Blake Griffin now has plenty of time to tell Hugo: “Play funk.” About six weeks to be precise. That’s the next time Griffin will be back to work, when he and teammate Chris Paul arrive in Las Vegas for Team USA training camp. (And guess what: They have to get ready to play Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina) again, this time in the first round of the London Olympics.) Griffin and Paul played well Sunday night in their last playoff
If you are a fan of either of the Los Angeles teams, you might have had some trouble sleeping through Saturday night. If you predicted that the Clippers (me) or the Lakers (Sheridan) would move past the second round, you probably wish to have those predictions back, as both teams are now on the verge of being eliminated from of the Western Conference semifinals. Before discussing how each team blew their respective chances, it’s time to acknowledge and pay respects to one cold-blooded lanky
It has now been 22 1/2 months since LeBron James abandoned his home state to take his talents to South Beach. He did so in the hope of winning championships with a better supporting cast. What he didn’t anticipate was how much weaker that supporting cast would become if one of the big three were to miss time due to injury, which is exactly what the Heat are going through right now. Unfortunately for King James, no one is feeling sorry for
It’s a beautiful morning in Indiana, along with every other place where folks drink Haterade. You see, there is no disliking the Heat. It’s not that simple. You either like them, or you hate them. (At least that’s what the folks in South Florida, especially the superstars, would have us believe.) So if you rejoice in the fourth-quarter failures of LeBron James, you have something to celebrate today — plus you get a second helping of Hater Tots because you get to
The Lakers looked tired and got absolutely manhandled by the Thunder on Monday night. If that game was any indication, the Clippers may be in for a long night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal vs. the Spurs. After just one day of rest since eliminating the Grizzlies on Sunday, the Clippers will go head to head against the well-rested San Antonio Spurs. We just saw what happens when a team with one day of rest goes up against a
It was just a couple months ago that the “Save Vinny’s Job” homestand began for the Los Angeles Clippers. They returned home reeling from a seven-point road loss against New Orleans, the worst team in the West, and had lost eight of 12. What has happened since has been the second renaissance of the former laughingstocks of Los Angeles, and Del Negro coached his kiester off in Game 7 of the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies, riding the players
Congratulations to LeBron James on winning his third MVP award. Now go win a title. Seriously. Neither of us is getting any younger. As avid readers of this site are aware, I cast my MVP vote for Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, for reasons stated in this column. Five other voters agreed with me from a cast of 121 voters — sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote. James collected 85 first-place votes. Kevin
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