Best Series of the First Round Continues Tonight

Tonight two sub-par series resume, and a series worth watching every minute continues. In San Antonio the Spurs and Clippers will battle for control of the series, after splitting the first two games in Los Angeles. The Athleticism of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan was too much for the rusty Spurs on Sunday night, but come Wednesday the Spurs put on a vintage road performance led by their future hall of fame power forward Tim Duncan. Duncan scored 28 points including clutch baskets in overtime helping San Antonio tie the series. Clippers star Blake Griffin was tremendous once again posting a triple double, but made a few errors down the stretch including a turnover late in regulation that led to the game tying free throws. Tonight's game is important for the Clippers, because they have yet to prove themselves as road warriors when it comes to the playoffs. We all know the Spurs can win a game 7 on the road, we've seen it before. Game 2 was bigger for the Clippers, because it gave home court advantage to San Antonio. If the Clippers go down 2-1 with a game four on the road, I don't love their chances in the series. Now, that does not mean they can't do it. This Clippers team is very good, but their stars have yet to prove it on the biggest stage, against the biggest opponent, a team that has dominated the better part of the past 15 years. Everyone has been talking about how bad the Clippers bench is, besides Jamaal Crawford. I think the bigger issue for the Clippers is that Tony Parker has been awful. Parker is questionable tonight, but if he starts to play anywhere near 100% look out Clipper fans. I think this series is headed for a game 7, but it is way closer to becoming a comfortable series win for the Spurs than it is for the Clippers. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul cannot afford any sort of set back on the road, they must continue their elite play if they want to give their team a chance.

Monday Night Game Two's

Day three of the NBA playoffs provides a couple of game two match-ups, with the home teams both looking to take commanding 2-0 leads. The first game is in Chicago, where the Bulls host the Bucks, and will look for their point guard to replicate his game one performance. Derrick Rose had 23 points and 7 assists in his first playoff game since 2012, and even more impressively attacked the basket with no fear. Rose was also able to knock down three shots from downtown, and was getting great lift on his jump shot, and good arc. Rose's three point shot has looked flat all year, almost like a line drive, but on Saturday night, Rose's stroke looked great. Jimmy Butler had a great game as well, scoring 25 points and dishing out six assists. It was great to see him have a strong game, because this is his first playoff game since becoming more of a scorer this season. The Bucks will have to shut down Chicago tonight if they want a chacne at stealing a game on the road. Giannis Antetokounmpo will have a stronger night offensively, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for 20 points tonight after scoring 12 in game 1.
The second game of the night will be a game 2 in Oracle Arena, where the crowd apparently was so loud on Saturday afternoon that Pelicans coach Monty Williams challenged whether or not it was "legal". Sounds like someone is searching for an excuse to help his team out, but I don't think he'll get what he wants. The best crowd in the NBA will be at it again tonight, and I have a feeling they will cheering non-stop in game two. Stephen Curry and the Warriors were in control much of game one, despite Anthony Davis making it interesting down the stretch. I don't think Golden State will allow the Pelicans to score as much in the second half as they did on Saturday, and will win comfortably to take a 2-0 lead to New Orleans.

The Spurs May Be Poised For Another Run

The NBA playoffs begin tomorrow afternoon with the Washington Wizards visiting the Toronto Raptors. That series along with the entire first round should be very entertaining, with so many great match-ups. Most will be in the western conference, but the east should provide some excitement as well. The series everyone seems to be most interested in is that between the Los Angeles Clippers and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs thought they might grab the second seed, but instead lost on the last night of the regular season and ended up with the six spot. This is not a great situation for the Spurs, not having home court advantage at all during these playoffs, but not the end of the world. As we all know this team can beat any team in any place. If they are to win three straight series on the road and advance to a third straight NBA finals, it will take maybe an even better team performance than last year.
20 years ago a team was in the exact same situation as these Spurs. The team had not been in the playoffs for 18 straight years and already have five titles, but that year had been very similar. The Houston Rockets limped into the playoffs as the number six seed in the conference. Just the season before, the Rockets had defeated the New York Knicks in seven gams to capture the NBA chmapionship. The team, led by hall of famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Cylde Drexler, started off by beating the third seeded Utah Jazz, who had a great point guard power forward combo in John Stockton and Karl Malone (remind you of a certain duo in LA?). In the second round the team had to battle to defeat a strong Phoenix Suns team led by the great individual play of Charles Barkley (perhaps James Harden's Houston Rockets?).
Then came the conference finals, where the team took on the league MVP and the team with the best record in the NBA. The 1995 Rockets played the 1995 San Antonio Spurs (in case this is confusing), who had thrived all season behind the incredible play of their MVP David Robinson (similar to Golden State and Stephen Curry this year). The Rockets beat the Spurs and went on to sweep the Orlando Magic in the finals, and claim the teams second straight title.
This situation for the Spurs is potentially so similar to that Rockets team, if all the the right things happen. I still believe that the Warriors will come out of the West, but there is no way I would be surprised if the Spurs ended up back in the finals.

Last Night in the League

The last day of the regular season is upon us, and there is still much to be determined in the playoff picture. Four teams are battling for the last two playoff spots tonight (Indiana, Brooklyn, New Orleans and Oklahoma City), and even more teams still have games to be played for seeding. The game most people will have their eyes on is between the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans. If the Pelicans win, they're in, but if they lose and the Thunder beat the Timberwolves (what are the chances....) then they're out. The Spurs have something to play for as well. If they win then they will get the number two seed in the west, and if they lose could fall in the standings and not even get home court advantage in the first round. In all honesty I hope the Pelicans do win tonight, because I don't want to see the Thunder play the Warriors. Sure it would be nice to see Russell Westbrook play four more games, but what's the point? The Thunder defense is horrible, especially without Serge Ibaka in the lineup. I don't know if I really want to watch Golden State outscore the Thunder 140-100 every game.
Indiana and Brooklyn are battling for the last spot in the east, and a match-up with the Atlanta Hawks. Indiana is a game ahead, but the Nets own the tiebreaker and the Pacers have a tough game tonight at Memphis. I personally would much rather see the Pacers in the playoffs, because I think a match-up with the Hawks would be a very intriguing one. A rematch of last years first round battle, in which the then top seeded Indiana Pacers escaped in a seven game series. The Pacers could challenge the Hawks in the opposite position this year, especially with the return of Paul George. George has been playing limited minutes the past week, but has looked solid and has been productive in those minutes.
In the west Houston, Memphis, Los Angeles (Clippers) and San Antonio are all battling for the second seed in the western conference and home court advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
A lot of fun hoops to watch tonight, and playoff basketball starting Saturday.

Andrew Harrison Controversy

Tonight is the night of the National Championship game in college basketball. Duke up against Wisconsin in a match-up of two of the best teams, and two of the best coaches in the sport. This could go down as one of the all-time classic championship games, but lets talk about Kentucky. Well not exactly Kentucky, but comments that were made by one of Kentucky's star players this weekend. After the loss to Wisconsin Andrew Harrison was overheard using a racial slur when referring to Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky. This story was blown way out of proportion, which to be honest was not a surprise. Now, Harrison should not have said what he said on national television during the post-game press conference, but what he actually said was really not all that offensive. Anyone who has played basketball before, whether pick up or organized, knows that the "n word" is thrown around constantly by players, and not always in a negative way. Harrison clearly was just upset that his team lost, and that Kaminsky had a lot to do with it. So, when asked a question about Frank, Harrison responded naturally. Now, it is not how he should have responded on a national podium, but he later apologized and that is that. There should be nothing more made of these innocent comments, and anyone who does so is not conscious of what goes on day to day on any basketball court in the country.

NBA Playoffs Are Around the Corner

The final four is a little less than 24 hours away from us, and as excited as I am for the weekends games, the anticipation is making me even more excited for the upcoming NBA playoffs. We are just two short weeks away from the beginning of the postseason, and there are a lot reasons to be excited.
One reason is the playoff intensity and atmosphere. Plenty of teams have great fans who show support every game, but even the teams who don't have the best regular season support always have fans come out for the playoffs. While the Warriors are perhaps the standard for the loudest and most energetic crowds in the league, there are many other great ones. The Memphis Grizzlies always have great support in the postseason, as well as the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs. Toronto is another great one, we all got to see it firsthand in last years playoffs when the entire country of Canada seemed to show up to each of the teams four playoff games it hosted. The crowd I'm most interested to watch is that of the Cleveland Cavaliers. With LeBron back in Cleveland, these will be his first home playoff games as a Cavalier since 2010, when his team got knocked out by the Boston Celtics.