The conference finals should be set. If not for Indiana’s horrid Thursday night performance against the Knicks, San Antonio’s Game 6 victory over Golden State would have ended the NBA’s second round. How did the Spurs end up taking the final game of what looked like an incredibly tight and engaging series? Knicks are lucky to still be alive Let’s not sugarcoat this: The Knicks are lucky to be in the playoffs right now, and are only still alive because the Pacers
The Warriors knocked off the Spurs today to knot their series back up, 2-2. And they did it with Steph Curry on a balky ankle. Tomorrow night, the Thunder and Bulls will try to even up their series as well. If you know who’s going to win each of these series, you could probably make a fortune. The NBA future is about as unclear as it ever gets right about now. For a couple teams, though, the future is getting a
Tuesday night’s games were all about guard play and righting a set of wrongs from Game 1. The Knicks’ guards didn’t do enough to overshadow the strong play of Indiana’s frontcourt, but Pablo Prigioni helped New York rectify that problem during a historic fourth quarter run. And Memphis needed a boost from Mike Conley after a subpar Game 1 performance, and Conley redeemed himself during the Grizzlies’ huge Tuesday night road win. Let’s discuss these themes as part of the
NEW YORK — When Pacers head coach Frank Vogel called a timeout with 12.1 seconds left in the first half of yesterday’s matinee Game 1 matchup against the Knicks, Paul George wound up and launched a jumper, smooth as could be, from near mid-court. [Read more…]
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
Many pundits lament the fact that too many of todays star players are friends on and off the court. They relish the old days when teams were rivals and players were loath to be friends with opposing players. With the advent of AAU youth basketball, high-profile basketball camps and the restructured schedule and commitment to USA Basketball, most players are friends on and off of the court these days. That’s not to say that heated rivalries don’t exist, and the existence of
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
