The Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers have something in common in the conference semifinals this season: Both lost the previous game in devastating manner. Of course, how and why they lost, and how that makes it sting so much, is a whole different story. The 76ers got blown out of their own house quite convincingly. The Lakers, as Andrew Bynum would say, played Santa Claus, gift-wrapped a victory and handed it over to Oklahoma City. Both teams look to recover
It has now been 22 1/2 months since LeBron James abandoned his home state to take his talents to South Beach. He did so in the hope of winning championships with a better supporting cast. What he didn’t anticipate was how much weaker that supporting cast would become if one of the big three were to miss time due to injury, which is exactly what the Heat are going through right now. Unfortunately for King James, no one is feeling sorry for
Kobe Bryant is more or less known as one of the most clutch performers in the NBA down the stretch of games. On Wednesday night, his late-game antics were the furthest thing possible from clutch. Kevin Durant took the honors instead. The Los Angeles Lakers had the chance to show the basketball world that their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder was about to be renewed. After getting blown out in Game 1 by 29 points, the former champions came out with a sense
Before the start of the conference semifinals, some have considered the possibility of an NBA Finals rematch between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. Both teams will have to start playing much better for that to happen, especially for the Lakers, who have become serious underdogs against the Oklahoma City Thunder after getting blown out by 29 points in Game 1. Two games are slated for tonight on TNT, where silly contests happen. Boston (1-1) at Philadelphia (1-1): The long-time rivals have, predictably,
The Lakers looked tired and got absolutely manhandled by the Thunder on Monday night. If that game was any indication, the Clippers may be in for a long night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal vs. the Spurs. After just one day of rest since eliminating the Grizzlies on Sunday, the Clippers will go head to head against the well-rested San Antonio Spurs. We just saw what happens when a team with one day of rest goes up against a
With the Clippers beating the Grizzlies on Sunday, the second round of the playoffs is now in full swing. We hoped for the basketball gods to stop hitting players with the injury bug after watching so many occur in the first round, but those hopes went out the window when Miami’s Chris Bosh suffered an abdominal strain Sunday, leaving him in doubt for at least the rest of the series against Indiana. Here’s hoping we can witness some good old basketball without
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
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,