The San Antonio Spurs were the favorites heading into the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but lost four consecutive games to watch their season come to a disappointing end in Game 6 on Wednesday night. The Miami Heat are in the exact same situation heading into a Game 6 of their own. Have a look at what is going on around the league in regards to this pivotal game, along with other goodies: Erik Spoelstra is still looking
Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals is a pivotal one for the Spurs, who face elimination for the first time this season. A loss would prove to be an epic meltdown, given all their success up to this point. Check out what some of the players had to say heading into the game, along with news around the league on Wednesday. Gary Neal has been dealing with flu-like symptoms and missed the morning shootaround, but is expected to play in
Break up the Big Three? Maybe down in Miami, where the trio of so-called superstars have the collective toughness of your average 9-year-old girl. But not in Boston, where the Celtics are on the verge of a huge postseason upset, and Kevin Garnett looks like he is about to hand previously undefeated Father Time his first career loss. You don’t have to like Garnett. You don’t have to like the stream of R-rated language that comes from his mouth after every good play.
While four teams are still left to battle for a championship, the rest of the league looks to shore up for next season with coaches, executives and free agents. Here’s what’s going on around the league today. A couple of things stood out in the Thunder’s victory over the Spurs in Game 3: a change in defensive scheme with Thabo Sefolosha handling Tony Parker, and a bigger emphasis on sharing the ball. An excerpt from J.A. Adande of ESPN: They found an
Let’s get a little overly dramatic here, shall we? On what will forever be known as Black Wednesday everywhere from Boston to Brooklyn to Beijing to Barcelona, commissioner David Stern’s referees swallowed their whistles when Rajon Rondo got whacked in the forehead late in overtime, and Stern’s ping-pong ball machine magically delivered the No. 1 pick in the draft to the league-owned New Orleans Hornets — all on the same night Stern sounded as though he endorsed the idea of banning
A couple of months ago, I wrote a column about how NBA commissioner David Stern’s voiding of the original Chris Paul trade had made a mockery of the New Orleans Hornets, who following the approved Chris Paul trade were making no effort to compete. There was predictable backlash, mostly from Hornets fans who disagreed with my premise that making the playoffs – no matter how short your stay – is always better than intentionally stinking up the joint for several years
Did the Boston Celtics take the bait? After the Celtics easily handled the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3, reclaiming home-court advantage and the upper hand in their series with a convincing win, Sixers coach Doug Collins tried to plant a seed of overconfidence in Gang Green. “I think they are looking at that other series a little bit,” Collins said. “I think they see Chris Bosh being out (for Miami). They see a tremendous opportunity for themselves.” Whether Boston did or didn’t, it
// It was completely uncharacteristic for Dwyane Wade to snap at his coach the way he did last night. Part of Spoelstra’s job is to remind his players to get back on defense instead of admiring their bricks while the ball is in mid-air, and that seems to be one of the key things that precipitated the public clash between player and coach. As inexcusable as Wade’s outburst was (you don’t show up your coach like that, ever), what about looking