These might get to SLAM today, but here's what I had....Pre-game
-Due to some confusion, I’m at the top of the lower bowl and Aggrey’s down at courtside. Pretty diverse crowd up here, as I sit next to a French reporter, whose next to a Chinese reporter, whose next to this (don’t make me have to go and see the) Rasta, who Aggrey is best boys with. Also: two rows down, a white dude with gold fronts.
-Nat’l Anthem: a 5 year old named Tione Johnson. Honestly, this city has more child prodigies…
Q1
-TP gets hit hard early, and is in a pissy mood all night. This is a game the refs will need to control. (Sad how true--in the bad way--that becomes)
-After CP3 loses Parker to make it 13-11, Pop calls a TO, out of which Bowen drains a 3. There’s a grave inevitability with the Spurs that’s not unlike watching the Patriots. Christ, does that make CP3…? NO, and B-Scott isn’t some angry old man, either, and the Saints better not sign Shockey.
-Emeril in the house. Aggrey texts that Lang would be amped. During last year’s Jazzfest, some friends of mine from Pittsburgh went to Emeril’s and got mean drunk, apparently a reaction to the poor service. Emeril was in the house that night, too, filming a TV spot, and one of my friends tried to crash the kitchen, yelling, “Emeril knows this ain’t right! Emeril knows!” I can’t really forget that when I see him.
-David West is on fire, has 14 for the quarter. Peja’s only had 2 shots, which is not hot.
-Quarter ends 23-21, SA, and Pop just went crazy. It looks like bar fight down there, and I’m pretty sure Joey Crawford said something. To defuse the situation, Crawford walks to within 5 feet of the dancing Honeybees and stares. Always a good way to release the stress when Pop’s mad at you, Joey.
Q2
-I don’t know how to describe the moments when Juju Wright sees a seam in the defense, but the entire crowd can see it happen, like his eyes just got 10x bigger and his arms grow a few yards. He attacks the hole in one long motion, and banks the ball hard off the backboard. Bowen drains a 3 at the other end.
-Bow Wow in the house! I text Aggrey that Lang would be amped.
-34-28 Spurs with 8:00 left. The Hornets need a solid run now, I think.
-Drew Brees pops his free t-shirt, autographs a football, then guns it into the first row of the upper deck. Sign that lady to a minicamp!
-Wow, a second white dude with gold teeth sits down and high fives his, uh, brother. Bling, ahem, bling.
-The run is slow in the making, with Peja and West doing some damage and Ginobli countering them. 42-36 Spurs with 1:50 left.
-At this point, the dude whose seat I’m in (KATZ reads the label, which could be radio or a deli) shows up and I move to the TV station seats on the same level, center court. Much better.
-When Ginobli falls down, West ends up dunking at the other end and the game is tied. The crowd, as it has been all post-season, is electric.
-Parker gets hit again, this time by, I think, a Pargo elbow. That’s the playoffs and maybe Mike D’Antoni isn’t in the seat of a sexual harasser if everyone thought the same way.
-Half ends 47-44. West has 22, CP3 only 6 and 8. Manu leads the spurs with 15, Parker’s at 10 and 2, and TD is held to 4.
Halftime
-Trombone Shorty might be compared to Lebron James. Since a young age, he’s been in the spotlight, playing on the street and with his well-known family. Now the question is, can he take that next step and push N.O. music further than just funk and brass? The talent and charisma is there, and he’s definitely looking for the nat’l audience. That quest might be his Achilles heel, but tonight, things look good for the next king.
Q3
-Well, I guess Chris Paul made the decision to take this thing by the throat. A floater, a 3, and a chip shot from the paint make it 57-51. Not to root against them in the next one, but how dope would it be to see this dude in his first Game 7?
-Hornets D is the other story, as they have SA playing sloppy and frustrated. The refs haven’t been good on either side, but the Spurs get the visitors treatment.
-From this angle, you can really see that TCP3 alley-oop coming. Fortunately, the Spurs aren’t stealing signals.
-D-West +1 past TP, quarter ends 72-58.
-The Used-to-Bees come out. They’re the, like, older, more physically diverse dance team. They have this Svengali dance coach, a real shady dude, who tonight…is that guy making it rain? No sht. He just made it rain. I’m still wincing as I write this.
Q4
-Byron is going for the kill! He leaves his starters in to face Pop’s line-up of shooters, Udoka, Ginobli, Fin, Bones, and Oberto, who’s not so much a shooter as an extra in a junkie flick.
-Doesn’t work. 2:30 into the quarter, it’s 78-63. After the Spurs TO, the Jumbotron plays a clip from 300 while Enter Sandman pounds thru the speakers. That line, “Off to never, neverland” was the death of heavy metal.
-Tyson is helped off. Looks like an ankle and trouble down the road. He and West have alternated on TD and done a great job tonight.
-West goes around TD, then blocks his shot at the other end. Pargo finishes with a 2, its’ 85-70 Hornets with 6:00 to go.
-Unfair but awesome: when Tony goes to shoot FT’s that could cut the lead to single digits, a fan holds up a life-sized cut-out of Eva in what looks to be a Honeybees outfit. He misses both and all us 15 year old’s chuckle. For this, the fan gets a pound from Hilton, who seems to have some diva-on-diva beef with Eva.
-Hugo appears with gold boxing gloves on as the Rocky theme plays, and eventually he makes his way to the top row in the arena, bringing the crowd to its feet. Hugo’s been thru a lot these last few days, and it’s good to see him back on-top. Aggrey resents the out-of-Philly experience.
-This leads Pop to pull his starters with over 2 minutes left and a 12 pt. deficit, though it might have been a Fck You to the refs, too.
-I’m not sure, but I think the local TV people just had an Anchorman-like confrontation below us. Really, there’s a heated re-telling going on to my left. Huh.
Post-game
-The reporter who Pop sarcastically labeled, “a very accurate young man” after Game 2? Yeah, he introduces his question to Pop by saying, “it’s the very accurate reporter again (coy smile).” Really? You want to what, flirt with Pop at a time like this? Pop still doesn’t know why the games are all blow-outs, but he does say “I believe the official was incorrect” twice.
-Big Shot Bob talks to some friends on the loading dock, looks unconcerned. This concerns me, as we still haven’t seen his dagger collection this series. More to come.
