CAVS SWEEP WIZARDS, BULLS DETHRONE HEAT

 

 

Facing the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row, the Cavs did a smooth job of taking care of business in Cleveland to retain homecourt advantage though once the series switched to Washington it was a reasonable expectation that the Wizards would get their game going. However when the Cavs won Game 3, the Southeast division side knew they were in trouble and so had to prepare for a do or die game 4.

Well the Cavs opened up the game 4-0 but the Wizards had no plans to lie down and they surged to allow them to battle the Cavs for the lead throughout the first half. A second quarter surge gave the home side a much more comfortable lead though the Cavs came right back in it with the lead switching constantly mid quarter before Antawn Jamison gave the Wizards a comfort zone yet again and though the Cavs threatened a comeback, the Wizards led 47-44 at half time.

The Wizards hit two big buckets early in the third and they held a comfortable lead for most of the quarter before it was the Cavs turn to surge only for the Wizards to retake the lead 67-66 with seconds left in the quarter which led to the final battle for the lead in the fourth. Six minutes on the clock and it was tied at 77 with the Wizards taking the next lead only for Larry Hughes to hit a hot run of jumpers which resulted in the Cavs pulling the win from under the Wizards' noses to the tune of 97-90 and sweeping the Wizards 4-0.

The form in the Heat vs Bulls series had been the biggest surprise of the playoffs so far. OK, so the Bulls got given home court advantage and won their first two games in Chicago. However once the series switched to Miami you'd have though the Heat would have found their A game again! Not so, the Bulls won Game 3 to leave the defending champions with a mission impossible, to come bak from three games down. Starting with winning Game 4.

Well credit to the Heat they came out all guns blazing and seemed to have easily learnt their lesson from the first three games to leave Deng and crew ice cold. The Bulls slowly tightened the game up though but the Heat always had that extra burst to get them out of trouble. Eventually, the Bulls managed to tie the game at 40 with 2:30 left in the half but the Heat ended the half on a Dwayne Wade led burst and camew in at the break 48-44 up.

That still left the home side close enough to be in the Bulls sights though an early third quarter surge gave the Heat a few minutes security as they maintained a 60-52 lead with less than six minute to go in the third but then the Bulls broke free and it was Deng who gave the Bulls the first lead of the game and that let the air out of the Heat's final tyre. The never regained the lead and the only idea they had left was to force Ben Wallace to shoot free throws. This idea backfired serverely and ass their fans walked out early the Heat lost the game 92-79 and became the first defending champions to get swept in the first round of the playoffs for 50 years!

Elsewhere, well the Nets beat the Raptors 102-81 to chase the Canadian side back to Toronto for game 5. Out West, well the Mavs are in deep trouble as the Warriors beat them 103-99 in Oakland to chase them back to Dallas for Game 5 and leave the number 1 seed on the brink of elimination! The Suns beat the Lakers 113-100 in LA to, allowing them to finish the job off with Game 5 in Phoenix. The Spurs beat the Nuggets 96-89 in Denver to set up a kill with Game 5 in San Antonio and the Jazz and Rockets have already done Game 5 with the Rockets winning 96-92 in Houston to chase the Jazz back to Utah for Game 6.

Three teams swept and the defending champs are one of them. What next?

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