Time to drive the stake

As someone who used to regularly burn up the keyboard with sports related blog posts, my Twitter feed has been eerily absent of original material over the past few months.  Between juggling responsibilities and relationships (my "real world" job, grad school, lovely wife and a two-year old little boy); my opportunities to blog have been few and far between.  However, leave it to tonight's NBA slate to wake me from my slumber. (I only have a few minutes so this won't be the most well-written piece I've ever crafted, but who cares?)

As a bona fide fantasy sports nerd, I am the commissioner of a NBA league aptly named "Knicks vs. Grizz Finals".  Judging from that name, it's not hard to see where my loyalties lie, and both the Knicks and the Grizzlies have prime chances tonight to drive the stake into the hearts of their opponents (vampires are all the rage so this metaphor works).  The beautiful aspect for both the Knicks and Grizz is that they are facing off vs. fierce rivals so punching tickets to the second round will be extra sweet.

Living in New England, I get all the Celtics love and Knicks bashing I can handle on sports talk radio.  Articles such as this one show that the belief the Celtics will win four straight to come back from 0-3 down is a common sentiment from Celtics fans and media types alike.  Most folks in Boston believe the Knicks to be a flawed jump shooting team led by a paper tiger in Carmelo Anthony.  According to Boston media types, the Knicks, who haven't won a playoff series since 2000, will pucker when it's time to seal the deal.  Maybe that's how it will play out, but I don't think so. 

The Celtics don't have a true point guard, and the Knicks have three.  Raymond Felton has outplayed Avery Bradley in this series, and I think the Knicks will get stellar point guard play tonight at TD Garden which is one of the reasons they will get over the hump on the road in six games. 

Anther reason the Knicks will tonight is Carmelo Anthony will come out a man possessed.  He will not play as poorly as he did in game five.  The key will be making quicker decisions once the ball is in his hands and not getting the majority of his shots from isolation plays.  If the Knicks can execute crisp ball movement and get Carmelo the ball in his spots, he will shoot much better from the floor than he did in game five.  Plus, Melo will have extra motivation to bust the Celtics' ass thanks to Jordan Crawford; way to wake a sleeping giant, moron. 

Speaking of Jordan Crawford, this is par for the course from this Celtics bunch (i.e. KG and Honey Nut Cheerios).  God bless the city of Boston, and I am a big proponent of "Boston Strong".  However, the fact that the Knicks wore black suits to game five because they "were going to a funeral" is not a disrespectful swipe or ill-timed gesture towards the city of Boston.  It was simply a failed motivational technique that obviously didn't help get the Knicks over the hump in game five.  It's nothing more or nothing less.  Since we live in a crazily obsessed PC society, many in the Boston media feel this was a classless gesture.  This comes from the same media that covers Jordan Crawford and sees Kevin Garnett and his Honey Nut Cheerios as just an "intense team player". 

Here are some numbers and items to consider:  The Knicks are a tremendous 3-point shooting team, and they are shooting a paltry 23.1% the last two games from downtown.  I don't think that trend will continue; for such a great shooting team, it just can't. 

The Celtics are old and running a 7-man rotation (Jason Terry & Terrence Williams off the bench).  Can KG and Pierce hold up for two more games at a high level?  They both have tons of heart and are champions in this league, but I think the C's slim rotation catches up with them tonight. 

To  conclude my thoughts on this series, I know the Celtics are going to be tough to bury because they have future Hall-of-Famers in Pierce and Garnett and one of the best coaches in the league in Doc Rivers.  The Knicks haven't won a playoff series in so long it's going to be hard from a mental aspect to seal the deal.  That being said, the Knicks are the more talented and complete team of the two (They actually have a PG).  Also, it's Carmelo Anthony's time to step up and get this team deep into the playoffs.  I'll never forget this game and hope to see the same result tonight. 

In regards to the Grizz, I don't have as much to type.  I will say that I loathe "Flop City" and love the post combo of ZBo and Gasol.  All Heart, Grit, Grind will be rocking in the Grind House tonight, and with Blake Griffin hobbling on a bum ankle, the Grizz will close it out.  I was 10 rows up at Game 2 last year in Memphis, and the sheer hatred these two teams have for one another is palatable. 

I know that a Knicks vs. Grizzlies NBA Finals is a true long shot because of the Miami Heat.  I believe if the Grizz can beat the Clippers, they can win the West.  The Thunder are simply not the same bunch without Westbrook, and the Spurs can be beaten by Memphis (as evidenced by two years ago).  So here goes tonight....  I'm be watching with bated breath.  It's time for the stakes to be driven.