The Boston Celtics just scored 7 points...in the first quarter...and I mean for the whole quarter.

Ouch.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 2

Boston Celtics 72 Atlanta Hawks 89

The Boston Celtics came into this game without the services of Avery Bradley, who injured his hamstring in game 1 and is likely out for at least the remainder of this series, and they were also without Kelly Olynyk who has a lingering shoulder injury. So they knew tonight would potentially be a tough night.

But the Celtics didn't think it would be this bad. The Hawks stormed out to a 24-3 lead in the first quarter and held the Celtics to a franchise playoff low seven points in the that quarter. The Hawks started out 9-of-13 from the field and knocked down six from beyond the 3-point arc. Kyle Korver, who along with Al Horford led the Hawks with 17 points, made four from long range in a big turnaround from a 1-of-10 performance in Game 1 that didn't include any 3-pont shots. Despite their torrid start, Atlanta's shooting went pretty cold after that. It didn't matter, though; Boston was never able to make a serious dent into the Hawks' lead, and they were thwarted by Atlanta's stingy defense. Jeff Teague added 13 points and six assists for the Hawks. Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 16 points while Amir Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Atlanta leads series 2-0.

^

You are doing an excellent job in this thread.

duccichucka said:

^

You are doing an excellent job in this thread.

Huey is the basketball god of this website. I agree, great job Huey!

RodeoSchro said:

I'd really like to know the inside skinny on why Les Alexander fired McHale so suddenly and dramatically. That's really not like Alexander. He's been a pretty loyal owner. But clearly something or someone convinced him McHale had to go and go immediately. That was a bad move, IMO.

According to an NBA source on WFAN (I'm listening to him now), it was a coup engineered by Harden.

R.I.P. to former Syracuse legend Dwayne "Pearl" Washington. He was only 52.

[Edited 4/20/16 8:46am]

uPtoWnNY said:

RodeoSchro said:

I'd really like to know the inside skinny on why Les Alexander fired McHale so suddenly and dramatically. That's really not like Alexander. He's been a pretty loyal owner. But clearly something or someone convinced him McHale had to go and go immediately. That was a bad move, IMO.

According to an NBA source on WFAN (I'm listening to him now), it was a coup engineered by Harden.

R.I.P. to former Syracuse legend Dwayne "Pearl" Washington. He was only 52.

[Edited 4/20/16 8:46am]

The Pearl died?

Syracuse legend Dwayne 'Pearl' Washington dies at age 52

uPtoWnNY said:

Syracuse legend Dwayne 'Pearl' Washington dies at age 52

52...........smh.

uPtoWnNY said:

RodeoSchro said:

I'd really like to know the inside skinny on why Les Alexander fired McHale so suddenly and dramatically. That's really not like Alexander. He's been a pretty loyal owner. But clearly something or someone convinced him McHale had to go and go immediately. That was a bad move, IMO.

According to an NBA source on WFAN (I'm listening to him now), it was a coup engineered by Harden.

R.I.P. to former Syracuse legend Dwayne "Pearl" Washington. He was only 52.

[Edited 4/20/16 8:46am]

I can believe it but would attribute Harden's actions to being under the spell of the Kardashian Curse, which he was at the time of McHale's firing.

Daryl Morey must think Harden is absolutely unreplaceable to have done that.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 2

Charlotte Hornets 103 Miami Heat 115


The Miami Heat dominated the Charlotte Hornets in game 1, but the Hornets were detrmined to put up a better effort in this game. And early on Charlotte was able to hang tough. But midway through the second quarter the Heat got fired up and went on a rampage, scoring 23 points in just 3 and 1/2 minutes, and they cruised on to victory after that. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 28 points. Hassan Whiteside was a perfect 8 for 8 from the floor and scored 17 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds. Goran Dragic scored 18 points, Luol Deng finished with 16 and Josh Richardson added 15 for Miami, which had 72 points by halftime and never trailed in the second half. Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 29 points, while Al Jefferson scored 25 points on 12-for-17 shooting off the bench, Courtney Lee added 12 points and Jeremy Lin added 11 points.

Miami leads series 2-0.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 2

Detroit Pistons 90 Cleveland Cavaliers 107


The Detroit Pistons felt confident enough from their performance in game 1 to steal this game away from the Cavs, and for the first half they once again made life difficult for Cleveland. But at the start of the third quarter it began raining threes for Lebron James and his squad. The Cavs tied a playoff record by making 20 3-point shots in this game. Seven of those 3-point shots were made by J.R. Smith. Lebron James led all scorers with 27 points while Kyrie Irving scored 22 points and Kevin Love added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Andre Drummond led the Pistons with 20 points while Reggie Jackson addeed 14 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Tobias Harris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each added 13 points in a losing effort for Detroit.

Cleveland leads series 2-0.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 3

Cleveland Cavaliers 101 Detroit Pistons 91


The Detroit Pistons found tthemselves in a 0-2 deficit coming into this game, so they were hoping some home cooking would turn their fortunes around. And early on it appeared to do just that. But the Cavs would methodically hang in and eventually pull away thnaks to their big three. Kyrie Irving scored 26 points while Lebron James and Kevin Love each added 20 points and 13 and 12 rebounds respectively. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Pistons with 18 points, Andre Drummond scored 17 and grabbed seven rebounds, Marcus Morris scored 16 points, and Reggie Jackson added 13 points and 12 assists in a losing effort for Detroit.

Cleveland leads series 3-0.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 3

Atlanta Hawks 103 Boston Celtics 111

The Boston Celtics came home knowing that if they did not turn things around quickly, they were likely to be bounced out of the playoffs early. So they came into this game with a bit of desperation and made some changes to their lineup in the absecnce of Avery Bradley, inserting Evan Turner into the starting lineup.

The Celtics came out blazing, jumping out to a 20 point lead into the second quarter. But the Hawks would come storming back thanks to an 12-0 run in the third quarter, and by tthe fourth quarter the game turned into a dogfight with three ties and a pair of lead changes. But Boston would pull away with the victory thanks to Isaiah Thomas, who scored 42 points. Evan Turner scored 17 points and dished out seven assists while also making five steals. Amir Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds Jeff Teague scored 23 points for Atlanta. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder each finished with 20 and Kyle Korver added 17 points.

Atlanta leads series 2-1.

Western Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 3

San Antonio Spurs 96 Memphis Grizzlies 87

Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week, but it was his offense which carried the Spurs to a relatively easy victory over the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies. Leonard led the Spurs with 32 points while LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Danny Green and Manu Ginobili each added 11 points for San Antonio. Zach Randolph led Memphis with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-21 shooting. Matt Barnes added 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Vince Carter had 11 points and JaMaychal Green was 5-of-5 for 10 points.

San Antonio leads series 3-0.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 4

Toronto Raptors 83 Indiana Pacers 100

After watching the Toronto Raptors dominate game 3 on their home court, the Indiana Pacers needed to make statement if they were going to even up this series, and they did just that. Two days after one of their most embarrassing home games of the season, the Pacers turned things around in a big way. They played with passion and energy, shared the ball and defended. And they were more aggressive on the glass, too.

Indiana scored the first seven points, took control with a 3-point spree late in the first quarter and led by as much as 25 points in the first half. Toronto, which never led or tied the score, cut it to 57-42 at halftime, but couldn't got closer than 11 in the second half.

George Hill and Ian Mahinmi each led the Pacers with 22 points while Paul George added 19 points. Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 16 points while DeMarre Carroll scored 12 points. But the big story was the continuing struggles of the Toronto backcourt, with Kyle Lowry scoring 12 points on 4 for 12 shooting from the floor, and DeMar DeRozan scoring just eight points on 4 for 15 shooting.

Series tied at 2-2.

Congrats to the T-Wolves - they hired a real coach, unlike the Knicks, who'll hire one of Phil Jackson's puppets.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 3

Miami Heat 80 Charlotte Hornets 96


The Charlotte Hornets came into game 3 not having won a playoff game since 2002, when the original Hornets franchise played in the Queen City before moving to New Orleans. (The previous Bobcats made only one playoff appearance, in which they were swept in four games.) And after the first two games, it looked like Miami would steamroll their way through this opening series.

And early on the Heat picked up where they left off, with Luol Deng hitting four 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 2015 lead on the Hornets. But Charlotte picked themselves up, and they went on their own run to take a 49-45 lead at tthe half. But it was in the third quarter where Charlotte pulled away, going on an 18-0 run thanks to rookie Frank Kaminsky, who got the starting nod in place of injured Nicolas Batum and scored eight of his 15 points in that quarter. Jeremy Lin led the Hornets with 18 points while Kemba Walker scored 17 points. Marvin Williams added 12 points and 14 rebounds for Charlotte. Luol Deng led Miami with 19 points on five 3-pointers while Dwyane Wade added 17 points. Hassan Whiteside scored 13 points and grabbed 18 rebounds but battled foul trouble throught the game.

Miami leads series 2-1.

C.J. McCollum was named the NBA's Most Improved Player of the year on Friday. The Portland Trail Blazers guard saw his scoring average jump from 6.8 points per game during the 2014-15 season to 20.8 points this season.

In addition to his scoring average, McCollum also set career highs for field goal percentage (44.8), 3-point field goal percentage (41.7), assists (4.3) and rebounds (3.2). He is the third Portland player to have won the award, joining Kevin Duckworth (1987-88) and Zach Randolph (2003-04).

McCollum, in his third season since being selected with the 10th overall pick of the 2013 draft, received 101 first-place votes and 559 points in balloting among sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker was second with 166 points, while Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (99) was third.

Interestingly enough, Stephen Curry received seven first-place votes and was fourth in the voting for the award, which is given to honor an up-and-coming player who has dramatically improved from the previous season. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Curry is the first reigning MVP to finish in the top 10 in voting for this award the following season (voting data became available in 1995-96).

Mike Conley was awarded the Joe Dumars Trophy for sportsmanship by the NBA today. The NBA announced that Conley joins Grant Hill (3) and Jason Kidd (2) as multiple winners since the award's inception in the 1996. The point guard also won in 2014.

"He's very deserving as just a wonderful human being, a class act on the court, the way he carries himself and certainly all the things he does in the community," Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said. "He plays the game the right way, and then he carries that over into the community and all the positive things he's done here in the last nine years is just fantastic."

The NBA will make a $10,000 donation on behalf of Conley to his charity of choice, Methodist Healthcare Foundation. The money is earmarked for the sickle cell center.

Conley received 58 of 327 first-place votes and 2,209 total points from NBA players, who voted among finalists Kyle Korver (Atlanta), Pau Gasol (Chicago), Damian Lillard (Portland), Shaun Livingston (Golden State) and Luis Scola (Toronto).

The annual award for ethical behavior and fair play is named for former Detroit Pistons guard and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars.

Western Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 4

Oklahoma City Thunder 119 Dallas Mavericks 108


OKC came storming at the gate in game 3 and never trailed in that game. As for tonight's game, it was somewhat closer and a lot more testy on behalf of the Dallas Mavericks, but the outcome was much the same. The Thunder never trailed in this game, Enes Kanter led OKC with 28 points while Russell Westbrook scored 25 points and dished out 15 assists. Kevin Durant scored 19 points but was ejected late in the game for a flagrant foul on Justin Anderson. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points and eight rebounds while Raymond Felton and Wesley Matthews each added 19 points.

Oklahoma City leads series 3-1.

Westerm Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 3

Los Angeles Clippers 88 Portland Trail Blazers 96


The Los Angeles Clippers easily dispatched the Portland Trail Blazers in their first two games thanks to shutting down the Blazers offense led by Damian Lillard and NBA Most Improved Player C.J. McCollum. The Blazers knew if they got off to another slow start, they would most likely find themsleves being bounced out of the playoffs early.

So Portland went out to take control of this game at the start. With a game-opening 3-pointer, Damian Lillard set the tone and the Trail Blazers followed. Lillard finished with 32 points and Portland rediscovered its offense at home. Lillard had made only 13 of 39 from the floor, and just 3 of 14 from 3-point range in the first two games combined. But he found his shot on Saturday, hitting 10 of 20 from the field with three 3-pointers. His 32 points matched his playoff high.

C.J. McCollum added 27 points for Portland to help snap a five-game losing streak to the Clippers going back to the regular season. Mason Plumlee contributed six points, a postseason-high 21 rebounds and nine assists. Even with these contributions, the Blazers had to rally from behind in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Chris Paul led the Clippers with 26 points and dished out nine assists. Jamal Crawford scored 19 points off the bench, Blake Griffin scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan scored 11 points while also grabbing 16 rebounds.

LA Clippers lead series 2-1.

Western Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 4

San Antonio Spurs 116 Memphis Grizzlies 95

The San Antonio Spurs had been steamrolling the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies were looking for anything that might slow the Spurs down going into this game. They did find a way to stop the Spurs....at least temporarily. A power outage hit the FedEx Forum during the second quarter, which delayed play for about 20 minutes. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies hung in and managed to trail San Antonio by just two points at the half.

But then the Spurs picked up where they left off and dominated the Grizzlies in the second half. Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 21 points while Tony Parker scored 16 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Lance Stephenson led Memphis with 26 points while both Zach Randolph and Matt Barnes each added 15 points and seven rebounds. Vince Carter added 14 points. While Memphis was not given much of a chence to defeat San Antonio even with a fully healthy lineup, the absence of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley may have doomed their chances before the series began. San Antonio now awaits the winner of the OKC-Dallas series.

San Antonio wins series 4-0.

Western Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 4

Golden State Warriors 121 Houston Rockets 94


The Golden State Warriors had played the last couple of games without the services of Stephen Curry, who injured his ankle in the third quarter of game 1. His absecnce did not affect the Warriors in game 2, but Houston would jump out to a huge lead in game 3 only to hold on for dear life to sustain the victory. Curry returned for this game, but he was obviously not 100% as he only scored nine points on 2 for 9 shooting from the floor including just one 3-point shot made. To add further worry for his teammates and fans, he slipped on a wet patch late in the second quarter and sprained his right knee, leaving his status up in the air for game 5. Meanwhile, the Rockets played a decent first half, led by Dwight Howard who scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half, and the game was tied at halftime.

Once again, even without Stephen Curry, his teammates took over. Klay Thompson led the Warriors on a 41-20 run in the third quarter which included four 3-pointers. Andre Igoudala scored a season high 22 points while Draymond Green added 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out four assists. Dwight Howard led the Rockets with 19 points and 15 rebounds. James Harden scored 18 points, dished out 10 assists and made seven steals, but he was disgusted at his team's lack of effort in the second half.

Golden State leads series 3-1.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 4

Atlanta Hawks 95 Boston Celtics 104 F/OT

After winning game 3, the Boston Celtics felt confident about their chances going into game 4, while Atlanta felt as though they didn't put up much of an effort in game 3. One person in particular, Paul Milsap, struggled in that game and was determined to turn things around in this game.

And he came out on fire, scoring 45 points in this game and grabbing 13 rebounds. The Hawks would take control of the game in the second quarter and jump out to a 16 point lead midway through the third quarter.

But the Celtics came storming back. They were led once again by Isaiah Thomas, who scored 28 points in this game, and Marcus Smart, who scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out four assists. The Celtics led by four with under a minute to play in regulation when Jeff Teague hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Atlanta the lead. But Thomas drove for a layup to tie the game at 92 with 15 seconds left.

The Hawks had a chance to win in regulation before Teague dribbled out the clock and Thomas prevented him from getting off a clean shot.

Boston's Amir Johnson scored the first five points of overtime. Teague kept Atlanta in it with a fourth-chance 3-pointer with 3:44 left but the Hawks did not score again. The Celtics now go back to Atlanta with a chance to steal game 5.

Series tied at 2-2.

Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1st Round

Game 4

Cleveland Cavaliers 100 Detroit Pistons 98

Lebron James came into game 4 having set a playoff record for his teams sweeping the first round of an NBA Playoff series seven consecutive times. Yet even though the Cavs had a 3-0 lead on the Detroit Pistons, this unit was far scrappier than other clubs he has faced in the first round of the playoffs. Tonight would be no different, as the Pistons would jump out to a ten points lead to start the game. Even toghh Lebron would finish with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, he struggled to get those points as he shot 9 for 19 from the floor.

But he would be picked up by his teammates. Kyrie Irving led the Cavs with 31 points while J.R. Smith scored 15 points on five 3-pointers. Kevin Love added 11 points and 13 rebounds while Matthew Dellavedova scored 11 points off the bench.

Buit these Pistons refused to roll over and die. Marcus Morris led Detroit with 24 points, and Tobias Harris scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Andre Drummond added 17 points and 11 rebounds while Reggie Jackson added 13 points and dished out 12 assists.

The Cavs would cling to a two point lead in the closing seconds, but Reggie Jackson had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but his 3-point shot went wide. He thought he was fouled on that shot, but no call was made, and the Cavs took the series and now await the winner of the Boston-Atlanta series.

Cleveland wins series 4-0.

Come on Portland shock the world tonight.

I know it's just a wish but I'd like to see Portland pull off the upset

tonight.

phunkdaddy said:

Come on Portland shock the world tonight.

I know it's just a wish but I'd like to see Portland pull off the upset

tonight.

Now you know Portland wasn't going to win at the Oracle!!! Expecially with the unanimous MVP (deservingly so) on the floor.....GSW killed it, closed up shop and escorted Portland off the court. Done and done. The upset that I want to see is Toronto beat the Heat and now since they are up 3-2, they have a pretty good chance. I just would like to see another team, other than Cleveland (from the East) in the finals. But back to the West, where the exciting match ups are, I'm very surprised to see that the Spurs have let OKC get the best of them. I surely expected the Spurs to get at them 4-1, but this is quite interesting. Looks like I'll need to tune in tonight to see what happens.

missfee said:

phunkdaddy said: