Buffalo Blizzard 56-33 (0-8)

Costa Mesa Condors 68-14 (8-0)

Score (click for boxscore)	Game MVP	Hi Points	Hi Rebounds	Hi Assists
1. Condors 137, Blizzard 117	Kevin McHale	34 Kevin McHale	11 K.McHale/K.Malone	9 Isiah Thomas
2. Blizzard 127, Condors 125	Karl Malone	33 Karl Malone	17 Akeem Olajuwon	13 Isiah Thomas
3. Condors 152, Blizzard 111	Kevin McHale	38 Kevin McHale	15 Karl Malone	20 Isiah Thomas
4. Condors 154, Blizzard 145	Isiah Thomas	35 Kevin McHale	17 Akeem Olajuwon	18 Isiah Thomas
5. Condors 147, Blizzard 113	Akeem Olajuwon	26 Akeem Olajuwon	15 Rolando Blackman	14 Isiah Thomas

Game 1 – Buffalo defeated Costa Mesa narrowly enroute to the VBA Finals two years ago (the Blizzard’s only Western Championship) and to say the Condors have dominated the rivalry since (if you want to even call it a rivalry) is quite an understatement. Costa Mesa bludgeoned the Blizzard in a West finals sweep in the postseason rematch last season. Since then, the Condors posted a perfect regular season record over the Blizzard during the regular season: Buffalo finished 52-30 and eight of those 30 losses (0-8) were at the hands of these Chamberlain division winners. Can Buffalo find a W in these West Conference semifinals after 12 consecutive losses dating back to last year’s playoffs? (It could be even more defeats in a row, but yours truly didn’t check last year’s regular season to see how much carnage happened then). For the Blizzard, this game in the Condors’ Honda Center started on an upbeat note as it hung tough with the hosts through a 31-31 first period tie. Tom Chambers (Buffalo) and Rolando Blackman (Costa Mesa) each led their respective teams with 10 points. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the Condors ratcheted up their offense in the second quarter, led by Kevin McHale who scored 11 of his 19 first half points during the period. Costa Mesa dominated the first half of the second quarter, opening with a 27-14 run that was capped by a Brad Lohaus three-pointer with 5:26 remaining in the period. That put the Condors ahead 58-45 and Costa Mesa only extended the lead by halftime to 17, 74-57. Buffalo did its best to make a game out of this opener. The visitors managed to reduce the deficit to single digits late in the third quarter after an Eric Leckner dunk narrowed the margin down to 98-89. Buffalo made it as close as 105-95 within the first few seconds of the final quarter but showed signs of weariness from there. A subsequent push by the Condors, who scored 17 of the next 23 points, put the game out of reach. Buffalo, once again, was unable to solve this balanced Costa Mesa attack in a decisive 137-117 defeat. The Blizzard held Condors stalwarts Akeem Olajuwon (16 points) and Isaiah Thomas (10 points) in check but ultimately could not overcome .455 shooting from the field nor did it account for the ageing McHale (the game MVP) to pour in a game-high 34 points in just 23 minutes of work (he was +29 on the floor). Blackman also came to play finishing with 20 points. Despite its best efforts Buffalo could not stop Costa Mesa in transition either (30 fastbreak points versus Buffalo’s eight, helped by 19 Blizzard turnovers). Buffalo got 31 and 20 points respectively from Chambers and Karl Malone but more was needed from Clyde Drexler (13 points). Kevin Duckworth, who was inserted as a starter at center after major contributions off the bench in Buffalo’s Game 7 win over Sun Valley in the first round, could only muster four points on two of eight shooting. It’s clear as the teams brace for Game 2 here in this same building that the Blizzard need a total team effort (maybe a perfect one) somewhere along the way to find at least one win in this series and finally break this streak of futility.

Game 2 – Buffalo knew it would likely need a sparkling performance to break a year-long winless drought with the Condors as it took the court for Game 2 of these West Conference Semifinals in Costa Mesa. And for the first 24 minutes, the Blizzard proceeded to deliver what proved to be without question its best half of the season. It stormed out to a 42-point first quarter behind Karl Malone’s dominance in the paint. He scored 15 in the first period alone, including several dunks and transition finishes as the Blizzard administered a stunning 42-24 blow to the hosts who shot just under 30 percent from the floor. In the second quarter, the Condors remained cold from the field (26 percent) as the Blizzard extended its advantage by halftime to 62-42 and led by 24 at one point. Buffalo was on fire. Additionally, any Costa Mesa comeback plans seemed like they would be throttled by foul trouble as the Condors had Kevin McHale and Akeem Olajuwon exit the game in the first half for long stretches after picking up personals. But anyone who has witnessed this Condors team for the past two years knew it would not be held down for long, especially in its own building, and it came alive in a big way in the second half. Using a desperate trapping defense, Costa Mesa cut the deficit by the period’s end to 91-77, a Buffalo margin that was actually aided by Todd Lichti’s buzzer beater. Isiah Thomas delivered 11 points in the third for Costa Mesa as it became obvious no deficit would be too small for this proud team. What followed was an electrifying fourth quarter that would make this game a VBA classic. Behind Ojajuwon (16 points in the period) Thomas (10 fourth quarter points) and huge clutch baskets by Brad Lohaus and Derrick Chievous off the bench, Costa Mesa stormed all the way back. Free throws by Olajuwon with 5:56 in regulation tied the contest at 103-103 and a subsequent dunk by Chievous with 5:16 left gave the Condors its first lead since the opening minutes of the first (105-103). Thanks to clutch late baskets from Tom Chambers, Greg Grant and Sedale Threatt, Buffalo avoided total collapse. Both teams exchanged the lead through the next several minutes and with 29 ticks left on the clock, an Olajuwon basket had evened the contest once again at 123-123. Malone, despite being double teamed, gave Buffalo a go-ahead basket with 23 seconds left and on the ensuing possession Olajuwon missed a jumper for the tie with 17 seconds left. Buffalo rebounded and dodged the Condors relentless trap that had succeeded so well. Grant got the ball to Chambers, an 86 percent free throw shooter who held on and forced a foul with just four seconds left. He was able to convert both to give Buffalo a critical four-point lead. Olajuwon answered with a dunk but it came with 1.5 seconds remaining and Buffalo managed to evade an intentional foul. Buffalo’s early dominance helped withstand an explosive second half showing from the Condors and the Blizzard prevailed 127-125 to even this series at one apiece. Malone, who powered Buffalo with 33 points on extraordinary 14 of 17 shooting, earned MVP honors. Drexler finished with 21 despite a slow start and Threatt scored 9 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Blizzard afloat. Olajuwon spearheaded the Condors’ comeback efforts with 29 points and 17 rebounds while Thomas finished with 28 points and 13 assists. The game featured 13 ties and eight lead changes. Buffalo shot 51.5 percent from the field. Costa Mesa after its stone cold first-half shooting managed 42.6 overall aided by its explosive second half, including its 48-36 outscoring of Buffalo in the fourth. The Condors wound up with 28 fastbreak points, compared to 18 by the Blizzard. Game 3 brings the series to Buffalo which has new life – but there is also a recognition by this exhaling Blizzard squad that despite first-half perfection, it barely survived a relentless juggernaut that will be difficult to tame the rest of this series.

Game 3 – The best of seven series continues in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium with the hometown Blizzard, fresh off the win in Costa Mesa to tie the series at 1 a piece, look to build on the momentum and freeze out the Costa Mesa high-flying offense. The enthusiasm was quickly quieted with the Condors jumping out to a 7-0 lead. The Blizzard trade baskets with pesky visitors until mid Q1 the Condors go on a 10-0 run to break open a 30-15 lead. The Blizzard’s fortunes do not get any better as the Condors soar to a 80-63 lead going into the locker rooms for the halftime. Condors were lead by McHale and Blackman, each with 20p while the home team was lead by Chambers and Duckworth, 15 and 14, respectively. The Buffalo squad did not fair any better in Q3 as Costa Mesa closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to take the score to 119-86. By halfway thru Q4 both teams were resting their starters. The final was never in doubt as the Costa Mesa squad lead wire-to-wire in a 152-111 whiteout of Buffalo. The Blizzard did not have an answer for Game MVP McHale who had a 38p 11r 2blk performance and was a frequent recipient of Thomas’ 20a. Blackman and Olajuwon chipped in 29p 5a and 22p 12r respectively. A tip of the hat goes to Chievous’ very productive 17p 3stl in 16 minutes of play. For the home squad, a quiet Malone was ‘held’ to 18p 15r 4a and Chambers added 23p 10r and Duckworth added 24p r10 (but shot 9-37 from the field to get his stats) subbing for the foul prone Cartwright. The Blizzard will try to forget about this game to try to even the series before returning to Costa Mesa, but this game showed what tall task they have to win this series.

Game 4 – The partisan crowd at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium packed in to will their team to tie up the series against a tough Costa Mesa team.  With the tip-off the Condors were off, running and gunning to a 51-33 1Q score.  The Condors shot a massive 80% from the field in scoring in what might be a playoff record points and shooting percentage.  But the talented Buffalo squad, urged on by the crown with their own good shooting pct in Q2 (68%) as well as good volume of FTs, kept the Blizzard in the game with a 87-77 halftime score.  Karl Malone had 18p and Cartwright chipped in 12p while the visitors got 24p from McHale and Olajuwon 13 (11 of which were in the Q1 before getting into foul trouble).  The Condors got back most of their lead back in the 3rd with a 124-109 heading into the final quarter.  The crowd sensed a new energy by witnessing a fiery huddle speech given by Malone to his teammates. The crowd responded with a rowdy greeting coming out of the huddle for the final quarter and it worked.  With just under 6 minutes to play, the score narrowed to a 4 point deficit, 134-130, helped by flagrant 1 foul by Lohaus just seconds before.  Costa Mesa implements a half court trap to try and halt the momentum by the home team.  The two heavy weights traded blows for the next 3 minutes as the Condors clung to a 4 point lead on a Drexler monster jam at the 3:15 left mark. It could have been closer if Malone had cashed in all his freebies in two consecutive trips to the line.  He only came away with 50% of the tries (he had been 8-10).  The Condors coolly feed the ball inside to Olajuwon for a dunk.  A couple of back and forth missed opportunities by both sides, the Condors go up by 8 on a drive and pull up jumper by Vinny Johnson at 2:31 left.  Drexler gets only half of his allotted FTs and the air left the room as the Visitors maintain the margin for a final score of 154-145. The second half was the battle of the superstars, Malone, Chamber and Drexler combined for 40 of the 67 second half points for the Blizzard and Olajuwon, McHale, Blackman and Thomas for the Condors combined for 54 of the 68 second half points for the visitors.  The game MVP Thomas finished with 20p 18a 4r 3stl  (on 9-11 shooting) and dare I say in reality co-Game MVP Olajuwon with 31p 17r 3stl 2blk.  McHale heavily contributed with 35p 5r 2blk.  For the Blizzard, Malone finished with 32p 14r 5a with Drexler’s line of 23p 7r 7a 2blk and Chambers, though he struggled shooting only 8-20 from the field, still got 21p 6r 2a.

Game 5 – The Series headed back to Costa Mesa’s Honda Center for Game 5 with the Condors up 3-1, and the Condors are anxious to close out a tough Buffalo squad.  After the tip-off the Condors slowly crept to a 43-34 1Q advantage.  The home team shot 57% from the field behind Akeem Olajuwon’s 16p and Rolando Blackman’s 10p.  The Blizzard were led by Karl Malone’s 9p first quarter.  Then urged on by a jam packed arena, the Condor running machine got cranked up.  The Condors had 14p off the fastbreak and shot a soaring 72% in 2Q as a team.  Kevin McHale turned it on with 16p for the quarter while the Costa Mesa defense held the visitors to 42% shooting in 2Q with Bill Cartwright leading the way with 9p.  The hometown crowd was really buzzing with the tally heading into the locker rooms at the half with their team ahead, Condors 89, Blizzard 58.  The crowd was sensing a 7th straight Western Conference Final berth for their favorite team and brought the team out of the half with a rancorous ovation.  The uneventful 3Q had the Blizzard trading baskets where they needed to put some runs together to close the gap, 123-90.  The Condors pulled their starters for the 4Q.  The second half score was an even Costa Mesa 58, Buffalo 55, but the damage was already done in the first half, final score 147-113.  The team celebrated their 7th Conference title slightly subdued as they know the next opponent will be Costa Mesa’s old nemesis Minnesota.  Coach Mark Landhuis said after the game, “we were surprised with our success this year versus the Blizzard squad as they are a good team but we were 10-1 versus them in both regular season and the playoffs.  We really concentrated our efforts in shutting them down.  We congratulate the Buffalo team and Michael Cole on the success this season making the playoffs and wish them well next season.  We know they will be hungry to beat us next year.” The Condors were lead by Game MVP Olajuwon who had 26p 7r 4a 2blk while McHale chipped in 25p 10r, Blackman had 25p 15r 4a and Isiah Thomas had 13p 14a in 3 quarters of work as all 4 players rested in the fourth quarter with game in hand.  Buffalo had performances of 21p 13r by Malone and Tom Chambers contributed 16p 6r 5a.  The Condors know the Conference Finals will be tough as the Minnesota Muskies swept their series versus a talented and upcoming Pittsburgh squad.  Coach Mark Landhuis commented “We are going to celebrate our victory tonight but get ourselves ready to take on Sir Charles and company as there is no love lost between our two teams and fans.  We also know the addition of Larry Bird to their team at the trade deadline adds an extra dimension that is going to make them extra tough.  We will be banking our great bench depth and defense to carry us back to the Finals”.