The first round of the playoffs are seemingly coming to a quicker close than many may have anticipated. The Mavericks and Jazz have already been swept out, and one of the remaining teams in each series is on the brink of elimination. Four teams will try to extend their postseason on Tuesday night as they head into their series down 3-1, but history is not on their side, as only eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit. The
// Check out this video of Jack Nicholson Mark Heisler, our Hall of Fame columnist, weighing in on the state of NBA basketball coverage in the day and age of social media, the 24/7 news cycle and the journalistic need to sensationalize coverage in order to engage eyeballs. Give a close listen to what Mark has to say. It’ll be the topic of his column Wednesday. It makes a lot of sense, and it comes from the perspective of a super-respected senior writer
We’re not gonna get excited about Melo cracking open a 40 and the Knicks fighting off elimination, OK? Win again Wednesday night in Miami. That will make you the lead of the playoffs roundup. Here’s what everyone should be excited about: the 76ers and Celtics look like they will be playing each other in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Thirty years ago, this was the best rivalry in all of sports. Here’s all you need to know about how much these teams hated each
The theme of this year’s playoffs has been injuries, and they kept coming Friday night. Tracy McGrady sprained an ankle (though he later returned), Avery Bradley hurt his shoulder, and Al Harrington fractured his nose. No team, though, is getting hit harder than the Chicago Bulls, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, who lost 79-74 at Philadelphia to fall behind 2-1 to the Sixers. Already without Derrick Rose, who was lost for the remainder of the playoffs after tearing an ACL in his
If there was one lesson Danny Granger learned earlier this season about saying something to fire up the other team (he did it after losing two straight games to the Knicks), it was this: Don’t. Yet, that’s exactly what Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo did in his recent interview after his one-game suspension. “The end result is all that matters,” Rondo said. “If there had been a different result, it would have been very difficult. But since we won, it felt like we
Real life got in the way for a couple of days, but the NBA playoffs are heating up. Even though your Roto league may be finished, fantasy basketball continues. I’ve been playing on DraftStreet for a couple of months now. (Click the link to join for free.) Their daily leagues during the season — now 2-day leagues during the playoffs — are a great challenge. Tuesday Recap BOS @ ATL: Josh Smith left with a knee injury after scoring 16 points, with
Every night, another knee injury. Or so it seems. This time, it was the best player on the Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, walking off the court in disgust with just over four minutes left. Unlike Iman Shumpert (Knicks), who was carried off the court, and unlike Derrick Rose (Bulls), who was helped to the locker room by teammates, Smith walked of the court under his own power, and later exited the arena on his own two feet, according to the team. But
