Category Archives: Hawks

2010-11 NBA Playoffs Recap, Day 13: Eliminations

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Three teams were eliminated last night, but there are still more questions then there are answers. Is Atlanta a fluke? Can Dirk out-shoot the Lakers? How’s Kobe’s ankle? Does Dwight Howard stay in Orlando? That’s actually a good place to start.

Orlando Magic 81 – Atlanta Hawks 84

It’s kind of pathetic that the Orlando Magic couldn’t muster up a way to defeat the Atlanta Hawks, even when the Hawks did everything in their power to try and lose the game. Hawks advance to the 2nd round to face the overall #1 seeded Chicago Bulls while the Magic will go home and try to figure out what’s going to happen with Dwight Howard. If you thought #MeloDrama was annoying, welcome to #PlightHoward.

And it’s not just Dwight Howard that Orlando has to think about. There are questions surrounding the future of head coach Stan Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith. It’s going to be one long summer in Orlando.

Los Angeles Lakers 98 – New Orleans Hornets 80

The Hornets hit a wall. Not in this game, it actually happened in the second half of Game 5. That crucial run by the Lakers sent a message that was heard loud and clear by the Hornets. The Lakers were a better team and for the first time in this series, New Orleans believed that. Momentum might not carry over from game to game but mental anguish does. New Orleans was crushed by LA’s size for the final 6 quarters of this series and they no longer believed they could defeat the 2-time defending Champs. With that said, the LA-Dallas series should be an incredible match-up. In the words of soon-to-be-unemployed  Saints running back, Reggie Bush, “It’s been fun New Orleans.”

Dallas Mavericks 103 – Portland Trailblazers 96

Too little, too late. Despite Gerald Wallace’s best game in a Blazers uniform, the Mavs were able to cling on to a lead on the road in a hostile Rose Garden. I really didn’t think the Mavs had that in them. Not after the collapse in game 4 and not when they nearly gave this one away, too. But they stayed resilient and closed this one out in style.  Dirk Nowitzki was brilliant in this game, going off for 33 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists on 10 of 17 shooting. I’m excited to see if Pau can limit Nowitzki or are the Lakers going to have to sit either Pau or Bynum in order to have Lamar Odom match-up with Dirk. The series will LA should be fun considering these are two of the largest teams in the NBA with a combined 11 players over 6’10″ on their rosters.

Tonight’s Game:

San Antonio Spurs @ Memphis Grizzlies – 9:00 PM EST on ESPN: Is this the last hurrah? It’s the only game of the night and the last game until Sunday’s second round match-ups tip off. It might also be the final game of the 61-win Spurs season. It’s still April, people. Who saw this coming? i can’t believe I’m going to say this but the Spurs might get crushed by double-digits tonight.

Enjoy the game and the weekend, folks!

Shane is a contributor to Stacheketball.com, LarryBrownSports.com & NBAoffseason.com. You can find him babbling about basketball all over the net or tune in as he tweets nonsense on twitter @Suga_Shane.

 

2010-11 NBA Playoffs Recap, Day 12: Breakfast, Backcourt & Zombies

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This might have been the single greatest day of playoff basketball I’ve seen in my lifetime. We had the Zombie Spurs, the Broingtons and the Miami Breakfast Club all make an appearance last night.

Philadelphia 76ers 91 – Miami Heat 97

Andre Iguodala finally has a good game and the Sixers lose. It was a close game throughout but the difference came when Spoelstra took a T for his guys with the score was knotted up at 60. From that point on, Miami went on a 7-0 run that gave them control of the game.

The Sixers definitely overachieved this season and they should be proud of that. They should also know that they can do the same thing again next year. And if they don’t start out 1-13, they might actually have a shot at home court in the first round.

As for the Heat, both LeBron and Dwyane had near triple-doubles in last nights close-out win and Bosh went for 22 and 11 but the questions still loom. Specifically, about how they will match-up with the Boston Celtics in the next round.

Memphis Grizzlies 103 – San Antonio Spurs 110 (OT)

What an amazing game this was. Memphis was oh-so close to closing the door on the Spurs. Not just their season but perhaps on their dynasty. But the Spurs just wouldn’t die. Someone on twitter called them the Zombie Spurs and I found that very fitting. Down 3 Manu hit what looked to be a miracle corner three with just 2 seconds left in the game that resulted from a chaotic broken play. The video review showed that his foot was on the line and it was a two. Spurs fouled Zach Randolph on the inbounds and Z-Bo hit both of his Z-Throws. With just 1.7 ticks left in the Spurs season, they drew up a play for 26-year old rookie, Gary Neal. Naturally.

Having gone 0-1 in the game and had scored just 4 points, you’d think Popovich would have gone with a different option but he trusts the rookie, immensely. Neal rose up over the double team and buried the three, resurrecting the half-dead Spurs and forever dubbing them the Zombie Spurs because they just won’t die. Spurs went on to OT and put the game away for good. Now down just 3-2 in the series, you have to wonder if the Grizzlies are shook. Then again, I doubt anything in the world can shake Z-Bo and Tony Allen. Those two are too hood for the hood.

Denver Nuggets 97 – Oklahoma City Thunder 100

Kevin Durant was Kid Delicious last night. Dropping a cool 41 points and helping his team close out the series in 5 games. But before we get into this, I want to tell you that Kevin Durant’s back court/front court call by the refs was the correct call. If you don’t know what I am talking about, let me explain. Durant caught the ball running towards the mid-court line. When he caught the ball, his foot was on the line, which is perfectly legal. His next step and dribble put his other foot on the line and the ref immediately called a back court violation. However, the ref on the baseline came running in and all three refs huddled and overturned the call. A lot of people were upset over this call and thought that Oklahoma was bailed out by the refs. In reality, this was the correct call and here is why:

The rules state that a player isn’t technically in the front court until both his feet and the ball are completely past the mid-court line. Durant never got both feet across that line since both of his steps were on the line, therefore it was the correct call to overturn the original back court violation. What ensued after the play was overturned was a complete breakdown by the Nuggets. Durant got free, caught the ball, took a few dribbles and pulled up inside the arc to nail a 19 foot jumper to give the Thunder a 100-97 lead.

When Durant is in the zone there is nothing like it in the world. A 22-year old, 6’11″ silky smooth shooter that can get almost any shot he wants. Last night he did just that. According to NBA Analyst, Kevin Pelton, the Thunder scored 18 points on their last 8 possessions which is a ridiculous 225.0 Offensive Rating. Durant had 14 of those points and an assist in that span. And it wasn’t just a one sided effort by the NBA’s scoring champ. He came up with a few key stops including blocking a J.R. Smith 3-pointer, that could have potentially tied the game with under 10 seconds to go.Speaking of blocks, Serge Ibaka had 9 of them, all of which were crucial to their victory.

The only thing souring this victory was Russell Westbrook going Starbury. Again. Shooting an ugly 3 of 15 for 14 points and just 4 assists is bad news from your team’s point guard. To do that while ignoring your team’s best player who just happens to be the NBA’s leading scorer I tragic news. At some point coach Brooks is going to have to speak to Westbrook about his new found fame and his propensity to chuck the rock. Russell’s only been a point guard for 3 years now, before that he was always designated a 2-guard. His primary job on the court has always been to get buckets so I understand this is just part of the growing pains but you don’t want to see those pains develop into an incurable illness down the road. Maybe next season, OKC should explore running West at the 2 and Eric Maynor at the 1. Either way, this was a fun series despite spanning just 5 short games.

Tonight’s Games:

Orlando Magic @ Atlanta Hawks – 7:30 PM EST on NBAtv: I’m pretty sure this entire series has been on NBAtv. As if Stern wants Howard to not only lose the series but also suffer from terrible national exposure just so he opts out and Joins either the Knicks or the Lakers. Okay, that’s enough conspiracy talk. The Hawks should wrap this series up at home tonight. If it happens, the post-game interviews of Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard are going to be epic.

Los Angeles Lakers @ New Orleans Hornets – 8:00 PM EST on TNT: Kobe’s ankle is the determining factor of this game. If he’s stiff from the travel and the downtime, it’s going to be a long night. Ariza has already outscore Kobe in a couple of games and he has the same confidence he displayed in the Lakers’ 2009 championship march. If the Lakers don’t go to their bigs, we could be headed back to LA for a game 7. With that said, I think LA closes out tonight. They finally woke up in Game 5 and it looks like they are now in playoff form.

Dallas Maverick @ Portland Trailblazers – 10:30 PM EST on TNT: Portland might be all out of juice. Then again, Dallas might not be focused. They do that sometimes, especially in the playoffs. Their lack of focus already cost them Game 4 in which they blew a 20+ point lead. I origanilly picked Dallas in 7 and I’m going to stick with it. Portland wins a close one tonight.

Shane is a contributor to Stacheketball.com, LarryBrownSports.com & NBAoffseason.com. You can find him babbling about basketball all over the net or tune in as he tweets nonsense on twitter @Suga_Shane.

2010-11 NBA Playoffs Recap: Day 11, Black Socks And Beatdowns.

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Last night was, in a way, disappointing. Maybe I’m a bit spoiled from the incredible action the playoffs has given us already? As Sebastian Pruiti pointed out to me on twitter, last night was the first time in 9 straight days that we didn’t experience wire-to-wire excitement, and that’s something we should all be willing to live with. He’s right, it could be August already and we’d have to suffer through 2 hours of MLB highlights.

I’ll leave our supposed national past time alone for now and get on with business; most of the games turned into blowouts late but there was some substance there. My favorite result of last night’s action was everyone tweeting vintage Kobe dunks. That dude used to merk everyone.

Atlanta Hawks 86 – Orlando Magic 101

I mentioned yesterday that Orlando’s shooters will eventually get hot and it happened in this game. Atlanta just had to hope it would come on a night where their own shooters also caught a flame. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and the result was a 15-point loss that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicates. The highlight of this game was J.J. Reddick’s hilarious post-game interview on the podium, which happened to be the first of his playoff career. Outside of that, this game was insufferable.

Atlanta still leads the series 3-2 and Game 6 is a home game at Phillip’s. For their sake, I hope this game was just them packing it in and trying to close out at home because if it wasn’t, things could get interesting.

Indiana Pacers 89 – Chicago Bulls 116

Real quick on the Pacers; this game was ugly but it wasn’t indicative of how your season went. Interim head coach Frank Vogel went 20-18 during his tenure and absolutely needs to be hired as the head coach for next year. He showed us a lot of value whether it was in guiding this team with leadership or drawing up situational plays.  This team still needs one more key piece but their cogs are all legit. Granger can be a great #2, Collison is a good point and Paul George might be an All-Star in the making. Keep your heads up, Pacer fans, and make sure you keep your team in town, too!

This was a close out game and that’s exactly what Chicago did. I’ll save you the Rose rhetoric and point you at my key players: Noah, Deng & Gibson. Those three men are as important to this team as is MVP favorite, Derrick Rose. The way they lock down the wing and the middle of the court allows Chicago to get crucial stops which lead to those magnificent Derrick Rose finishes at the other end of the court. Most of these Bulls have elevated their games in the post season and that’s scary for opponents considering this team lead the NBA in wins. What’s scary for the Bulls is that Carlos Boozer has disappeared. If anyone has seen him, please notify the proper authorities.

Overall, these Bulls are lovable. They play hard and they play the right way, every single night. It’s displayed in Deng’s demeanor, it’s voiced in Rose’s humble interviews and it’s strung up in Noah’s smile. When Joakim went into the stands after the game to hug his grandfather it made you realize that these guys are the real deal. They love what they do and they are proud of the work they have accomplished. And they aren’t done yet.

New Orleans Hornets 90 – Los Angeles Lakers 106

I just want to point out that the Lakers wore black socks and black shoes at home today. If you aren’t entirely familiar with NBA on-court fashion, home teams typically wear white shoes and socks to coordinate with their lighter colored home uniforms. But the Lakers wanted to send a message to themselves as well as the Hornets and it worked. The NBA should make everyone wear black on black attire, it just looks meaner.

Chris Paul started out the game with 8 assists in the first quarter but finished the game with 12 and the Hornets got blown out by the end of it. A few things contributed to this. First of all, the Lakers played their first complete game of the series. And when I say complete, I mean that even Derek Fisher scored 13 points. The Lakers five starters and Lamar Odom all scored in double digits. And when the better roster is playing better basketball, you just have to sit there and take their punches, not much New Orleans can do to counter that. One thing that I can fault the Hornets with is sitting Chris Paul for two extended stretches that probably cost them a chance to win this game. First one came in the second quarter as N.O. let a 9-point lead slip as Paul rested. The second came in the 4th where L.A. blew the game wide open as CP3 got his usual rest. Chris ended up playing 41 minutes in the game but it’s how and when those 41 minutes came that hurt the team.

One thing that should be worry some for LA should be Kobe’s ankle. I know he had two throwback throw downs, including decapitating Emeka Okafor (twice!), but he wasn’t he usual self. I’m guessing he had a healthy Cortisone shot before the game and that relieved enough pain for him to actually participate, but his defense and play-making wasn’t there.  He finished the game with 19 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 turnovers and got outscored by Trevor Ariza (22 points) on the other end. Hopefully, this is nothing serious as Lakers haven’t put away this series just yet, leading 3-2 and headed back to the Big Easy.

Tonight’s Games:

Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat – 7:00 PM EST on TNT: If the Heat, who lead the series 3-1, can’t close this out tonight, I’m going to have to seriously discount them as a contender going forward.

Memphis Grizzlies @ San Antonio Spurs – 8:30 PM EST NBAtv: This game is going to be too good to be stashed away on NBAtv. Memphis might shock the world tonight and close this series out. On the road. Against the Spurs. A 61-win Spurs. Can you fathom all of that? Mike Conley, Tony Allen, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol could actually beat the 4-time NBA Champion Spurs in 5 games in the opening round of the playoffs. It could happen tonight!

Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 10:30 PM EST on TNT: I honestly don’t think this game will be close. The Thunder messed around last game and still nearly pulled off the win. Game 5, at home with a chance to clinch the series and advance, you have to bet on Durant.

Links of the Day:

NBAPlaybook.com – This play sums up the Spurs’ woes this series.
HoopSpeak.com – Let’s take a look at the New Orleans Pick’n'Roll sets.
SB Nation’s Bay Area Blog – The latest news on the Anaheim/Sacramento/Rochester Kings/Royals
DailyThunder.com - Royce explains Russ.

That’s it for today and as always, don’t forget to join the party on twitter tonight!

Shane is a contributor to Stacheketball.com, LarryBrownSports.com & NBAoffseason.com. You can find him babbling about basketball all over the net or tune in as he tweets nonsense on twitter @Suga_Shane.

 

 

2010-11 NBA Playoffs Recap: Day 10, Where The Spurs Look Spent.

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San Antonio Spurs 86 – Memphis Grizzlies 104

Lionel Hollins tanking at the end of the season so the Grizzlies can drop down to the 8th seed and play a 61-win team now looks borderline genius. Memphis beat San Antonio to take a 3-1 series lead. Only person I know that called the Memphis upset was Zach Lowe on The Basketball Jones’ Overdose and he probably can’t believe how things have transpired either. Last night’s game saw the 4-time champion Spurs team get out-classed by Darrell Arthur and Tony Allen. The best part about this series is watching Marc Gasol adding zeros to his inevitable off-season payday. Marc has the confidence of a 2-time world champion as if his name was Pau. Swag him the f*** out.

Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes Of Hell tweeted during the game, “Just got a text from a friend. The Spurs window as contenders might run lockout-to-lockout, and that’s it. ” It’s remarkable that this is how things could end. Then again, would anyone be shocked if the Spurs came back and won this series? Game 5 is on Wednesday in San Antonio.

Portland Trailblazers 82 – Dallas Mavericks 93

At this point I don’t know what to think of Brandon Roy. He went just 2 for 7 in nearly 30 minutes of action last night but I can’t just throw him under the bus, none of the Blazers decided to show up last night. LaMarcus went for 12 and 9 and Wes Matthews had 8 points in 36 minutes. If it weren’t for Wallace and Miller, this game would have turned uglier, sooner. No one really checked Dirk all night and no one could keep Tyson Chandler off the glass, specifically the offensive rebounds. Tyson grabbed 20 boards including 13 offensive rebounds, a team record. Those second chance points killed Portland, who had held Dallas to just 41% shooting for the night. Dallas now has a 3-2 series advantage and I think they close it out in Portland on Thursday.

Oklahoma City Thunder 101 – Denver Nuggets 104

I didn’t see this game but I got home just in time to see the post-game interviews and read all the tweets. Russell Westbrook was a trending topic in my timeline. The tweets were hilarious but the context wasn’t and that was deserved. I check the box score and I see that the Thunder point guard put up 30 shots and missed 18 of them including a few crucial baskets at the end of the game. Yesterday I said that this game would be indicative of exactly what the Thunder are capable of. If they close out this game strong and sweep the Nuggets, we should all be very scared. I’m scared, but not for other teams, I’m scared for Oklahoma. What transpired is what I’ve always been afraid of for this team, selfish, inefficient play. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come and Westbrook will soon realize that Durant is the closer, not him. Oklahoma has a chance to close the series out at home on Wednesday.

Tonight’s Games:

Atlanta Hawks @ Orlando Magic – 7:30 PM EST on NBAtv: Atlanta leads this series 3-1. This means the  Hawks have three chances to win one game, starting with tonight. Which most likely means that Atlanta won’t win tonight because they are Atlanta. Orlando wins this one if their 3-point shooters actually make some 3-point shots. The strange part of this series is that Atlanta’s shooters haven’t been shooting well, either. Orlando might get unlucky and find their stroke on the same night Atlanta does.

Indiana Pacers @ Chicago Bulls – 8:00 PM EST on TNT: The Pacers did some good things in games 3 & 4. They went to a trap defense and saw some results. Good enough results that they limited Derrick Rose — even before he sprained his ankle — and forced a Game 5.  Although Chicago leads this series 3-1 and many thought this would be a sweep or at worst 5-games, Indiana has been right there. This could easily be a 2-2 series or even a 3-1 series in favor of Indy. That last bit might be a stretch but don’t forget the Pacer held a significant 4th quarter lead in every single game. If this team figures out how to actually close a game out — they almost blew a double digit lead in game 4  as well — they might steal at least one more game in these playoffs. Still, even with Rose’s bum ankle, I see Chicago closing it out tonight.

New Orleans Hornets @ Los Angeles Lakers – 10:30 PM EST on TNT: I’m not sure what to expect anymore. I never thought one man could beat the 2-time defending world champs, let alone do it twice in four games. The thing that gets me is that Chris Paul has been stellar, but it hasn’t been inconceivable. It’s not like he had to score 60 points for the hornets to win. He simply had to have a great Chris-Paulian type game of 20+/15+/5+. That might sound out of this world, but Chris nearly averaged that a few seasons ago, so asking for him to do it two more times in the three games left in this series is not that far fetched. Especially with Kobe playing on a sprained ankle which he refuses to get an MRI on, there might be no one on this Lakers roster than can defend Chris Paul. Lakers are going to have to simply outsize New Orleans, something which they are inexplicably having trouble doing.

Links Of The Day:

The No-Look Pass: Check out Rey-Rey’s daily recaps of playoff action!
The Basketball Jones: Holly MacKenzie with two pieces just as good as the performances that inspired them: Chris Paul & Brandon Roy
Negative Dunkalectics: The joys of gambling on the NBA.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: Chris Paul is red-hot, via StatsCube.

Join me on twitter tonight for a ridiculously good time.

Shane is a contributor to Stacheketball.com, LarryBrownSports.com & NBAoffseason.com. You can find him babbling about basketball all over the net or tune in as he tweets nonsense on twitter @Suga_Shane.

 


2010-11 NBA Playoffs Recap: Day 9, Where Chris Paul is a Point God.

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I probably should have started this daily recap post 9 days ago, but I was to intrigued by the playoffs to even pull myself away from the television just to tweet let alone blog. (Translation: L.A.Z.Y.) But here I am and here we are, just past the halfway point in more of the first round match-ups and the playoffs feel as alive as ever. Although some of these series seem to be a bit lopsided, they have been as close as possible. Even the 4-0 sweep of the Knicks by the Celtics came down to two buzzer beating shots in the first two games. Sunday’s action was no different.

Miami Heat 82 - Philadelphia 76ers 86

A lot of fuss was made (again…) about how LeBron missed another potential game winner. but I got to chalk that up to Elton Brand and the Sixers defense. They came up with a huge stop when Brand came over from the weakside to stamp LeBron’s layup with a return to sender. Speaking of defense,  someone rewind the game tape and take a look at the suspect defense by Dwyane Wade on Sweet Lou down the stretch of that game.  Williams dropped a cool 17 off the bench including the game winner in Wade’s eye. Phily gets to take their talents back to South Beach on Wednesday for Game 5 as Miami leads the series 3-1.

Boston Celtics 101 – New York Knicks 89

Knicks head coach, Mike O‘Antoni, had no clue on how to stop the bleeding. Let me give him a hint: “Defense”. Until he figures that part out, New York will not matter come playoff time.  Some how the Celtics feel asleep at the wheel up 20+ points in the middle of the 3rd and the Knicks found their savior in Anthony Carter. (No, I didn’t mean Carmelo Anthony. ) But even Carter’s inspired play wasn’t enough to give the Knicks their first home playoff win in nearly a decade as the Celtics pushed the lead back to double digits and swept the Knicks and their win-starved fan base back into depression.

Orlando Magic 85 – Atlanta Hawks 88

I have to admit, I used to view Jamal Crawford as an immature, black hole. Sure he had the sweetest crossover I had ever seen and the kid could score in bunches but he wasn’t exactly pragmatic to winning.  There was a reason this guy had scored 50-points for three different teams and there was a reason he had never been to the playoffs despite being a well traveled player. But that perception of him has been erased from my mind since he won the 6th Man award last year. This is one dude, much like Zach Randolph, that’s grown up and now he’s carrying a team to the second round instead of sinking a them into the early lottery. He was electric last night, dropping 25 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds on 10-18 shooting. Quick, someone change the name on Joe Johnson’s contract.

As for Dwight Howard, he had 29 and 17 last night on 9 of 14 shooting and is averaging 32 points, 17.5 rebounds and 2 blocks a game yet his team is down 3 games to 1 to the Atlanta Hawks. The HAWKS! Each loss shovels in more coal to the burning fire in Orlando. If you’re a Magic fan, you’ve got to be concerned with how fast the Magic’s chances of keeping Howard around long term are burning up in these playoffs.

Is it hot in here or am I just sitting on Otis Smith’s chair?

Los Angeles Lakers 88 – Chris Paul 93

Not, that’s not a typo. This game was all Chris Paul or as Phillip from Forum Blue & Gold calls him, the Point God.  Between dicing up Bynum’s knees and abusing Kobe’s bum ankles, CP3 somehow found time to drop a historic triple-double. Just so you don’t think I’m garnishing this dish with too much spice, Paul’s 27 point, 15 assist, 13 rebound foray last night was the first 25+/15+/10+ performance since the gods created basketball (at least not since 1986-87).

On the flip side of this game, Gasol, Bynum and Odom were nearly out rebounded by Chris Paul and they were most certainly outplayed by him. Kobe scored ZERO points in the first half (first time since 2004) and finished the game with 17 points on 5 of 18 shooting. People are worried about Mamba’s hurt ankle but they should really worry about the Lakers overall defense. Fisher can’t check CP3, Kobe can’t check CP3, and the Lakers bigs were abused by CP3. Maybe it’s time to instill the Matt Barnes defense onto Paul. Whatever the Lakers do, they need to figure it out and quick as the series is tied up at 2-2 heading back to Los Angeles.

Tonight’s Games:

San Antonio Spurs@ Memphis Grizzlies – 8:00 PM EST on TNT: Memphis leads the Spurs 2-1 and they still have another home game remaining. Tony Allen is calling Manu out, Mike Conley is outplaying Tony Parker and Spurs fans might seriously consider a Zach Randolph for Tim Duncan trade (if Chris Wallace was dumb enough to offer it). Not sure what world we are living in but can any of you confidently tell me the Spurs will win this series?

Portland Trailblazers @ Dallas Mavericks – 8:30 PM EST on NBAtv: Just as Dallas was removing their “Mr. Choke” name tags, they suffered another classic come-from-ahead-loss to the Blazers to even things up at 2 games each. A lot of NBA blogheads picked the Blazers to upset Dallas is Brandon Roy could put things together. Looks like that might actually happen here. This is by far my favorite series of the playoffs as both teams have stacked rosters, good coaching, strong narratives and incredible fans. Wish this game was on TNT but I’m thankful that it’s on somewhere.

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Denver Nuggets – 10:30 PM EST on TNT: The Nuggets might be in denial, but this series is all but over. With that said, this is still a crucial game for the Thunder. Can they show some championship heart and deliver the death blow to the desperate Nuggets or will they lallygag through this close-out game knowing they can go back home and finish the series off. There is still a lot to learn about this young Thunder team and tonight we could get a glimpse of exactly what this team is capable of.

See y’all on tonight.

Shane is a contributor to Stacheketball.com, LarryBrownSports.com & NBAoffseason.com. You can find him babbling about basketball all over the net or tune in as he tweets nonsense on twitter @Suga_Shane.

Double Dribble Podcast Ep.002 – FINALLY!

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The playoffs are FINALLY here. Listen in on the Double Dribble Podcast as Ben Swanson joins Erroll and Shane as they breakdown playoff match ups, highlight advantages and give you their first round series predictions. A lot of interesting takes including some shocking upset predictions. Who? Tune in to find out!

 

Ep 002 – FINALLY! 2011 First Round Playoffs Review by Shane Baker