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
Can a team win with its star player only scoring one point per shot? It’s not going so well over the past few games for Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks. Which players drive the Pacers in its incredibly volatile series against Atlanta? Can Oklahoma City win with Reggie Jackson as its second option on offense. We’re going behind the numbers from Wednesday night’s trio of Game Fives in today’s StatBox playoff breakdown. Knicks won’t win with VoluMelo The Knicks let a veteran
The Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks both skidded into the playoffs with uninspiring performances in April. It was only a few weeks ago when the Pacers looked solidly positioned to secure the Eastern Conference’s second seed. Instead, they went 2-5 in April and fell to third. Meanwhile, the Hawks also struggled at the end of the season and appeared to strategically tank their final two games in an attempt to avoid the Heat in the early rounds of the playoffs. [Read
Congratulations to the Chicago Bulls for clinching a playoff spot. They also accomplished something no other team had done since February 1 — they beat the Heat. Luol Deng (28 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL) played 44 minutes and hit four 3-pointers, while Carlos Boozer (21 PTS, 17 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK) made up for the absence of Joakim Noah (foot) by crashing the boards. [Read more…]
What a terrible blow to the Memphis Grizzlies, as Marc Gasol is out indefinitely with an abdominal tear. Fantasy owners can assume he is done for the season; in real life the team is hoping he can return for the playoffs. [Read more…]
For the entire first half, it looked like Miami really didn’t care about their win streak, as the wounded, underdog Cavaliers raced out to a 55-34 lead and LeBron James had just six points. They were down by as much as 27 in the third, when the King finally went to work, finishing with a triple-double (25 PTS, 12 REB, 10 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK) and lifting his team to a 24th consecutive victory. [Read more…]
OK, consecutive win #22 is in the history books and Miami’s stars didn’t have to play huge minutes, so they should be ready to extend the streak in Boston. Dwyane Wade (24 PTS, 9 AST, 3 REB) and LeBron James (22 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL) led the way as usual, with former Raptor star Chris Bosh chipping in 18 points and Ray Allen (20 PTS) draining four 3-pointers. [Read more…]
Who is the best center in the NBA right now? Let’s determine with a blind test of the best four centers in the league since the All-Star break. Center A is averaging 14.4 points on 54% shooting, 14.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 2.1 blocks in eight games. Center B is averaging 15.8 points on 52% shooting, 8.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.4 blocks in eight games. Center C is averaging 13.2 points on 51% shooting, 11.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 3.7 blocks in nine