Through the first four games of this season’s playoffs, every series had one team that held at least a 3-1 lead. So not many expected any of the series to go to a full seven games, but two of them did, and they turned out to be quite the battles until the very end. The winners of those games turned out to be both Los Angeles teams, who are moving through to the Western Conference semifinals together for the first time ever. Since
San Antonio/Utah The top-seeded Spurs advanced to the conference semifinals against the winner of the Memphis–Los Angeles Clippers series that could go until Sunday. Parker had 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting, Tim Duncan added 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, and starters Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diawand Danny Green combined for a total of eight points. The Spurs’ bench picked up the slack, outscoring Utah’s reserves 57-10 and finishing with 27 more points than their own starters. Facing elimination, the Jazz started their Big 3 lineup, with Derrick Favors at power forward, Al Jeffersonat center and Paul Millsap moving
Take out the brooms. Who would have thought we’d be saying that about the reigning World Champions? The Dallas Mavericks were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night after only eight days of playoff basketball, becoming the first team to be eliminated in the 2011-2012 Playoffs. As the TNT crew stated, they’re going fishing. It marked only the second time the team was swept out of the playoffs. The first time was against the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990, in a best-of-5 format. It
Most traditional fantasy basketball leagues are finished, but fantasy hoops continues on DraftStreet during the playoffs. Instead of one-day leagues (8-man teams with a $100,000 salary cap) they are now extended over two days. That was a great call: tonight’s two games will decide May 2-3 leagues and kick off May 3-4 leagues. The pool of players improves dramatically with the 2-day duration. Scroll down for my selections. Wednesday Recap LAC @ MEM: The evening’s best game by far. The Grizzlies took
The Coach of the Year was announced Tuesday, with Gregg Popovich coming out on top by a wide margin. It was certainly well-deserved, but there were plenty of other coaches that warranted attention as well. Thirteen coaches received votes, including Frank Vogel, Lionel Hollins, Tyrone Corbin, Stan Van Gundy and Vinny Del Negro – mid-season crisis and all. The work of these fine coaches will be on display tonight as we look into the preview of three playoff games on Wednesday night. Utah (0-1) at
For the first time in their franchise’s 17-year history, the Memphis Grizzlies have earned homecourt advantage in a playoff series. That said, simply having a deciding game in their building probably won’t get them any closer to victory without taking these factors into consideration: THE HEALTH FACTOR: Zach Randolph was the catalyst for the Memphis Grizzlies’ improbable upset of the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in last year’s NBA playoffs. After missing 38 games this season, he seems to be rounding into
NEWS The 1977-78 NBA scoring race was so close — San Antonio’s George Gervin (27.21 ppg) edged Denver’s David Thompson (27.15 ppg) — that if you turn to the Official NBA Guide for the points leaders for that season, you’ll discover Gervin’s and Thompson’s averages extend two decimal points rather the traditional one, necessitated by the fact that the league’s closest scoring race ever was determined by a miniscule .06 ppg. That contest has entered the realm of the legendary based
NEWS If any doubt remained, the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash established his bona fides as one of the organization’s all-time greats on Feb. 1, when he blew past Kevin Johnson as the franchise’s all-time leader in career assists. (Nash also holds team records for three-pointers made and attempted, as well as three-point and free throw shooting percentages.) Now, he’s on the cusp of passing an NBA icon. With Phoenix set to host the Los Angeles Clippers tonight on TNT (10:30 p.m. ET)