The four-time NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs made a statement in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals with a 104-93 victory in Memphis. That statement might as well have been one of those old clichés like “never underestimate the heart of a champion.” Spurs—new and old—expressed their enthusiasm on Twitter after the game. [Read more…]
Two things to watch for tonight in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals: A little more (maybe a lot) of Tony Allen defending Tony Parker, and a lot more production from Zach Randolph, who goes to his right about as often as Rachel Maddow. The Spurs did an exceptional job of keeping Randolph from hurting them in their decisive Game 1 victory, but the Grizzlies and coach Lionel Hollins have shown themselves masters of making the correct adjustments as the
Uvo, take me back to 2011. (Sorry, I’ve been watching too many Blake Griffin commercials.) Just two years ago, the eighth-seeded Grizzlies stunned the top-seeded Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, sending San Antonio back to its rocking chairs a little bit earlier than anyone expected. Memphis used a breakout performance by Zach Randolph (31 points, 11 boards in Game 6) to close out the Spurs, then took the Thunder to seven games before bowing out in the West semifinals. Back
It’s no fun to talk about the struggled of the hurting, reeling, futile Chicago Bulls. They shot roughly 25 percent and scored 65 points without three leading players (if you include Derrick Rose). It almost seems like the Heat feel bad for the Bulls. A more interesting story is of a long-overlooked franchise seizing its window of opportunity to advance further than it ever has before: the hard-nosed Memphis Grizzlies. With Russell Westbrook out for Oklahoma City, Memphis knows it can move on
Monday brings with it two crucial second round Game 4s—with games between Miami and Chicago as well as Oklahoma City and Memphis—and the NBA announcing the All-Defensive Team. [Read more…]
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
