Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA Playoffs – Sunday, April 17, 2011
TNT’s coverage of the 2011 NBA Playoffs continues on Monday, April 18 at 7 p.m. (ET) with a doubleheader featuring the Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat (Game 2) followed by the Indiana Pacers @ Chicago Bulls (Game 2)
CLIP OF THE DAY
(click on link below to watch)
The Inside the NBA crew discusses the improvement and strength of the Boston Celtics
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TNT NBA Tip-off presented by AutoTrader.com
Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith
Barkley on the Hornets game #1 victory of the Lakers: “I’ve got to take my hat off to Monty Williams. He had his team ready to play and they were not intimidated at all.”
Smith on Pau Gasol guarding Chris Paul: “Why would you put this guy [Pau Gasol] on an island to try and guard Chris Paul? Every time you [LA Lakers] switched the pick and roll you got buckets in your head.”
Barkley on the Lakers not three-peating: “I’ve already told you I don’t think the Lakers are going to win the championship. This is not the same Lakers team. They’ve gotten old in a hurry. And that little non-chalent thing they do when they can turn it on. The little yellow light is on, and you can’t turn it off.”
Barkley on the Grizzlies-Spurs series: “This is going to be a knockdown, drag-out series and the Grizzlies are going to win.”
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Game 1: New York Knicks (85) @ Boston Celtics (87). Boston leads series 1-0. Announcers: Marv Albert, Steve Kerr with David Aldridge reporting.
Kerr on Celtics center Shaquille O’Neal: “I think this is a series that Boston should win, with or without Shaq.”
Kerr on the Celtics’ trade of Kendrick Perkins: “I think all Celtics fans are wondering as we head into the playoffs is it just apathy or is it a bigger issue? Is an emotional letdown after the trade of [Kendrick] Perkins and a chemistry issue.”
Kerr on the aging rosters of the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics: It happens every decade or so when there’s a changing of the guard. You see the Lakers struggling, you see the Spurs getting older, you see Boston getting up there in age…Wouldn’t it be interesting if this trend continues and all of a sudden we were looking at a brand new landscape in the NBA.”
Kerr on Knicks guard Toney Douglas: “I think [Toney] Douglas can play a huge role in this series…[Toney] Douglas is capable of taking over a game.”
Kerr on the Grizzlies and Hornets upset wins in game #1’s of their respective series: “I think the best chance to steal one on the road is always game #1. The home team is always a little nervous, trying to get the jitters out.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony: “The guy’s the best scorer in the NBA. He’s just a little better than Kevin Durant because he’s a better post-up player.”
Johnson on the Lakers decision to have forward Pau Gasol guard Hornets guard Chris Paul: “Give him a cigarette and a blindfold.”
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Kerr on Celtics center Jermaine O’Neal’s offensive output: “Where did this come from? When was the last time he made an impact offensively?”
Kerr on this Knicks team not built offensively like head coach mike D’Antoni’s traditional running teams: “This is not the Mike D’Antoni team we’re used to seeing in Phoenix. This is not a running team. Billups doesn’t run, Carmelo doesn’t run. So it’s a half-court team. So unlike D’Antoni’s previous teams this team can’t find rhythm and pace in the open-court. They’ve got to do it by making shots in the half-court. Against Boston, that’s a tough thing to do.”
Kerr on the Celtics: “Boston has just willed its way back into this game with its energy and its defense.”
Kerr on Knicks guard Chauncey Billups: “He doesn’t make as many of them anymore but he is unafraid of the situation.”
Kerr on Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire: “Somewhere in Phoenix Alvin Gentry is feeling a little queasy thinking ‘we’d be in the playoffs if we still had that guy.’”
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Game 1: Denver Nuggets (103) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (107). Thunder leads series 1-0.
Announcers: Ian Eagle, Mike Fratello with Pam Oliver reporting.
Fratello on the improved defense of the Denver Nuggets: “Before the trade Denver was giving up 105 points a game. After the trade they were giving up 97. How about George Karl having to re-invent this team, not only on the offensive-end but on the defensive-end as well.”
Fratello on the Denver Nuggets long awaited trade of Carmelo Anthony: “This has been a franchise in chaos from last season up until they traded him this year.”
Eagle: “JR Smith, he can shoot it from anywhere and can make it from anywhere.”
Fratello: “That’s his range you know; anywhere.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on Oklahoma City’s lack of scoring depth: “My question with Oklahoma City coming into the playoffs is they’ve got to find a third scorer….They have two guys who can get you 30 [Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook], but that’s sixty and they need to find a third option…Me and Kenny both agree, it’s got to be James Harden.”
Smith of the loss of Knicks guard Chauncey Billups in the Knicks/Celtics: “I think this hurt them, because down the stretch I think the decision-making was questionable.”
Barkley on the contested three-point shot by Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony with five seconds left in the game for the win: “I’ve got a problem with this shot. You don’t want to try to be a hero. Unless you’re in the Army, the Navy or the Marines you don’t have to try to be a hero.”
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Fratello on Thunder forward Serge Ibaka: “[Serge] Ibaka; so far to go on the offensive end of the floor, but defensively he’s already number one as far as blocks on the season. He’s a force on the glass….His offensive game will develop.”
Nuggets head coach George Karl during TNT’s Inside Trax: “Please think about running more. Commit to running more. I’ll waste every timeout to rest you if we’re running. Rest on makes, rest on free throws, but don’t rest when we rebound.”
Fratello on Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo: “I thought he was one of the guys you had to consider for Most improved. He had a sensational year at both ends of the floor.”
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Inside the NBA
Johnson, Smith and Barkley
Barkley on the matchup between the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder: “Denver is a much deeper team. They are going to get contributions from a bunch of different guys. The pressure [in this series] is on Westbrook and Durant. Can they play like that seven games in a row? I don’t think they can. They’re not going to score 40 and 30 [in each game.] Someone please step up on those guys and give them some help because it’s going to be a long series playing like that.”
Smith on consistency in basketball: “There’s one thing in basketball that is not consistent and that’s your shooting. Everything else you can have consistent; your effort, your defense, your execution, your decision-making [can all be consistent] but your shot sometimes leaves you.”
Smith on the Boston Celtics’ ability to execute late in games: “The one thing [you see] when you watch the Boston Celtics play, and Doc Rivers said it, it’s ‘not playing hero basketball.’ It’s really called execution. The guy who is supposed to get the basketball, regardless of who it is, gets it.”
TNT reporter Cheryl Miller interviews New Orleans Hornet guard Chris Paul following the team’s defeat of the Los Angeles Lakers
Paul on the how the Hornets beat the Lakers in Game 1 of the Playoffs: “We really picked up [the energy]. We knew that the Playoffs are a new season for us and all we wanted was [an] opportunity. It was only one game, not that big of a deal. Aaron Gray [and our bench] was outstanding for us and that’s how we won the game.”
Paul on the importance of heart in the Playoffs: “One thing you can’t measure with size is your heart. [Carl Landry and Aaron Gray] came out tonight and really brought it. But like I said, it’s one game. We’re going to have to come out on Wednesday and play with that same momentum.”
Barkley on the Hornets’ victory over the Lakers: “What a fantastic game! [Chris Paul] willed that team. I’ve got to give a shout out to [New Orleans head coach] Monty Williams because he had that team ready to play and they were never intimidated at all.”
Smith on what the Memphis Grizzlies should take away from the first game win against the San Antonio Spurs: “I heard players saying that they had to take something from this game. What you would take from this game is that San Antonio didn’t lose the game, [but] you actually had to beat them. San Antonio got the shots they wanted, they were able to execute down the stretch, Bonner got the threes and open looks, Richardson got the game-tying shot wide open. San Antonio didn’t beat themselves, they just didn’t make the shots. If you’re Memphis, you have to know ‘we have to continue to be executing better each night if we want to stay in the game, we can’t make mental mistakes.’”
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