nba-playoffs Page 50 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Clippers Blow Out Rockets, Advance To–Wait, What? The <i>Rockets</i> Won???
Late in the third quarter of last night’s game at Staples Center, the Rockets looked about as dead as any team has been in these playoffs. They’d been outscored 23-to-6 by the Clippers in the quarter and fallen behind by 19; they weren’t defending or working for good looks on offense and looked pret...

The Hawks Ruined Another Great Moment In Paul Pierce Shit-Talking
Paul Pierce’s late three in Game 5, which put his Wizards up 81-80 over the Hawks with less than 10 seconds to play, was wasted by Nene’s inability to box out and prevent Al Horford’s game-winning layup. That’s a shame, because if the Wizards had managed to win, Pierce would have reached a new high ...

The Warriors Are Cruel
I won’t presume to know how Grizzlies fans were feeling during the first few minutes of last night’s Game 5 loss to the Warriors. It was certainly too early for them to be feeling confident, but the Grizzlies being up by double digits early, with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph doing their thing and th...

There's Still Nothing Quite Like A LeBron James Chasedown Block
Watching LeBron James suplex the Bulls last night felt like bumping into an old friend. He does this at least once every postseason, but the first big LeBron Game of the summer is always a pleasant reminder of just what the greatest player in the world is really capable of. Hey guys, LeBron is here,...

Who Will Be Healthy For The Western Conference Playoffs?
All season, we’ve been waiting for the Western Conference playoff bloodbath to start. Unfortunately, it’s looking like a lot of the blood has been spilled too early. ...

The 2014 Heat Were Worse In The Finals Than LeBron's 2007 Cavs Team
At some point around the time Dwyane Wade was impaled, for the second time, on a doddering walkabout turnover in the paint, the wider basketball-viewing world realized that Dwyane Wade has been dead all this time, and was only now being told. But Wade was far from the only Heat carcass to wash up th...

The Spurs Were The Most Dominant NBA Finals Team Ever
With a 104-87 blowout in Game 5 last night, the Spurs became the most dominant NBA finals winners ever. ...

Tim Duncan And His Kids Were Adorable
Tim Duncan brought his ridiculously cute children to his postgame press conference, and they both gave ridiculously cute answers to a question about their dad....

Does It Make A Difference If NBA Players Miss Their First Shot?
During the playoffs, broadcasters love to pull out fact-like objects based on incredibly small samples. Before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, for example, announcers pointed out that, in the playoffs, Roy Hibbert had shot significantly better after making his first field-goal attempt. The ...

Boris Diaw's Behind-The-Back Pass Was Just Incredible
We've already sung the praises of Boris Diaw and his intoxicating fat-guy game, but after the performance he put on during last night's beat down of the Heat, it's worth heaping a little more praise on the thick Frenchman....

Basketball Doesn't Get Much Prettier Than This Spurs Possession
Smack dab in the middle of the Spurs' transcendent first half from Game 3 of the NBA Finals was this possession, which is about as good as a basketball possession can get....

Bobby Ramos Was The MVP Of Game 3
After getting smoked by the Spurs with a historic shooting night, the Miami Heat had some serious questions to answer. These were not those questions....

Dwyane Wade Fined $5,000 For This Ridiculous Flop
The NBA has brought swift justice against Dwyane Wade, who committed one of the most egregious flops you will ever see during last night's game against the Spurs. He will be fined $5,000 for convincing the referee that Manu Ginobili has telekinetic powers. ...

LeBron Went To The Movies By Himself
Sometimes, after a rough game, you just need 90 minutes alone with Angelina Jolie....

The Spurs Made The Mistake Of Thinking LeBron Had Something To Prove
LeBron James is, if nothing else, hyperaware of expectations. Some players use that for individual motivation, others fail under the pressure, but James, on occasion, twists it into a game plan. You saw that last night down the stretch, as the Spurs appeared convinced James would seek personal redem...

Actually, LeBron James Was Drinking Gatorade Last Night
Brand fights are the worst of all fights, Gatorade's sustained trolling of LeBron James's cramps due to a supposed lack of proper hydration lacked some pretty key context: James had been drinking Gatorade all night....

Why Do NBA Playoff Games Take So Long?
While it's common knowledge (and a common complaint) that the NBA playoffs as a whole take a long time to complete, it's often the case that the games themselves take a long time as well. Part of this is due to overtimes being (slightly) more frequent in the playoffs than in the regular season—6.0 p...

NBA Players' Union Calls Lack Of A/C "Completely Unacceptable"
About midway through the third quarter, Spurs Sports & Entertainment released a thoroughly unsatisfying statement about the broken air conditioning at the AT&T Center. It read:...

The Thunder Will Want To Forget That Overtime Ever Happened
The Thunder lost to the Spurs 112-107 in overtime and, good lord, was overtime a disaster for Oklahoma City. Look at the tidiness of San Antonio's overtime shot chart, compared to OKC's. Russell Westbrook—who had an otherwise great game, with 34 points, eight assists, seven rebound, and six steals—w...

This Is Lance Stephenson Blowing On Kevin Durant And Forcing A Turnover
And I can't stop watching it. Someone edited Lance Stephenson blowing into LeBron's ear into a sequence at the end of the fourth quarter when Kevin Durant stumbled and turned the ball over, with Oklahoma City down by two, and it's perfect. Look how mischievous he is!...