The Milwaukee Bucks surprisingly took the Chicago Bulls to six games in the first round of the playoffs, but the magical run came to an abrupt end on Thursday when the Bulls clamped down and ended the series in dominating fashion with a 120-66 victory on the road. The Bucks failed to score 20 points in any of the quarters and trailed 65-33 at the half. Zaza Pachulia led the team with eight points, which gives you an idea of how inept
The Memphis Grizzlies finished off the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers 4-1 on Wednesday, which means Marc Gasol and company will face the red hot Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the conference semifinals on Sunday. The Warriors beat the Grizzlies 2-1 in the regular season. More importantly, Mike Conley suffered multiple facial fractures in Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs. The point guard, who was on hand during TNT’s broadcast of Game 5, said during a
DeAndre Jordan has been instrumental for the Los Angeles Clippers all season long – particularly on the defensive end – but his inability to hit free throws against the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs could be detrimental enough to cost his team the series if he continues to stay on the floor while Gregg Popovich employs the Hack-A-Jordan strategy. [Read more…]
Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith inexplicably threw a spinning back fist against Jae Crowder while trying to box him out in Game 4, causing the forward to fall and sprain his knee in the process. If you missed it, here’s the clip: Smith claimed that the hit was unintentional after the game, but that’s pretty hard to believe, given that he swung as hard as he could backwards with a closed fist. What did he think was going to happen when he
The Los Angeles Clippers looked fantastic at home in Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs when they easily beat the reigning champions 107-92. The script has completely flipped since, with the Spurs edging the Clippers in overtime in Game 2 to take away homecourt advantage, and then completely and utterly demolishing them in Game 3 at the AT&T Center 100-73. Kawhi Leonard was virtually unstoppable, scoring 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field to go with four rebounds, three steals
The Golden State Warriors had no business winning Game 3 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. Absolutely none. The best defensive team in the league allowed the Pelicans to get anything they wanted for the first three quarters of the contest, allowing 89 points and trailing by 20 points heading into the fourth quarter. [Read more…]
When Josh Smith was waived by the Detroit Pistons earlier this season, the Houston Rockets were eager to pick up who they thought would be a key piece in helping them make a run in this year’s playoffs. Of course, there were also plenty of doubts, given Smith’s overall ineffectiveness with the Pistons, how much better they became without him and how quickly he was relegated to the bench with the Rockets despite reports claiming he was only going to join
This shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone anymore, but Draymond Green played a key role in helping the Golden State Warriors take a 2-0 lead against the New Orleans Pelicans with a 97-87 victory on Monday in Oracle Arena. Green, who has been instrumental all season long for the Warriors on the defensive end of the floor and is a strong candidate to win this year’s DPOY award (although you’d never know it if you were listening to Charles Barkley