Player of the Game (Round 2, Game 1: Wizards @ Pacers)

[FAH1223]

Beal

25 points, FG 8-18; 3-5 3 point FG; 6-9 FTs; 7 boards; 7 dimes; 5 steals, 4 turnovers
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Ariza

22 points, FG 7-10; 6-6 3 point FG; 6 boards; 2 dimes; 1 steal
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Nene

15 points, FG 6-16; 6 boards; 2 dimes; 2 blocks
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Wall

13 points, FG 4-14; 5-6 FTs; 5 boards; 9 dimes; 2 blocks, 1 steal, 1 turnover
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Gortat

12 points, FG 4-12; 15 boards; 2 dimes; 3 blocks, 5 turnovers
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Gooden

12 points, FG 5-11; 2-2 FTs; 13 boards

[queridiculo]

Beal played great in the second half, and Gooden performed well down the stretch after seemingly hurting us in the third.

Ariza on the other hand broken the game wide open, and never relented on George. Ariza is my PoTG.

[Hypnotizer]

Trevor for excellent 3P shooting and more.

[benb331]

Voted with my heart - Beal. Just a ballsy game out of the young man.

If I voted with my head - Ariza. Such efficiency, wow. Made it look easy. Made Larry Bird make a sour face.

If I voted against all the haters - Wall. Agree with all the posters who say he's supposed to win games, not put up gaudy stats. In the first half, he absolutely dominated. When Miller came in, it was clear that we needed John sorely. He's a floor general. Forget everything else, this guy is leading his team to victories in the playoffs.

[GhostsOfGil]

Watching Ariza play defense is a thing of beauty. He was fantastic at denying PG the ball and when he did play him straight up, he forced him into tough long range 2s. PG: 4-17 1-5 from 3 18 points.

Ariza for PoTG.

[montestewart]

I could say Ariza, but I voted for Gooden just because it sounds so crazy that some guy who wasn't even on a roster In February would have such an impact on the Wizards's first 2nd round victory EVER!

[WallToWall]

Wish I could vote a tie between Beal and Gooden.
So, I voted for Gooden in the poll...even though he played only 18 mins. They were very productive minutes that pretty much broke the back of the Pacers.
I would also throw in a vote for Beal because of the way he guarded, forced turn overs and got some steals. To my eyes, thats what did it, more than the 3 point shooting and 25pts.

[ptown]

Ariza. Offense and Defense

From ESPN:
"Ariza also did it on the defensive end, as he held Pacers players to 1-of-11 from the floor as the primary defender, including holding Paul George to three points on 1-of-8 shooting."

"From Elias: Trevor Ariza is the 3rd player in NBA playoff history to make at least 6 3-pt FG without a miss."

[Wizkids12345]

Trevor Ariza might be the best pure 3 and D player in the league.

[bealwithit]

You can't go wrong with Ariza/Beal/Gooden but I picked Beal.

Ariza being perfect from three, provided that hot start, and his defense were all crucial.

Gooden was huge getting offensive boards and points inside when Nene needed to sit in foul trouble and Gortat was struggling to score.

But Beal, 25 pts, hit some HUGE threes and the most impressive part to me is the rest of his stat line, 7 rebounds 7 assists and 5 steals. He played great on Lance and totally took him out of the equation as being a big threat to the Wizards on the glass or giving the Pacers a big scoring spark that they desperately needed.

A stat I heard on Inside the NBA: EDIT: I totally messed up the original stat. It's Bradley Beal joins Magic Johnson as only players since 1964 to score 25+ points in 3 playoff games before turning 21.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I voted Gortat because I didn't view the game. 15 rebounds and 3 block seem huge. Gooden's offensive rebounds in such limited time also seem like Herculean numbers. He would have gotten my statistical vote if I could recast.

(Great game to miss! I could have watched it but was nervous and busy being productive. I knew they were ahead so I didn't want to change the mojo. )

[WizardsWorld]

BEAL BABY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So excited for this kid. We seriously are gonna have the most exciting backcourt possibly EVER.... and they're just getting started !

[dangermouse]

Beal/Ariza joint award.

Athreeza for catching fire, and locking down PG.

Beal for timely baskets, and 7 assists and 5 steals. He had 5 freakin steals???? and 7 assists? I didnt even realise. Amazing game for the young man.

[MarcoPolo]

Without one piece others won't work, so it's like well-oiled machine. But.... yeap Ariza was huge for the team.

Also i will give Commentary of the Game Award to Chris Webber. Guy was awesome and made this game even more enjoyable to watch and listen to.

[Severn Hoos]

Ariza. If he can break even in his matchup with George, the Wiz should win the series, and maybe rather handily at that. George is the all-NBA guy in the series, the one supposed advantage the Pacers have. So if Ariza can neutralize him the Wiz' chances go up exponentially.

Last night, he didn't just neutralize George - that would have been a great night in itself. But to pour in more points and do it much more efficiently than George did on his end - well, Ariza won that battle on BOTH ends of the court.

[tontoz]

Ariza, He dominated George on both ends. It will be very tough for Indy to win a game where Ariza outplays George.

[Higga]

Slight edge to Beal but you can't go wrong with Ariza either. And Gooden as the unsung hero off the bench(who would have thought we'd say that in the 2nd round of the playoffs LOL).

[nate33]

Voted with my heart - Beal. Just a ballsy game out of the young man.

If I voted with my head - Ariza. Such efficiency, wow. Made it look easy. Made Larry Bird make a sour face.

If I voted against all the haters - Wall. Agree with all the posters who say he's supposed to win games, not put up gaudy stats. In the first half, he absolutely dominated. When Miller came in, it was clear that we needed John sorely. He's a floor general. Forget everything else, this guy is leading his team to victories in the playoffs.

Well said. I agree completely.

[dckingsfan]

Voted with my heart - Beal. Just a ballsy game out of the young man.

If I voted with my head - Ariza. Such efficiency, wow. Made it look easy. Made Larry Bird make a sour face.

If I voted against all the haters - Wall. Agree with all the posters who say he's supposed to win games, not put up gaudy stats. In the first half, he absolutely dominated. When Miller came in, it was clear that we needed John sorely. He's a floor general. Forget everything else, this guy is leading his team to victories in the playoffs.

Well said. I agree completely.

Ditto

[Geaux Wiz]

All hail Lord Threeza