The meeting did not go well. At a hotel restaurant in Memphis in February 2008, Chris Wallace, the general manager of the Grizzlies, was trying to explain to Agusti and Marisa Gasol, the parents of Pau Gasol, why he had just traded their son to the Lakers. Despite the obvious professional upgrade for their son, the parents weren’t all that keen on the move. They lived in Memphis. They had had one son in high school, a roly-poly, 3-point shooting leviathan
It’s no fun to talk about the struggled of the hurting, reeling, futile Chicago Bulls. They shot roughly 25 percent and scored 65 points without three leading players (if you include Derrick Rose). It almost seems like the Heat feel bad for the Bulls. A more interesting story is of a long-overlooked franchise seizing its window of opportunity to advance further than it ever has before: the hard-nosed Memphis Grizzlies. With Russell Westbrook out for Oklahoma City, Memphis knows it can move on
Or he lost his luggage and had to borrow a pair of pants from Nate Robinson. Perhaps Wade feels the need to fill the postseason haute couture void created by the season-ending injury to Russell Westbrook, who usually sets the tone for this sort of thing. Unless Wade is headed to a wedding reception on the beach, “fashion” in the NBA has officially reached a new low. (Hat tip to Deadspin, among many.)
CHICAGO — Just when I had forgotten how much the Detroit Pistons were disliked back in their Bad Boys days, the Miami Heat awoke the echoes again. Or more accurately, the Chicago Bulls and their fans did it for them. Every time the name LeBron James was announced, the rowdies can’t hold their boos. Every time he touched the ball, it was more of the same. There were enough hard pushes and shoves, well-placed elbows and venomous talk to reach at least
The Golden State Warriors have had three different leading scorers in its four games this round against San Antonio, which bodes well for the team not only in this series but in the future as well. With Stephen Curry hobbled by an injured ankle that nearly kept him out of the game altogether, it was the team’s balance that gave Golden State a pivotal Game 4 victory. It was Jarrett Jack’s turn to lead the charge, with 24 points on 9-of-16
CHICAGO — The Heat and the Bulls met in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night, but the real story wasn’t about who was in uniform. It was again about who was in civvies. The undermanned, overmatched Bulls were without Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, and when center Nazr Mohammed was ejected in the first half, team radio analyst Bill Wennington was next in line, presumably. No matter. [Read more…]
Moving past the obvious in Miami’s Game 2 triumph How do you push past the obvious insight about Miami’s all-around 115-78 beatdown of Chicago in Wednesday night’s Game 2? What can you say besides the Heat shooting 60 percent to 35.5 percent for the Bulls? Let’s break down the major things that changed on both sides that helped lead to such a different result in Miami’s favor: Miami’s Big Three was way more efficient in Game 2, perhaps with more determination and urgency in
Tuesday night’s games were all about guard play and righting a set of wrongs from Game 1. The Knicks’ guards didn’t do enough to overshadow the strong play of Indiana’s frontcourt, but Pablo Prigioni helped New York rectify that problem during a historic fourth quarter run. And Memphis needed a boost from Mike Conley after a subpar Game 1 performance, and Conley redeemed himself during the Grizzlies’ huge Tuesday night road win. Let’s discuss these themes as part of the