Dirk Nowitzki gave one of the all-time great playoff performances to lead his Mavericks to a 121-112 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Dirk made 10 of his first 11 shots and an NBA playoff-record 24 straight free throws on the way to 48 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks.
Tyson Chandler has never garnered the headlines given to some of his all-star teammates. However, the Mavericks addition of Chandler last offseason is paying huge dividends this postseason. The Mavs identity changed when Tyson showed up. Suddenly defense and toughness were being used to describe Dallas.
The Dallas Mavericks made a statement last night in the Los Angeles Staples Center. A winning recipe of stable defense anchored by Tyson Chandler, coupled with proficient offense led by Dirk Nowitzki, resulted in a 93-81 victory for the road team. The Mavs return home for Game 3 and 4 with a dominant 2-0 series lead over the Lakers.
Two-time all-star David West has spent his entire 8 year career with the New Orleans Hornets. Whether or not the power forward will remain in NOLA next year is uncertain. He can opt out of his contract after this season, and I suspect he will. As a matter of fact, you can count on it.
While Chris Paul took the Hornets first loss hard, he most hard on himself. CP3 picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. "You can't do nothing on the bench. That's my fault. I felt like the fouls were here or there, that's my fault, I can't expect the refs to not call it."
