A Tale of Two Teams

I wasn't planning on writing tonight about the NBA playoffs, I'm worried about the Yankees pitching, satisfied with the job Jerry Reese did in the NFL Draft and at the point of walking off the ledge with the Rangers, who are their own story, which I will write when it's over. But watching the games tonight now got me ready to vent. The Utah Jazz should be commended for making their series with the Lakers a much more competitive one that it could of been if you look at the 3rd quarter scores. At the same time, words can't even describe how awful the New Orleans Hornets were tonight.

I'll start with Utah, since I don't have NBATV and watched none of the Hornets game. To be perfectly honest, I checked out of the Lakers-Jazz game when the only man slowing down Kobe was Steve Javie and proceeded to watch the Sharks finish their choke. After Ryan Getzlaf scored to make it 4-1, I flipped back to TNT and the Jazz, who were down by 22, cut the lead to 6 because of the play from Ronnie Price, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap. Charles Barkley all week has said that the Lakers are lacking a killer instinct and proved it again against a proud Jazz team that once again made it closer than it should. That's how it is with Jerry Sloan teams, always tough. Unfortunately in the NBA, if you don't have the talent, you rarely win in the playoffs. But at least the Jazz compete.

Enter the Hornets. They played at home tonight in Game 4 with a chance to tie the series and proceed to lose the game 121-63. READ THAT SCORE AGAIN 121-63!!!!!HOW DO YOU LOSE AT HOME BY 58 POINTS?!!! When I saw this score on ESPN.com, I was first shocked, then disgusted. It is absolutely reprehensible to lose by that margin in your home building. Everyone should be given a refund for buying tickets to that game to watch an effort like that. And no, I didn't watch a minute of this game and I'm just going by the score. I don't care, it's a 58 point loss. There is no excuse for this. Bill Simmons has wrote on a couple of occasions that the Hornets are quiting on Byron Scott. Obviously, you can't disagree with the effort set forth tonight. Denver is proving to be the better team, but they can't be 29, 15 and 58 points better than them. I really can't say any more, just it's ridiculous for an NBA team to lose by this much in any situation. I don't care if it's the Kings or Wizards, much less a playoff team, put an effort. Show up, especially if you're home playing in front of fans who spend good money when there isn't a lot to spend during this recession.