SAN ANTONIO – After each Spurs practice, the media assembles in a corner of the facility and prepares for an encounter with famously gruff San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. Other teams call it an interview session. With Pop, it’s more like a duel at 10 paces. Pop is the only one armed. Verbally. Within the word “intimidate” is the word “timid,” and that combination exists at each get-together. Pop has a naturally irritated look that has been refined by years of repetition.
BROOKLYN — On the bright side, the Nets’ season ended with a playoff game, in a new arena, in a new home, with a young, urban crowd decked out in black Brooklyn gear. Walking through the Barclays Center during the night, I counted one — yes, just one — “New Jersey” jersey being worn by a fan — equaling the number of “Sex and Drugs and Rap” t-shirts I saw. Sitting to the right of me near the mid-level press row
Suddenly, everything is a whole lot clearer. Four teams were eliminated last night, and we’ve got just one more game in the first round of the playoffs. It’s tonight, between the Bulls and Nets, and the winner gets to face the Heat. So maybe not the best reward, but every team in the East knows they’ll have to go through the Heat if they want to reach the Finals. The rest of the second round is set, and we’ve got previews
My pick lies within this podcast with Richard Neer of WFAN Radio in New York: [Read more…]
If lessons have been learned, we should not expect the Knicks to dress in all-black, we should not expect Mike Woodson to be kept in the dark about his players’ pre-game plans, and we should not know what to expect — good or bad on any given night, no telling which will come when — from J.R. Smith. We also should not expect a suspension for Smith for throwing a flagrant elbow. But then again, when you are playing against a team
That photograph (screen shot, to be exact) to your left is the key factor in this series. Russell Westbrook will be walking to the arena on crutches, watching either from behind the bench at home or in a luxury box when the games move to Memphis. And you know what Mike Conley needs to do? Send a thank you note to Patrick Beverly. Let me tell you a story: The year before the Donnie Walsh era in New York began, I was
ATLANTA – If Atlanta’s Game 6 elimination loss to Indiana was Josh Smith’s final game as a Hawk, the star’s final performance was a near-perfect microcosm of his nine-year tenure in Atlanta. Friday night was fittingly consumed with frustration and bad decision-making, plenty of impressive defensive stops, and conclusively mixed results. The Hawks lived and died with Smith as their star all season and eventually paid for all of his shortcomings on Friday. [Read more…]
With four Game 6’s on Friday night, we were assured of seeing four teams playing for their playoff lives. Unfortunately, none of the teams facing elimination – Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets – were able to extend their respective series. All of them had some form of drama – from Blake Griffin getting into a wrestling match with Zach Randolph, the Hawks bringing their game against the Indiana Pacers to the wire, Kevin Durant and Omer Asik