What looked to be a fast ending to the first round of the playoffs took a turn for the competitive good on Tuesday night when three of the four teams that faced elimination – the Hawks, Bulls and Nuggets – all survived to play a Game 6. The New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies are in the same boat – down 3-1 in their respective series – and they will try to avoid elimination on Wednesday night rather than go fishing,
NEW YORK — On Sunday in Madison Square Garden, the Knicks trailed the Heat by 11 points with less than 20 minutes remaining in not only Game 4—but possibly their season. It was at that point that they got a spirited effort and a much-needed energy jolt from the man that was once the leader of their renaissance. Finally, Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony won a playoff game. And in some ways, it was fitting. Before the series began, I made the
If you live in an area other than Dallas, Texas, you probably are not aware that if the Mavericks had brought back their team of a year ago, they would have won their second consecutive NBA title. Yes, that is correct. Add Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks roster, and instead of being swept by Oklahoma City in the first round, the Mavericks would have won in six games at the most, maybe five like last year and,
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
NEW YORK — In a close vote, Tyson Chandler edged Serge Ibaka for Defensive Player of the Year. Chandler becomes the first player in Knicks franchise history to earn the honor. Chandler received 311 points, including 45 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka finished second with 294 points (41 first-place votes) and Orlando’s Dwight Howard, who had won the award each of the previous three seasons, finished third with 186 points. Players were awarded
Game One of the NBA Playoffs is in the books for all 16 teams. And we saw just about everything from flopping to bad officiating to devastating injuries to, blowouts, comebacks and game-winners. As anyone can tell you, though, and some may need reminding, it was only one game. A script can easily flip in the postseason. So we move on in the playoffs, with six Game 2s Monday night. New York (0-1) at Miami (1-0): Things could not have gone any worse for the
