Facing elimination once again, Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was supposed to be do-or-die for the desperate Indiana Pacers. Instead, the team looked flat for much of the night on both ends of the floor, went down by 26 points by half time, and the game was well out of reach by mid-third quarter. Despite having the best record in the East during the regular season, it has been a tumultuous year for the Pacers. They limped their way into the
As great as these NBA playoffs have been, two characters seem to keep finding ways to steal the show. The first culprit? Donald Sterling. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been doing his best to sweep this mess under the rug as quickly as possible. In fact, he’s made greater strides to accomplish that than I think any of us could have originally anticipated. Less than a month later, the team is already in the process of being sold. [Read more…]
On Wednesday night, LeBron James had unquestionably his worst playoff performance as a member of the Miami Heat. He bricked eight of his 10 shot attempts, turned the ball over three times and mustered only four assists and two rebounds. According to a measurement devised by John Hollinger, the O.G. of basketball advanced statisticians, it was the second-worst playoff performance of James’ career. Not surprisingly, the four-time MVP’s struggles were a big reason Miami lost 93-90, failing to close out
Lance Stephenson said he wouldn’t bother LeBron James anymore. To paraphrase Arnold Schwarzenegger, he lied. Stephenson played the role of WWE heel on Wednesday night, blowing kissed to James, blowing in his ear and being an overall nuisance to The King. It worked. And social media went to work with the picture of Stephenson blowing into James’ ear. This one is a Throwback Thursday special. Many of you may not remember blowing into your Game Boy or Nintendo 64 or your Playstation to
NEW YORK – Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers have each been fined by the NBA in separate incidents for violating the league’s anti-flopping rules during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Stephenson has been fined $10,000 for his second violation of the 2014 NBA Playoffs which occurred with 8:23 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Pacers’ 93-90 win over the Miami Heat last night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Hibbert has been fined $5,000 for his first
It wasn’t easy, but the Indiana Pacers found a way to stay alive against the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday with a 93-90 win at home. A lot happened in the final moments of the game, where the game could have gone either way. An inordinate amount of clutch shots were converted by various players, including Chris Bosh, Rashard Lewis, LeBron James and most notably, Paul George. The teams traded one clutch 3-pointer after another
We waited all season for an Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. Yet when the time came for the two talented teams to finally meet in late May, only Miami showed up. Indiana finds itself down three games to one, and more blame is being passed around than a Benghazi hearing on Capitol Hill. A lot of that blame is being placed on the referees, an easy target since Miami took twice as many free throws
The NBA conference finals normally bring out the best that the game of basketball has to offer. More often than not, the four best teams remain, and if we’re lucky, the best players on the planet. We are treated to some combination of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu and Paul George every night. These players give us performances to praise night in and night out. And sometimes they don’t. And it’s when they don’t that we