Playoff Revelations honors playoff players without big names, but who are having a big impact in the postseason.You can make a legitimate case that coming into last night's Jazz/Warriors series opener, Deron Williams was facing more pressure than any other player on the floor. He was going up against a guy who's had the best post-season so far (Baron Davis), and if he doesn't play big in game 1 (and for the rest of the series), Davis will have his way. Unlike Jason Terry and Devin Harris (who crapped the bed in the previous series), it appears that Deron Williams has to come play.
Leading his team to a thrilling game 1 victory, Williams poured in 31 points, handed out 8 assists, and grabbed 5 boards. The stats, however, don't tell the whole story: What was most impressive about Williams's performance was his demeanor. Even when Baron Davis went crazy in the second quarter - scoring 17 points and giving his team the lead going into the second half - Williams never put his head down and he never stopped believing in himself or his team. For a young guy (dealing with foul trouble late in the game), he showed a lot of poise, and the Jazz wouldn't have been able to storm back without it.
I believe that the Deron Williams-Baron Davis matchup is the best one-on-one battle of these Playoffs (yes, even better than the Nash-Parker tilt). It could end up being the determining factor in the series. Last night, Deron Williams was the man.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
i don't know if this is better than the nash/parker series but it is a look into the future of the nba and promises to be a great series!
the conventional wisdom is the team that wins the first game wins the series-fine. but that doesn't always happen! golden state has shown themselves to be an explosive team and may yet surprise everyone- again!
all the same, utah seems to have more stablity as a team, mentally. we'll see if passion and desire can overtake discipline and defense.
whoever wins the series, i have a hard time seeing them take out the winner of the spurs-suns series but both of these teams seem hungry and we'll see what happens.
I bet Atlanta is feeling good about passing D-Ron over for that 5th small forward now.
I personally have seen a lot of great things in the playoffs so far. And I feel this series is a great one mostly due to the fact how often do you see the Jazz and Golden State fighting for a chance to go to the western finals. Both have a good a chance as any thats for sure. Being a Jazz fan I can tell you I love the Jazz. Win or Lose I"m behind them all the way. Sometimes personally its easier when your team sucks. Because nothing causes more stress or heart attacks then watching your team in the playoffs. But regardless this is a great matchup, but I do see the Jazz having the advantage. Its hard to stop a team that has a lot of really good players. Then a team that has one amazing player, just ask Dallas.
Go Jazz... you guys deserve more than all those nuckle heads predict on espn!!! with love from turkey... ;)
go jazz... you guys deserve more than those on espn and in cali predict... love from turkey ;)