The NBA Playoffs standings have shifted and are now completely balanced as the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors walked off the court with victories tying their respective series after completely dominating their Game 2's.
After Wednesday, this is what the standings look like:
Miami Heat 1-1 Chicago Bulls
New York Knicks 1-1 Indiana Pacers
Oklahoma City Thunder 1-1 Memphis Grizzlies
San Antonio Spurs 1-1 Golden State Warriors
As visible, all the NBA Playoff series are tied 1-1. This means we have at least five games from each series and following a weekend of basketball, one team will be up 2-1 in their series.
The Heat did not play around. The Bulls couldn't contain LeBron James in the first half as he scored all of his 19 points in the first 24 minutes of the game. However, though 19 points is not what you'd want from James, that's pretty much all they needed from him in this game. Ray Allen and Norris Coles added 39 points from the bench and James was feeding his teammates finishing with nine assists.
The Bulls shot 36 percent from the floor while the Heat shot exactly 60 percent from the floor. The final score was 115-78, but these were the important numbers of this matchup: 51 fouls, 9 technical fouls, 2 ejections and 1 flagrant foul. The referees were blowing the whistle like lifeguards on duty. Pretty much, they set the tempo for the rest of the series. The Bulls and Heat don't like each other and things are bound to get physical. Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were the two bodies ejected and they will more than likely make a nice donation to the NBA following their unsportsmanlike treatment of the referees.
Over in the West, the Warriors somehow managed to pull out the win. It took skill and focus in this one. Mark Jackson simply told his guys the words of Pat Riley, however, he remixed it a bit and was completely honest. It wasn't "Rebounds get you rings," he told them "Rebounds will get you a win over the Spurs in Game 2." He didn't aim too high speaking of rings, so the Warriors did what he preached and they out-rebounded the Spurs by two, 50-48.
The story of Game 2 was Klay Thompson scoring 29 points in the first half, the most against Gregg Popovich in the playoffs. Thompson was on fire sinking 7-8 threes in that half. He finished the game with 34 points as the Spurs were able to contain Stephen Curry, but Thompson was responsible for the victory as the Warriors won 100-91.
Though many thought the series was over after the Warriors blew a 16-point lead late in Game 1, they were able to hold on to their lead as they committed only 10 turnovers. The Spurs shot 39 percent, while the Warriors finished with 45 percent, which was enough for the win. The Warriors also connected on 47 percent of their threes.
Tony Parker had 20 points, while Tim Duncan added 23, but it just wasn't enough tonight. Curry finished with 22 points on 7-20 from three. Now the Spurs actually look feeble as the Warriors have two deadly sharp shooters from the perimeter.
It shall be an exciting weekend of NBA Playoffs as the standings are bound to shift once again. Stay with Sports World Report as we will always bring you the latest from the NBA Playoffs.
