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LeBron James Getting Ready for the Miami Heat – Indiana Pacers Hate
It’s only been a year, but things haven’t simmered down between the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat. LeBron James got pissed off hearing a comment Frank Vogel never made, which didn’t disturb some reporters letting James know about it. We’ll probably be hearing plenty of trash talk from the other side soon enough. It’ll be a lot messier than it is out West, on the court and in the media as well.
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New York Knicks – Jeremy Lin Style of Basketball is Better Than Building Around Carmelo Anthony
Hindsight doesn’t make you a genius, but when the New York Knicks decided to let Jeremy Lin go to the Houston Rockets it wasn’t just a money decision. It was about the egos of James Dolan and Carmelo Anthony, and deciding to build a team around a superstar who knows how to play in only one way, and it isn’t the right one. Lin might never be as talented of a scorer like Anthony or James Harden, but playing in a style that feeds off his talent is a better way to find success.
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Memphis Grizzlies – Zach Randolph This Bad Makes it Impossible to Win
If Zach Randolph scores only 2 points while shooting a terrible 1-for-8 from the field, it’s as if the Memphis Grizzlies haven’t even shown up to the first game of the Western Conference Finals. To make matters worse, their defense was non-existent compared to usual, as Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince simply couldn’t keep up with the ball movement and passing they were facing.
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San Antonio Spurs – Kawhi Leonard Makes It A Big Four
Usually, it’s necessary for Tim Duncan to have a decent night offensively for the San Antonio Spurs to have a shot at winning. But when they simply can’t miss from beyond the arc, as Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green continue their evolution into the big boys club, Duncan could finish with 33% from the field, Manu Ginobili be no more than mediocre except for a few famous slashes while Tony Parker was the only one from the original big three that went on full attack mode, leading all scorers with 20 points.
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NBA Playoffs – Spurs vs Grizzlies Finals Series Predictions
Despite playing against a hurt Oklahoma City Thunder, the Memphis Grizzlies didn’t have it easy, or at least harder than the 4-1 end result suggests. The San Antonio Spurs had a harder time against the Golden State Warriors, needing six games to make it through, but finally figuring out how to stop the three point shooting, while developing an alternative to their big three.
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Chicago Bulls Don’t Have Room for Nate Robinson Anymore
Some might argue that without Nate Robinson, the Chicago Bulls don’t make it out of their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets. But Robinson was a third option at point guard to begin with, and all the scoring and late-game heroics in the world won’t change that fact that with Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich signed for next year, not to mention developing rookie point guard Marquis Teague, there’s not much of a future for him in Chicago.
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New York Knicks – Carmelo Anthony Isn’t Going to Lead This Team to Anything
A team built around the scoring abilities of Carmelo Anthony is destined to fail, and it has nothing to do with the selfishness of J.R. Smith or the fact that Amare Stoudemire played a total of 33 minutes during the series. James Dolan wanted a superstar to build around, but chose the wrong one, and all the coaching prowess of Mike Woodson isn’t going to matter when the New York Knicks play in the most predictable and easy to counter way possible.
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Indiana Pacers – Roy Hibbert & Lance Stephenson Take Them Across the Finish Line
There’s no player that deserves more praise than Lance Stephenson, leading the balanced Indiana Pacers with his best scoring performance of the postseason. George Hill gave them the push by simply recovering in time; Paul George was excellent on offense and a lot more accurate than usual; but it was Stephenson, and Roy Hibbert, with one huge block on Carmelo Anthony, that did the important work as the franchise reaches the conference finals for the first time in nine years.
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San Antonio Spurs – Kawhi Leonard & Tiago Splitter Shine Instead of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili & Tim Duncan
While the San Antonio Spurs have figured out how to stop Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, getting their big three going all at one has been a bit more difficult in the playoffs. So while Tim Duncan was benched in crunch time and the Tony Parker – Manu Ginobili tandem proved to be on one of their worst days this season, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter proved there’s plenty of depth behind the old, beaten up names.
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New York Knicks – Carmelo Anthony Finally Finds a Way To Score on Paul George and Play Some Defense
With their backs to the wall, the New York Knicks didn’t get the finest out of Carmelo Anthony. Not an MVP-like performance, but whatever it was, it was good enough to keep them alive in the conference semifinal series, forcing a game 6, by finally showing up to the fourth quarter with some big shots against Paul George and some big defense on the other end against David West.