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NBA Playoffs, Conference Semifinals – Grizzlies vs Thunder Series Preview
One team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, are arriving in the conference semifinal as the top seed in the Western Conference, but reeling for their first round series and missing their second best player, while the Memphis Grizzlies, winning four consecutive games to climb out of a 0-2 hole, might actually be considered the favorites.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin & James Harden Fail When it Matters the Most
Young teams need to go through growing pains, and losing in the first round of a postseason series qualifies as just that. Jeremy Lin shouldn’t have played but did, becoming possibly the least valuable player of the series, while James Harden refused to learn from the lessons of a previous game, trying to shoot his way out of trouble instead of slow down, stop and think, which might have led to better results.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Martin Was Brought Over For This
All the comparisons with the star of his former team haven’t really been kind to Kevin Martin, brought over to the Oklahoma City Thunder to fill the role of a spot up shooter from the bench, forced to do something bigger with Russell Westbrook falling down. Kevin Durant led the way to a Game 6 win, but it was Martin who was the difference maker, finally making the most of a terrible Rockets defense.
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Memphis Grizzlies – Zach Randolph Finishes What he Started
The series changed the moment Zach Randolph started being fed in the paint to do his thing, and the Memphis Grizzlies dominated ever since, winning four consecutive games to take their first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers in four straight games. Marc Gasol was excellent and Mike Conley shined in the point guard duel, but Randolph’s dominance down low seemed to be the difference maker in a no-hope situation.
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Indiana Pacers – George Hill Dominates on Both Ends For Once
For once, the Indiana Pacers didn’t fall apart heading into Atlanta. The had too many problems on offense and couldn’t make a late fourth quarter surge enough to save them, giving the Pacers game 6 and the series, while George Hill provided the spark on both ends of the floor thanks to his amazing defense and co-leading the offense along with David West, making up for Paul George having his weakest night of the series.
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New York Knicks – Iman Shumpert Finally Becomes the Third Weapon
The saying says that you can’t win in the NBA playoffs without a third scoring option. So with Carmelo Anthony being just OK and J.R. Smith being disappointing, it was up to Iman Shumpert to fill in the scoring void for the struggling New York Knicks, winning game 6 in Boston and sending the Celtics to what might be a painful summer while advancing into the conference semifinals for the first time in 13 years.
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Warriors – Nuggets Series: Don’t Call it an Upset
The Denver Nuggets looked like the hottest team in the NBA entering the NBA playoffs, but injuries and bad coaching took away all momentum from them. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors featured the best player in the series, Stephen Curry, while Mark Jackson might be whiny and slightly homophobic, but he knew how to bring the best of his players while rallying around Andre Bogut to come through with the upset, taking the series 4-2.
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Nets – Bulls Series: Without Kirk Hinrich, There’s No Chance
Kirk Hinrich might not be as explosive as Nate Robinson, but he’s a much better defender when it comes to limiting Deron Williams, and has a notion or two on how to run an offense instead of simply improvising and hoping for the best. The Brooklyn Nets have now won in Chicago, forcing the Bulls to travel back to New York and play in a game 7, hoping that Hinrich will be healthy by that time.
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LeBron James, the Most Underpaid NBA Player
How can someone who makes close to $20 million a season be underpaid? When you’re LeBron James, the best player and biggest star the NBA has to offer, the money you generate for the team (Miami Heat) and for the league is a lot greater than the salary you’re being paid.
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George Karl Calls Festus Ezeli an Asshole
The Denver Nuggets playing the Golden State Warriors is turning into quite the entertaining series, quite as predicted, although not just for pure basketball reasons. The physicality and dirtiness of the series has probably been the most notable aspect of it, and after Mark Jackson complained about Stephen Curry being handled roughly by Nuggets players, George Karl does his own retaliation by calling Festus Ezeli an asshole.