Five Things takes a look at five things to watch out for in marquee games with playoff implications.We've got a trifecta of Game 3's on Friday. We've got an Eastern Powerhouse trying to prolong its relevance, and the new Eastern Order trying to showcase how dominant it really is. We have a scrappy underdog showing you that to overlook them leads to your own peril. And we have a physically and emotionally wounded star-crossed titan battling the basketball equivalent of a populist movement.
So what should you be paying attention to this evening? 5 Things has you covered. Let's talk about Cleveland-Detroit, Orlando-Philadelphia, and Portland-Houston.
1. The Face Of The Dynasty. Game 1: Yao Ming hits his first nine shots, the Blazers have no answer, the Rockets torch the Blazers in their house. Game 2: Nate McMillan decides to front Ming with Joel Pryzbilla, bring the baseline double, and, along with some fancy flop work, puts Ming in foul trouble. The Blazers even the series. So in Game 3, the questions abound regarding the Man Dragon. Can he avoid foul trouble at home? Can Adelman create opportunities for him by setting up the double post with Luis Scola at the elbow? The Blazers will inevitably go with what worked, the front-and-baseline-double. The issue becomes that Ming has the size to catch the high lob over the front, and the range to step out and knock down J's. However, the Rockets are going to need their guards to slice and dice to take the pressure off. If Aaron Brooks gets it going off the pick and roll with Scola, Portland will have no choice but to stay home versus Ming. Which could mean lobs and dunks for the seven footer. Keep an eye on the chess match between McMillan and Adelman.
2. Wither Orlando's Assassins? Orlando's shooting 27% from beyond the arc in this series, 11% worse than their season average. This team is built to work the inside-out game and punish you with the rain. So far it's been pretty parched. The Sixers are in this series due to effort on both sides of the ball, and their ability for whatever reason to keep the Magic stymied from deep. But the Magic were too lights out during the season for this to vary so far from the mean. At one point or another, the cannons are going to light for the Magic, and then the Sixers will have to find some way to match buckets. Keep your thermometer on the Magic hands.
3. What Does Detroit Have Left In The Tank? The Pistons just look tired. Tired of the drama, tired of the season, tired of the turmoil, tired of the losing. Tired. The Cavs have played with an out-and-out killer instinct, aside from a brief letdown towards the end of Game 2.
There's talk of Tayshaun Prince potentially being limited by a back injury. All signs point to this team drowning in malaise. But then, when we thought this team was destined for the lottery, they had the pride to get the job done and make the playoffs. Every time we've counted this team out, they've at least shown us some level of pride and poise. Will we see that tonight at home against the best player in the NBA? Or will Detroit decide the beach sounds nicer than another flight to Cleveland? Effort may be the difference between Detroit showing their potential and Cleveland showing them the brooms.
4. It Would Be Nice if the ENTIRE 76ers Came To Play. From Game 2, I took away a pretty simple formula. (71 / Andre Miller + Andre Iguodala + Thaddeus Young) + (16 / Rest of the freaking team) = FAIL. The Sixers snuck out of Game 1 with a win thanks to players like Donyell Marshall (nickname: "I Thought He Retired") and Theo Ratliff putting in serious productive minutes. In Game 2, reality decided it would get its minutes and the pair contributed three points and eight rebounds. Now, the Sixers have alternatives in Louis Williams and others, but at some point, if the Sixers want to push the Magic, they're going to need either more points from players that make people go "Who?!" or else a 40-point explosion from one of the big three to keep the series outside of the expected range of results.
5. Muscle Meets Menace: Come now. It's Friday night. He's back where his playoff legend was born. The Lakers slipped, giving him an opportunity to get a leg up on them. He's leading up to what will most likely his be his first MVP presentation. You know you want to see what Lebron James has up his sleeves for the highlight shows. Might be one to remember. Or he could jack up three pointers with no regard for human decency and you have an opportunity to criticize.
So, what do you think, FanHouse? Which games should we focus on with our liveblog tonight? You click it, we pick it.
Update (4:15 PM): The readers have spoken, and they want more King James -- 42% voted for the Pistons-Cavs, 37% for Rockets-Blazers and 21% for Sixers-Magic. Check back tonight for the live blog -- fun starts at 7 PM.
