March Madness may be over, but several former Duke players are making a splash in the postseason.
Ten former Blue Devils have seen game action in the past two days, making Duke the most represented school in the NBA playoffs.
The matchup of the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers poses the most interest to Blue Devil fans. Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng headline a young and talented Bulls team opposite Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Dahntay Jones and Josh McRoberts for the Pacers. Boozer and Deng finished with a combined 30 points to lift Chicago over Indiana in Game 1 despite a furious fourth-quarter charge from former Tar Heel Tyler Hansbrough. ESPN analyst Jon Barry couldn’t help but notice the Tobacco Road influence in Saturday’s game, and even likened the United Center crowd to the Cameron Crazies at the end of the fourth quarter.
J.J. Redick, Chris Duhon and Shelden Williams also suit up for teams in the Eastern Conference. Redick scored four points for the Orlando Magic in his first game back after missing 17 games due to an abdominal strain. Duhon and Williams both didn’t play in their respective Game 1’s, but could see action later as the Magic and Knicks attempt to even their series.
Associate head coach Chris Collins’s father, Doug Collins--who recently had some interesting comments about Chris’s future--is at the helm of the Philadelphia 76ers, who are back in the playoffs after winning only 27 games last year. Elton Brand, who led Duke to a 37-2 record in the 1998-99 season, scored 17 points and had 7 rebounds for Philadelphia, but it wasn’t enough as the 76’ers fell to the Miami Heat, 87-79.
In the Western Conference, Shane Battier stole the show for the Memphis Grizzlies. The 2001 National Player of the Year hit the go-ahead 3-pointer against the one-seed San Antonio Spurs with 23.9 seconds to play and iced the game with a tip-in to give the Grizzlies their first postseason win in franchise history.
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