NBA Finals Recap: LeBron & Bosh Shush San Antonio and Take Game 2

Miami Heat did not want to head back to South Beach trailing 2-0 in the series. That's not the Miami way in recent years. Miami hasn't lost back-to-back playoff games since the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012 when Boston took three straight games. The Heat got a primetime performance from LeBron James, Chris Bosh proving why he is one of the best second banana and how San Antonio squandered this game away in multiple ways.

Everyone took shots at The King after Thursday's night game where James left the game early with cramps brought on by AT&T Center's air conditioning going out mid-game. People loved to laugh at James because he is an easy target, and people love to pick on him. James heard all of shots and took full control of this game in the second half. He ended with 35 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron put on a complete clinic for anyone whom dared to give him a hard time about his cramping issues. He looked on another level than everyone else in that gym. When you get that LeBron, the only one whom can stop him is James himself.

James' night is more impressive considering he began the game missing three of his first four shots with only two points in the first. James would only miss five shots the rest of the game. He did in all different ways as well. Sometimes, we see LeBron take it to the lane and earn most of his points from the free throw. Not Sunday night as he made three 3-pointers in the second half along with other mid-range jumpers. James had the whole arsenal working on Sunday. If LeBron could be like Stone Cold Steve Austin and hold up middle fingers to the crowd, he would have easily have done it after this game. Solid way to bounce back from Game 1.  

Chris Bosh gets hated on so much by the NBA community. It is due to his antics and demeanor, but for a long time, people didn't take him seriously as a basketball player. Rather a player just coming along for the ride. This season, Bosh has been much more of the second option when LeBron has needed him. Even though James had a Hall of Fame-like performance, Bosh came up with the two biggest plays in the fourth quarter. Bosh drilled a big three in the corner like he has done all season with Miami. The Big Shot Bosh nickname rang true on Sunday night. Additionally, Bosh took Tim Duncan on the dribble causing Duncan to stumble with Miami's final possession leading to an easy dagger lay-up by Dwyane Wade ensuring Miami's victory. 

San Antonio has to be kicking themselves today though. They could have easily be up 2-0. Spurs put Miami on the ropes multiple times throughout the game but couldn't deliver the knockout punch at any point of the game. There were a couple times in the first half where San Antonio could have really push the lead out, but they would have a turnover or a couple missed shots like Miami stay in the game. Probably their biggest undoing was in the middle of the fourth quarter, San Antonio was up 87-85. Mario Chalmers would get called for a flagrant foul giving Tony Parker two free throws which he both missed and the following possession, Duncan missed two free throws as well. Naturally, LeBron hits a three on the following Duncan's two clanked throws.  If the Spurs make all four, they are up six with not much time left and take advantage of the quarter.  If Miami wins the series, we could point to the Spurs inability to close the door on Sunday. 

The series head to Miami where the Heat haven't lost all playoffs. James handled responding to the haters about the cramps and the target on Sunday. Now, he will have a chance to take control of this series. Something tells me he will not miss out on the opportunity. 

Charlie. 

SnoTap NBA Finals Preview: 15 Dollar NBA Finals Challenge

The Internet is in a complete tizzy over the 15 dollar game or the 25 dollar game or the 20 dollars and shut the hell up about it. Anyways, it is a cool concept, but my goodness, it is dominating my Twitter feed for the last week. I am pretty sure the trend is over, but a few people will try to run it back like the people doing 'Gangnam Style' videos two months after the trend already begun. But we are going to do it for the only time on SnoTap as we utilize it for the NBA Finals preview.

Five dollar players will be the ones with the most valuable to either San Antonio Spurs or Miami Heat winning the Larry O'Brien trophy. From there, we will look at other players working our way down.

Five Dollars
LeBron James - This is the obvious first choice. LeBron had a fairly good NBA Finals against the Spurs. Granted, Kawhi Leonard is a year older which could be a factor into wondering how good James will be this June. For reference, he had two triple-doubles and three games with 30 points or more. Although in the two games against San Antonio this year, James struggled mightily with under 20 points and poor shooting in both games.

Kawhi Leonard - I think he is the most important player on the Spurs roster. Say he holds LeBron to under 23 points a game for the series and the Spurs win plus Kawhi ends up averaging around 15 points a game. He would easily be the Most Valuable Player of the Finals. Leonard had some big games down the stretch in last year's NBA Finals and if he is more assertive on the offensive end, he could do some big things in this series.

Chris Bosh - This is the player to watch in the series. Bosh has been coming on hot of late. He had three straight games with 20 points or more plus he is shooting 57.5 percent from the field in those three games. Bosh is red hot. He is also rebounding which is something I was highly critical of him in the past. He grabbed eight and 10 boards in the last two games. Don't be shocked if he is the NBA Finals MVP if Miami takes their third straight title.

Tony Parker - The health of Tony Parker is a major concern. He says it will be all good, but one tweak could disable him from being a factor in this series. He hurt his ankle recently and hurt a hamstring earlier on in the playoffs as well. If he is 100 percent, Parker is a huge game-changer. Not one player on the Heat can really guard him. Maybe Dwyane Wade is the only answer, but he has definitely lost a step in his defense.

Four Dollars 
Tim Duncan - The last two games have been great for Duncan with double-doubles in both games as well Duncan scoring 19 and 22 points. The rebounding numbers were vast improvements from where he was after the Portland series. Duncan has some demons looming with him missing bunnies in the late game. Biggest thing for him is if there is a close Game 1 or Game 2, Duncan needs to hit a couple of those late and get the confidence back. Because if Duncan misses them again, the demons could return.

Dwyane Wade - Everyone talking about Miami to win the series are saying Wade will be the difference given his health is much better than it was last season. I don't disagree, but I don't know if he will be as effective as people believe him to be this series. Wade will have his moment though at some point whether it is a big game-winning basket or an iconic game like Game 4 last season.

Manu Ginobili - Many people are talking about how this is a redemption series for Duncan, but it is more so for Ginobili. He struggled mightily besides Game 5 and Game 7 last season. Granted, Ginobili came up big when it mattered the most, but he has something to prove in this series. A part of me feels Ginobili will come up huge for the Spurs at some point. He is having a real solid playoffs including probably being the difference maker against Oklahoma City.

Rashard Lewis - This might be an overreaction to Lewis' Game 5 and Game 6 performances, but you cannot overlook what he did in the last two games. He had 18 points with Game 5 and added 13 in the Game 6 win. If Lewis can basically be Sam Perkins for this team and just drill corner threes, huge addition for this team's offense. He also could spend the whole time on the bench and I wonder why I am wearing this f---ing shirt.

Boris Diaw - Big Game Boris???  He tends to come up big when San Antonio needs him the most. Diaw could be a true factor battling Miami's small lineup. The likely assumption is he will play a heavy (no pun intended) role into the Spurs offense with likely him playing at the four with Duncan at the five. Diaw should add something to the Spurs offense.

Three Dollars 
Ray Allen - Every now and again, you will have 'Ray Allen Game.' They do not come often, but all the sudden, Allen hits a huge three in the waning moments of the game. He is completely lethal and terrifying to be out there on the court late in games. Ray isn't giving you 10 a game, but he will give a big three somewhere in this season.

Tiago Splitter - I know a lot of people are saying Tiago will not get much run because of the Spurs small lineup. I would disagree. San Antonio could put him with the small lineup forcing LeBron to play more in the post and hopefully draw fouls on him. Splitter might not score points or pull down a ton of rebounds, but his size could pay off for San Antonio.

Chris Andersen - He could be more valuable than this guarding Tim Duncan and the other big men in this series. They also need Andersen to be healthy because if he is absent from the series, San Antonio can have their way in the paint.

Danny Green - I really do believe there will be one game where Green comes out of nowhere and has five or more threes leading the Spurs. He had a huge stretch through Game 2-4 last season where everybody couldn't stop talking about him. Green did it one time against Oklahoma City, and I doubt he will be a ghost in this series.

Two Dollars 
Mario Chalmers - He has not reached double-digits in scoring since Game 2 of the Brooklyn series, but he will still play a part in this series. If Chalmers can take advantage of Parker not being 100 percent, he could contribute to this offense plus the defense on Parker will be vital. Worth noting he had games of 19, 14 and 20 points against San Antonio last Finals.

Matt Bonner - He started the last two games for San Antonio against Oklahoma City. Will the trend continue?  It doesn't sound promising looking at 2013 NBA Finals as he only played in garbage time in Game two through four.

One Dollar  
Norris Cole - Every now and again, Norris steps up in a big way. He bails the Heat out off the bench from time to time.

Patty Mills - I believe in Patty Mills. I think Gregg Popovich doesn't trust him enough, but have a feeling weird feeling there will be a night where NBA Twitter is using Patty's name in all caps.

Prediction
Heart says Spurs in 7, head says Heat in 6. I really don't know. It is so damn close. Let's go with Miami wining in six games.

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 91

Tapping The Keg rolls on for another week of Tapping The Keg podcast. Charlie and Mitch cover a bevy of topics in about 45 minutes.  Surprising since there wasn't much to talk about this week. We talk about the Minnesota bar whom will give you free beer if you invest 1,000 dollars. Mitch and Charlie then preview the NBA Finals breaking down different storylines like Tony Parker's health, Miami's defense and if Spurs will be 'gutted' if they win the title. We talk a bit about the Stanley Cup Final talking Kings-Rangers talking more about ratings and storylines versus the actual analysis. It moves to some Brewers talk looking at Aramis Ramirez coming back, Yovani Gallardo's recent struggles and the possibility of Kendrys Morales. A little Bucks talk about the Antetekounmpo brothers and California Chrome finishes us off.

Spurs-Heat: The Rematch We All Deserve.

As the NBA season’s picture cleared up in the months of March and April, it felt like we were due for the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs to run it back one more time in the NBA Finals. It is like seeing a great match at Wrestlemania and need to see a rematch in one of the lesser Pay-Per-Views the following month.  Both teams turned the rematch into a reality this weekend with Miami’s blowout win against the Pacers and San Antonio holding on in overtime despite not having Tony Parker to put away the Thunder. We will have another rematch, and I don’t think many people are complaining about it.

Even before Miami and Indiana tipped off, it felt like a foregone conclusion the Heat would win the game on Friday night. That's usually not the case when Game 6 happen in sports, but the series felt over.  That's really weird to explain after seeing Indiana winning in Game 5 with Paul George scoring 37 points. Heat looked the strongest they have been all series dashing Indiana's dreams from the get-go. Miami led by 26 points at halftime allowing Heat fans to start the party early. No one really had a memorable game rather Miami had all their players contribute in a major way with both LeBron James and Chris Bosh adding 25 points ensuring this series was not headed back to Indiana. One team took its place in the Finals and would their opponent join them after Saturday?

The answer is yes. San Antonio lost Tony Parker for the second half of the game, but the Spurs willed their way to victory. The game went back and forth for all four quarters delivering the first great game in this series. It appeared like the Spurs were going to put away Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter as they had a 10 point lead. But Russell Westbrook helped get the Thunder back into the game with his strong play late sending this game to overtime. Manu Ginobili had a bad night going 4/14 from the field, but he hit the biggest shots of the game with a big 3-pointer putting San Antonio ahead late in regulation plus added big free throws down the stretch. Tim Duncan also had a throwback game with a 19 points and 15 rebounds performance.

The stage is set for a Finals rematch. There are some pieces missing from the last time plus the series will begin in San Antonio. Duncan and Gregg Popovich will attempt to win their five NBA title, and win a title 15 years later after their first one. We will talk later this week, but it feels like either way, one of these two might be done with basketball after this season.  As for Miami, they could have the first three-peat since the early 2000's Los Angeles Lakers. The whole promise of 'Not one, not two, not three' would start to become more of a reality instead of laughing it off like we did when James uttered that famous phrase. Plus the whole discussion of how we perceive each team if and when they lose because there are some interesting storylines there as well.

Rematches aren't always the best thing for the professional sports product, but right now, this is one of the best things going in sports. Happy we will get to see LeBron against San Antonio at least one more time.

Charlie. 

KRS-OKC Evens Up The Series

People love to bring up Oklahoma City traded James Harden to the Houston Rockets. It is a fun topic to remember as Harden became one of the top 10 scoring guards in the NBA. Many people assumed there would be countless situations where we wondered as basketball 'What if the Thunder had Harden, would they won an NBA Finals or made another NBA Finals appearance.' It is time for those articles and the hypothetical situations to rest in peace. 

Serge Ibaka is proving to be a more vital cog to Oklahoma City as they have won the last two games in rousing fashion. Last night featured an all-time Russell Westbrook game with Kevin Durant playing a solid Robin to Russ's Batman in a 105-92 victory. Oklahoma City has turned the tide on San Antonio, how do the Spurs adjust?     

Vince Carter had the nickname of 'Half Man, Half Amazing' and it honestly fit him during his time with the Toronto Raptors yet we could reuse it for Oklahoma City's point guard. Westbrook played a complete game with a stellar performance with 40 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, five steals and a block for good measure. If anyone ever wondered if Oklahoma City could make without Westbrook probably stopped trying to make that argument with their buddies at the bar. Same goes for those whom think Westbrook is only a second banana. When Russ is playing at his 100 percent, there are not many better. Only three of Westbrook's baskets were outside 13 feet with many of them of him attacking the paint. He got to the free throw line 14 times. There was also this crazy statistic about Westbrook's night. 

The weird thing is Durant had a pretty damn solid night. If it is hard to have a quiet 31 points, five rebounds and five assists, that is exactly what happened with KD last night. Durant had a big second quarter which helped push Oklahoma Ctiy out to a 15 point lead at halftime which included a 58 point half from the Thunder. Durant and Westbrook combined for 71 out of 105 points for Oklahoma City. The dynamic duo had two-thirds of the team's buckets. Some might say this should be a cause for concern, but if Durant and Westbrook are playing at this elite level, I don't know what team is stopping them. 

Ibaka being back is helping in a major way though. The last time San Antonio beat Oklahoma City with Serge in the lineup was Monday, March 11th, 2013.  That's over a year ago. Ibaka had only nine points and eight rebounds with a PER of +11 last night, and in Game 3, he had 15 points and seven rebounds. But it is not the point total, it is the defensive presence inside. Tim Duncan had only nine points in Game 4, he only added 16 in Game 3. Ibaka keeps haunting nightmares and it's not just Duncan's as the Spurs seem afraid to visit Ibaka's lane. Their confidence against Ibaka seems to have disappeared therefore what can be done to rid themselves of this terror known as Serge? 

The simple answer is foul trouble.  The game plan should be taking it to Serge right away in the opening part of the game with Duncan getting some of the first touches trying to draw Ibaka in foul trouble early on. Same goes for attacking with him with Tony Parker whose been terrible in the last two games. If he gets his shot blocked, so what? If a foul is called and Ibaka is out of the game, it opens up the floodgates to attack the paint. The other one is they need a secondary big man scorer. Duncan can only do so much in the twilight of his career. If the Spurs can get a 15 to 20 point effort from Boris Diaw or Tiago Splitter, that will be huge for the Spurs.

Many people are saying this is history repeating itself from 2012. I am not ready to go there yet. This Spurs team showed a great deal of resilency this playoffs in the Dallas series, and their overall bounce back from the heartbreak in Miami last June. But I do know, this is a different Thunder team. One that's getting more terrifying by the moment. 

Charlie. 

NBA Playoff Recaps: San Antonio Smashes Oklahoma City

After Game 1, it seemed like pushing the panic button on Oklahoma City's chances to challenge San Antonio was premature. After Game 2, the panic button has been pushed, and it is right for everyone to freak out for a little while. San Antonio beat the brakes off the Thunder as they won 112-77 in a 35-point playoff defeat, one of Oklahoma City's worst losses with a big night from Danny Green and a healthy effort from Tony Parker plus what will happen with Oklahoma City in the following two games.

Green became one of the biggest X-factors in the 2013 NBA Playoffs for San Antonio. In fact, he became one of the biggest storylines of the NBA Finals last year only to fall off in the last couple games. Green had his best night from shooting beyond the arc which helped San Antonio push out their lead in the second and third quarter.  The game remained close into the latter parts of the second half looking like we could get a close game between these two teams. Then Green happened in a major way. He helped push out the lead to 14 points by halftime and assisted in San Antonio's 33 point third quarter helping the Spurs go on a 43-14 run. In the second and third quarter, the Spurs outscored Oklahoma City, 67-36 and Green played a large part in it. In the last three games, Green is averaging 19.6 a game which is huge for this Spurs team.

Another major thing for the Spurs is the health of Tony Parker. He hurt his hamstring in Game 5 of the Portland game, and it appears he is all healed up. Parker had 22 points with five assists leading the scoring. Parker. He made 10 of 17 shots doing usual Parker things in the paint. One of the more unexpected things about the first two games is how Parker is still playing at such a high level going up against Russell Westbrook. Maybe I overvalued Westbrook's defense, or Parker is much better than I give him credit for. Regardless, he played great for a second straight game and appears he is back in full force. Hopefully, Parker stays healthy throughout the remainder of the playoffs.

Oklahoma City is in a state of flux. It is not just Serge Ibaka anymore either. Kevin Durant and Westbrook combined for 30 points with shooting 13/40 from the field making 1/9 from three. That's terrible. There is no way to describe it any other way. It is evident Durant and Westbrook are trying to do too much out there right now, and that's a problem for Oklahoma City. Neither of these two guys could have saved the Thunder last night as they had no else scoring for them. Jeremy Lamb got most of his points in garbage time, and the rest of the starting lineup had four total points. Someone not named Durant or Westbrook needs to step up in a major way for Oklahoma City, or this series could be over before we know it.

Does it look like San Antonio could sweep Oklahoma City right out of the playoffs?  Yes it does. Do I think it will happen?  No I don't because the Thunder are too good to let San Antonio walk all over them for the entire playoffs.  Oklahoma City needs more scoring in the starting lineup. I don't know if that means going small putting Durant as a four, but something needs to change before it's too late. It doesn't need to be said, but Game 3 is a must-win for Oklahoma City on Sunday night.

Charlie.

NBA Playoff Recaps: Heat & Spurs Advance

Second Round of NBA Playoffs will feature two games of night.  I dropped the ball on writing on Saturdays meaning Friday games were left in the dust.  I am going to write about the games like we did for the first round because it is picking up steam in terms of the hits. I will probably add a full blog post sometimes when we have a must talked playoff win. 

Brooklyn Busts Again Late Leading to a Miami Victory 
This series did not really feel like it shouldn't have ended in five games. The one we are talking about below was a definite five-game series. Brooklyn should have won one of the last two games, but they choked it away down the stretch leading to the Miami Heat winning both games advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for their fourth straight year. Brooklyn had Miami for the entire basketball game. More so than Game 4, there wasn't LeBron James dominating out there and Joe Johnson having a massive game. Brooklyn had an eight point lead with under five minutes only to have Miami go on a rampant 12-0 run which included the Nets missing nine straight baskets. Ray Allen whose the grim reaper and the President of Fountain of Youth society hit the go-ahead three.  Brooklyn had puzzling late-game efforts leading to Miami's victory.

Other than the comeback, this was a throwback game for Miami.  Dwyane Wade and LeBron James had a combined 57 points with 29 points from James and 28 points from Wade.  The 28 point total is the highest of the postseason for Wade and the first time Wade scored 25 or more points since a Feburary 3rd game against Detroit. I don't know if this is one of those blue moon things, or something to keep an eye on in the pending matchup between Washington or Indiana. Weirdly enough, I think Miami would prefer Indiana over the Wizards.

Young Spurs Help Put Away Portland 
San Antonio is thanking their lucky stars this series is over on Wednesday and their next opponent might play until Saturday. The reason isn't the typical 'old age' stuff we hear with the Spurs rather Tony Parker hurt his hamstring in the first half of the game. This is Parker's second injury of the postseason as he battled an ankle injury during the Dallas series. Given the point guards in the following series whether it be Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook or Los Angeles's Chris Paul, Parker needs to be close to full strength therefore this is something to monitor for San Antonio moving forward in these playoffs.  But it was the young guns of the Spurs that put away Portland in five with 22 point efforts from each Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard. Both dazzled in the game for San Antonio as the Spurs head back to the Western Conference Finals for the third straight year.

Charlie.

NBA Playoffs Weekend: Collapses, Threes & Spurs Dominance.

Second Round of NBA Playoffs will feature two games of night.  I dropped the ball on writing on Saturdays meaning Friday games were left in the dust.  I am going to write about the games like we did for the first round because it is picking up steam in terms of the hits. I will probably add a full blog post sometimes when we have a must talked playoff win. 

Clippers stun Thunder, tie up the series.
It really seemed like Oklahoma City was heading home being up three games to one. ABC showed a
graphic about the Thunder never losing with a 3-1 lead. Los Angeles kept battling back though in the fourth quarter taking their first lead of the game with about three minutes left in the game. Darren Collison came out of the shadows with eight points in the final three minutes of the game leading the furious comeback. Clippers had 38 points in the final quarter with Collison playing a large part in the effort with 18 total points. Jamal Crawford also added 18 off the bench hitting his usual big buckets. Chris Paul started the comeback early on as he finished with 23 points, 10 assists and five rebounds with Collison and Crawford finishing sending this series to a pivotal Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Kevin Durant's stat line looks pretty good when you see he had 40 points with eight rebounds including going 50 percent from the field. But there is a dark underbelly with KD's performance yesterday afternoon. He had eight turnovers and a big free throw miss with 100 seconds left. That cannot happen. I used to rag on LeBron James for the same thing. As an MVP players, free throws are something that cannot be missed in the late game situations.

Paul George's big second half pulls Indiana past Washington
There are sometimes when a star player takes over and becomes the story of the game. Paul George is a fringe superstar. He is starting to get the media attention and doing more commercials. Games like this one is why he gets commercials. George had 28 points in the second half leading a furious comeback as the Pacers trailed by 19 points in the second half. George added 12 rebounds as well only missing eight of his 20 shots on the night. He looked great out there becoming the key cog to the game. Indiana needs more from their bench though. Only two points from their second unit is not going to win many basketball games. Pacers are lucky to pull this one from their teeth. It does seem like the Wiz received a knockout punch. I don't know how they recover from this one.

Brooklyn's outside arsenal sinks Miami
After two games where the Heat found a way to get full control in the second half, Brooklyn delivered a taste of their own medicine by pulling away with a huge 3-point effort with the Nets making 15 threes going 60 percent from the outside. Mirza Teletovic had a big second half making him one of the difference makers in this game with 12 points including four big threes. Keep an eye for Teletovic for the rest of the series. He had 20 points in Tuesday's loss as well. Miami needs to find a way to keep him contained because he seems like the type of player if he gets hot, Teletovic could make 20 threes. Joe Johnson also had a nice day at the arena with 19 points sinking in five threes. Joe Cool continues to have a good playoff performance.

I am a little puzzled why James Jones didn't get more time last night. He had nine points in nine minutes making three 3-pointers. It seems like a guy you would want out there more than nine minutes. Jones has went from playing around 16 minutes a game in the Charlotte series to only playing five minutes. I don't know what Erik Spoelstra has in mind right now.

Spurs found their mojo again... ruh roh
Poor Portland. They are getting completely steamrolled by San Antonio. The Spurs have won the first three games by a combined 18.6 points. That's not even close. Like is this Portland team that bad or are the Spurs that good again? Should we be even more impressed with what Rick Carlisle did taking the series to seven games? I really cannot explain it. We talked about at the beginning of the series, Tony Parker could expose their bad perimeter defenses and that's what's happening. Parker scored at least 29 points in three of the last four games. It is pretty clear how good San Antonio is when Parker is healthy. Portland's bench has been downright terrible. Minus Will Barton's 13 points in garbage time in Game 2, the Trail Blazers' bench has 21 points through three games... Not good.

Charlie.

NBA Playoffs Recap: Tuesdays are for Blowouts

Second Round of NBA Playoffs will feature two games of night.  I dropped the ball on writing on Saturdays meaning Friday games were left in the dust.  I am going to write about the games like we did for the first round because it is picking up steam in terms of the hits. I will probably add a full blog post sometimes when we have a must talked playoff win. 

Ray Allen turns back the clock
As the game between Brooklyn and Miami tipped off, people wondered what the expectations should be as the Nets swept Miami through the regular season. The Heat made it look like an aberration by the third quarter as they scored eleven more points than Brooklyn pulling away from the Nets leading to Miami winning by 21 points. Biggest reason was a Throwback Tuesday performance by Ray Allen.  He had 19 points making four threes. In the four games against Charlotte, Allen scored a total of 13 points. For Miami to be successful, they need one of their bench players to be a true scoring threat. It doesn't have to be the same player, but Allen filled the role last night. LeBron James also had an extremely efficient night with 22 points on 10/15 shooting all coming without shooting a single three.

Even though they are older and the expectations are different, Brooklyn needs more from Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. They combined for eight points all coming from Pierce. Garnett only had two shot attempts. Pierce only shot the ball eight times which isn't going to get the job done either. We will see what happens with Brooklyn moving forward in the series.

Tony Parker rises to the occasion... Again 
In Game 7, we saw Tony Parker taking over the basketball game leading to a blowout win against Dallas. He did the same thing against Portland in Game 1 turning in another 30-plus performance with 33 points and nine assists in a rout of the Trail Blazers. Parker exposed a dirty secret about Damian Lillard... He cannot really play much defense. Lillard and the Blazers had no answer for Parker for the entire game. He had six turnovers, but still had a PER of +27 which shows how efficient Parker was on Tuesday night. Another huge thing about this blowout is it gave the older players for San Antonio a much-needed rest after a full series against Dallas. Parker and Kawhi Leonard were the only two players whom played over 30 minutes last night.

It is clear if Portland is going to be a threat in this series, they will need someone else to step up other than LaMarcus Aldridge. LMA had quite possibly the quietest 32 points and 14 rebounds performance of recent memory. That's a hell of a stat line but no one remembers it when you get beatdown by 24 points. Lillard and Nicolas Batum need to be more of a factor than shooting 9/27 from the field.

Charlie.

NBA Playoffs Recaps: Lowry! Lin! Parker! A Night for Point Guards

Toronto Avoids Collapse with Strong Play From Lowry
It seemed like a pretty calm first session of NBA games this evening. It didn't seem like anyone would make a real run at making it a close game, but Brooklyn Nets come back from a 26 point deficit to make it a close game late for another thrilling game in Toronto. Jonas Valanciunas is thanking his lucky stars because if not for a backcourt violation, Deron Williams 65 foot heave would have went in or at least hit rim before Jonas decided to jump for no apparent reason. It would have been one of the biggest blunders in sports history given the nature of the game, the collapse and everything. Toronto is thanking their lucky stars today. Kyle Lowry was terrific on Wednesday night as he had 36 points and six assists with making six threes as well. Lowry put Deron Williams on skates to get the go-ahead bucket as things looked in peril for the Raptors. I still think this series is going seven, but Brooklyn needs to keep Lowry contained on Friday.

Appropriate tweet: Toronto gave lint rollers away in honor of Drake and We The North might be my favorite team slogan ever.

So this is a real thing in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/pYsyTKP5UV
— Jim ICE (@Jim_ICE) April 30, 2014

Houston forces Game 6 
It felt like we were heading to another close battle between Houston and Portland as it became close late in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets pulled away with cold shooting from Trail Blazers forcing a Game 6 returning to Rip City on Friday night. Patrick Beverly battled a fever rendering him useless on the court as he looked sick with him bundled up, eating food and drinking more water therefore someone need to step up in the moment. The person choosing that role was Jeremy Lin. The goat of Game 4 became one of the reasons they are playing on Friday as Lin had 21 points making nine shots and coming up big for this Rockets team. Also a big part of this game was Omer Asik and Dwight Howard combined for 29 rebounds inside which goes a long way.

One of the underrated storylines from last night was how bad LaMarcus Aldridge played on Wednesday. LMA had back-to-back 40 point performances, and Houston held him to single figures. It could be an aberration and Aldridge ends up having a huge game on Friday night yet if Houston figured out the secret to stop him, it becomes a whole new series.

Parker powers Spurs past Mavs
Even though San Antonio won Game 4, Tony Parker faced some criticism because he struggled most of the game and battled a bum ankle. Parker flipped the script in Game 5 being the difference for San Antonio with 13 second half points giving the Spurs a 109-103 victory. Parker finished the game with 23 points being one of the five San Antonio players in double figures. He took control of this game, and that's an encouraging sign for the Spurs moving forward in this series and the playoffs. If Parker can get over his dinged ankle, San Antonio will be the contender again like we all expected them to be in the NBA postseason. Spurs also dominated Dallas inside as they scored 26 more points in the paint than the Mavericks. It started to feel like the Spurs are taking advantage in this series. I wouldn't be surprised if they close out on Friday night.

Appropriate Vine:  Great answer from Gregg Popovich as Vince Carter was lighting up San Antonio



Charlie.

NBA Playoffs Recaps: Disappointed Pacers, Spurs Survive & Heat Sweep

NBA Playoffs will be going on throughout the days. Charlie Tritschler gives quick recaps of each game with a video, GIF, Vine or picture to describe for the people that missed it.

Indiana finds a way to lose Game 5 at home...
The Indiana situation might be something we have never seen before in professional sports. This isn't a team that's choking rather a team that is the most inconsistent and broken up team we have ever seen in NBA history. Going from 33-7 to being on the brink of elimination to one of the weakest eighth seed of all-time. Atlanta blew them out for three quarters with an insane second quarter from Mike Scott. The Hawks are one game away from winning the series and moving on to the second round for the first time since 2010-2011. How does Indiana respond in Wednesday's game? I am running out of answers for this Pacer team. Just when you think they are ready to be a threat in the playoffs, they turn around and get blown out at home. Even though they made it a game, Indiana still disappointed in a major way. Pathetic loss by the team and the organization. I would rather have a 38 win team make to the second round versus what we have with Indiana right now. At least they give a shit.    

Appropriate video: Mike Scott making it rain.



Dallas nearly steals another from San Antonio
Can we be honest with each other here.... In three of the four games, Dallas has been the better team and yet we are knotted up at two's.  Boris Diaw hit the big shot of the evening with his three-pointer late breaking the tie, and San Antonio stayed ahead the rest of the way. DeJuan Blair's attempt to kick Tiago Splitter in the face at the end of the game might have been one of the dumbest moves I have seen in basketball. He gave San Antonio an extra point in a game where Dallas certainly could not give up. It was a lowlight on a great game from Blair who had 12 points and eleven rebounds. Tony Parker turned his ankle and struggled mightily in this game leading to Gregg Popovich benching him for a bit in the middle part of the fourth quarter. I expect a better Parker performance in Game 5. This feels like it will be a game where San Antonio lets Dallas who is boss of this series.

Appropriate Video: Blair's karate kick.



Miami takes down a spirited Charlotte team
The first team is eliminated from the playoffs as Charlotte loses to the Heat for the fourth straight game meaning Miami picked up the sweep and gets to rest for awhile with their next opponent at least playing two more games. Charlotte hung with them without Al Jefferson as he missed the game with a foot injury. Kemba Walker had his best game of his playoffs with 29 points making four threes, five rebounds and five assists, but LeBron James was too much. He had 31 points and played a large part in powering a big third quarter for Miami. I have a feeling Charlotte will be back in the playoffs next year and years to come. The future is bright for the now Hornets. It really does look like it is Miami and everybody else in the NBA Playoffs.


Appropriate picture: Michael Jordan and LeBron share a handshake then a hug.


Charlie.