Through the first four games of this season’s playoffs, every series had one team that held at least a 3-1 lead. So not many expected any of the series to go to a full seven games, but two of them did, and they turned out to be quite the battles until the very end. The winners of those games turned out to be both Los Angeles teams, who are moving through to the Western Conference semifinals together for the first time ever. Since
ISTANBUL — There wasn’t a uniformed soul in Istanbul with as much Euroleague pedigree as CSKA Moscow’s Ramunas Siskauskas. With 9.7 seconds left and his team up a single point over Olympiacos, the 34-year-old former MVP strolled to the line, staring at a pair of freebies that would bring the two-time champion two points closer to a third. He missed the first. Then he missed the second. Olympiacos secured the ball off the rim, and Vassilis Spanoulis raced upcourt through a frantically scattered
When Derrick Rose went down with a torn ACL in Game 1, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, “We have more than enough to win.” No one doubted him. After all, Chicago was 18-9 this season without Rose and his myriad injuries. And the Bulls were playing the Philadelphia 76ers, quite possibly the weakest of all the postseason teams. Then Joakim Noah went down with a severely sprained ankle in Game 3, and Thibodeau again said, “We have more than enough to win.” Again,
When Kobe Bryant high-fived Justin Timberlake after nailing a coffin-closing dagger of a 3-pointer in the final minute Saturday night, it was all but official. The Oklahoma City Thunder finally got their answer as to who they will face in the Western Conference semifinals: The Los Angeles Lakers. The two teams will face off on Monday night in the playoffs for the first time since the Thunder were knocked out of the first round in six games back in the 2009-2010 season,
ISTANBUL — This is where Andrei Kirilenko and Nenad Krstic were supposed to be. This is why they came back to Europe, and this is why they signed with CSKA Moscow, a veritable powerhouse. From the moment they stepped on the floor alongside Milos Teodosic and Alexey Shved, it was clear that it would take a mammoth effort to keep the Russians out of the Euroleague Final Four for a second straight season. After steamrolling their way to an 18-2 record in
Remember the Oklahoma City Thunder? They have been out of the news for a while since sweeping the Dallas Mavericks back on May 5. The waiting game will end soon enough as they will learn who their next opponent will be, with the Lakers and the Nuggets playing an elimination game on Saturday. There will be no waiting for the Sixers and the Celtics, who face off in the second round just two days after celebrating their first round victory. Philadelphia (0-0) at Boston
Congratulations to LeBron James on winning his third MVP award. Now go win a title. Seriously. Neither of us is getting any younger. As avid readers of this site are aware, I cast my MVP vote for Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, for reasons stated in this column. Five other voters agreed with me from a cast of 121 voters — sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote. James collected 85 first-place votes. Kevin
