from the field as a team in the two victories.