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Washington 88 Cleveland 87: Caron Butler came up with a clutch performance last night in helping the Wizards beat the Cavs. Caron had been struggling this whole series but last night was a different story as he poured in 32 points and added 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Butler's performance sends this series back to Washington for Game 6. The Wizards definitely have a chance to push the series to 7 games. I'm not sure they would win a Game 7 on Lebron's home court though but they still have to take care of business at home before they can do that.
Cleveland did not shoot the basketball well in this game, hitting only 36% of their shots from the floor. Lebron had his usual strong game scoring 34 points, pulling down 10 boards, and dishing out 7 assists. However, some of the role players were awful, most notably Joe Smith, Anderson Varejao, Devin Brown, and Wally Szczerbiak who combined to shoot a woeful 3 of 23 from the floor. Definitely not going to win too many games with those numbers.
The other interesting development in this game was the strategy of the Wizards to foul Ben Wallace on purpose down the stretch. Wallace, who is shooting below 30% from the line in this series, missed 2 free throws when they fouled him on purpose. Wallace then proceeded to foul Caron Butler on the rebound of the missed free throw, which led to Butler knocking down a free throw.
Considering that the Cavs lost by only one point, this strategy could have been the difference for the Wizards pulling this game out. It will be interesting to see if we will see this strategy again if Game 6 is close in the 4th quarter and Wallace is on the floor.
Boston 110 Atlanta 85: Boston really played well in this game on both ends of the floor and this is the performance that many were expecting to see from the Celtics in Games 3 and 4. I like the way they came out in this game from the start, similar to how Detroit came out in their Game 5 against Philly. Now the challenge for both of these teams is to make sure they take care of business in Game 6 on the road. Boston also catches a break with Washington forcing Cleveland to play a Game 6, so now the Cavs won't have any extra rest, assuming they still win their series.
Butler's performance sends this series back to Washington for Game 6. The Wizards definitely have a chance to push the series to 7 games. I'm not sure they would win a Game 7 on Lebron's home court though but they still have to take care of business at home before they can do that.
Cleveland did not shoot the basketball well in this game, hitting only 36% of their shots from the floor. Lebron had his usual strong game scoring 34 points, pulling down 10 boards, and dishing out 7 assists. However, some of the role players were awful, most notably Joe Smith, Anderson Varejao, Devin Brown, and Wally Szczerbiak who combined to shoot a woeful 3 of 23 from the floor. Definitely not going to win too many games with those numbers.
The other interesting development in this game was the strategy of the Wizards to foul Ben Wallace on purpose down the stretch. Wallace, who is shooting below 30% from the line in this series, missed 2 free throws when they fouled him on purpose. Wallace then proceeded to foul Caron Butler on the rebound of the missed free throw, which led to Butler knocking down a free throw.
Considering that the Cavs lost by only one point, this strategy could have been the difference for the Wizards pulling this game out. It will be interesting to see if we will see this strategy again if Game 6 is close in the 4th quarter and Wallace is on the floor.
Boston 110 Atlanta 85: Boston really played well in this game on both ends of the floor and this is the performance that many were expecting to see from the Celtics in Games 3 and 4. I like the way they came out in this game from the start, similar to how Detroit came out in their Game 5 against Philly. Now the challenge for both of these teams is to make sure they take care of business in Game 6 on the road. Boston also catches a break with Washington forcing Cleveland to play a Game 6, so now the Cavs won't have any extra rest, assuming they still win their series.
As always, when the Celtics win it is tough to pick just one player who stands out with their performance. However, I did like the way Paul Pierce came out and played in this game and he finished with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Pierce is the best scorer on this team and I think he needs to realize that in the playoffs there are times when he needs aggressive look for his shot. The Celtics also got strong play from the usual suspects in Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rondo and the bench combined to score 35 points.
Check out the performances by Pierce and then Butler below:
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