2012 NBA PLAYOFFS: DOO DOO JUMP?

http://i.imgur.com/8zZPg.jpg

not pictured: weed dealer who won't relinquish his entire stash

MATCH UPS

CHI v PHIL
MIAMI v NY
INDY v ORL
BOS v ATL

SA v UTAH
OKC v DAL
LAL v DEN
MEM v LAC

CHI > PHIL in 6 - feel like this is a p god match up for phil if they can get their defense amped back up for the payoffs what w/derrick rose all fd up in the hospital n shit

MIAMI > NY in 5 - the matchups in this one are the most mysterious, like ny has some good 3pt shooters and they should be able to take at least a game via just bombing away, chandler is key in the middle as far as making the big 2.5 into jump shooters, shump will hound wade but then what happens, ny is def at their best w/melo at the 4, the big question mark is how are they gonna guard bron, double team him all the time idk, ny has been playing really well recently melo is on fire, i kinda want to say this will go 6 but i feel like miami will figure the knicks out defensively summoning bad melo, idk abt series maybe it will be interesting

INDY > ORL in 4 - lol orlando lol dwight lol nba

BOS > ATL in 4 - prediction hawks average <80ppg this series

SA > UTAH in 4 - utah is not v good

OKC > DALLAS in 5 - okc runs circles around these old dudes, occasional sights of vintage dirking not withstanding

DEN > LAL in 6 - denver runs bynum off the court for the sake of all that is good and holy

MEM > LAC in 6 - this is really just the worst possible match up for the clips w/tony allen to guard paul and tons of interior size the griz should take this p east, i give l.a. two games just out of respect for the god cp3, im p depressed abt this tbh was psyched to see him go ham but this is just not a cool scenario for that

CHI v PHIL

chi in 6 -- not sure philly will ever reach their potential, def seem stuck in "nice spare parts, need one great player" mode. they played the bulls well a few times this year and think they could take a game or two. will interesting to see how the bulls handle rose.

MIAMI v NY

mia in 5 -- melo was pretty terrifying last year vs boston and i'm sure there will be one game in MSG that the knicks take cuz they shoot 43% from three, but still think this is a largely garbage team overall that the heat will take pretty easily. lebron handles melo pretty well, and after that i'm not sure where they turn. happy that this series is happening tho.

INDY v ORL

indy in 6 -- idk i don't totally trust the pacers, and could see stan helping push orlando into a game 7. but this isn't a team that's gonna win a first round series w/o dwight.

BOS v ATL

bos in 5 -- celtics are old, atlanta will win one game. series should be a war crime tho, at least visually.

---

SA v UTAH

spurs in 4 -- pretty obvious, no?

OKC v DAL

okc in 6 -- don't think dallas really has it this year, and okc should've taken them last year but mavs had that weird comeback pixie dust going all postseason. will be interesting to see how russ plays after he got killed all over the place last year, but i think OKC is ready to take it.

LAL v DEN

lakers in 6 -- don't think denver can handle them inside... they def have the wings to counter kobe and i guess they can hope that he shoots like 38% for the series, but bynum is gonna destroy the nuggets' big guys.

MEM v LAC

clippers in 7 -- pretty even series, but i don't think memphis will have an answer for cp3 unless tony allen really is that good of a defender. should be really fun tho... just think memphis might be getting overrated a bit. tho i could see marc and z-bo totally overwhelming the clippers frontcourt, which is kinda overrated too.

CHI in 5
MIAMI in 5
INDY v ORL uh, pass
BOS in 4

SA in 4
OKC in 6
DEN in 6
LAC in 7

Predicting every playoff round
Here's how every series of the playoffs goes down (PER Diem: April 27, 2012)
Updated: April 27, 2012, 2:34 PM ET
By John Hollinger | ESPN.com

We can look backward, but we can't see forward. And that's sometimes the problem when it comes to projecting the playoffs -- we're looking for the teams that are peaking in April, because that's what we've just seen, when what is far more important is who will be peaking in May and June.

The 2011 Mavs, 2010 Celtics and 2009 Magic should have driven that point home by now. None of them covered themselves in glory during the final month of the season -- in fact, all three were much better earlier the season -- but each started clicking in late April and made a push to become surprise contestants in the NBA Finals.

Lest we think this is common, one should also remember that those three surprise contestants in a row were essentially our first since the Knicks crashed the party in 1999. Every other conference champion this century either had one of the two best records in the conference or, in the case of the 2007 Spurs, an extremely strong case on other grounds that they were the league's best team.

I say this as a reminder that strange things can and do happen in the playoffs. Somewhere there's a DeShawn Stevenson or a Rafer Alston lurking, ready to make shots he's been missing his entire career. Somewhere, perhaps, there's a team ready to jell in May and shock everybody.

Or, alternatively, maybe the Spurs will just thrash everybody and everything will go completely to form.

We don't know, and that's the beauty of it. But while we can't say what will happen, we can absolutely make some educated guesses about what is likely to happen. Speaking of which, you'll notice I've picked a lot of these series to end in five games. That's no disrespect to the underdogs; it's just that with three of the first five on the favorites' court, the most likely outcome is home-court team in five.

Finally, along with each pairing I've included the season series, the Power Ranking, and, just for kicks, how Accuscore's Playoff Predictor sees it:

FIRST ROUND

The historical rule of thumb for first-round series is very important: if you don't have home-court advantage, and you didn't at least split your season series, you can pretty much forget about advancing. In the last 53 instances of this, the home-court team is 51-2.

The two exceptions this century both were in bizarre circumstances: in 2009, an injury-riddled (and basically coach-less) Denver team lost to a Utah team that finished with the same record and a superior point differential, and a San Antonio team that had a major point differential advantage (plus-5.1 to plus-2.7) but finished five games worse than Dallas knocked off the Mavs.

That's the list. The big recent first-round upsets -- Memphis and Golden State winning as No. 8 seeds, for instance -- have all come in series where the road team split or won the season series.

The implications, obviously, are that Boston, Orlando and the Clippers have a much better shot of advancing than the other five clubs without home-court advantage. And while this isn't the only factor, I'm not inclined to bet against a trend that's 51-2 without a darned good reason.

EAST

(1) Bulls vs. (8) Sixers
Season: 2-1 Bulls
Power Rankings: Bulls 107.1, Sixers 102.9
Accuscore: Bulls 80%, Sixers 20%

Let's start with some low-hanging fruit. The Sixers can't score and the Bulls are impossible to score on. Any questions?

In all seriousness, Philly could make this somewhat interesting. They hammered the Bulls earlier this year and their fast-break game is the perfect antidote for Chicago's penchant for crashing the offensive boards. Additionally, the Sixers appear to have finally figured out that Evan Turner can only play with Lou Williams; he has a negative point differential in two-man combinations with Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks but is plus-6.9 points per 48 minutes with Williams, according to NBA.com's advanced stats tool.

Nonetheless, the Bulls have shown that they can beat top-notch teams even with Derrick Rose injured or limited. This is a perfect series for him to play himself back into shape, with the key for Chicago being to wrap things up quickly and get Rose and Deng some rest before the real battles start.

Pick: Bulls in 5

(4) Celtics vs. (5) Hawks
Season: Celtics 2-1
Power Rankings: Celtics 104.5 Hawks 103.0
Accuscore: Celtics 65%, Hawks 35%

Again, for posterity: Although the Celtics are the No. 4 seed, Atlanta has home-court advantage by virtue of having a better record. The Hawks also won't lack for bulletin board material; Kevin Garnett called Jeff Teague "a nobody" earlier this year and the Celtics basically tanked a game in Atlanta last week based on the arrogant logic that they didn't need home-court advantage to beat the Hawks.

But this series won't be won on the bulletin board. If the Hawks had two centers, I would pick them to win. If they had one center, I would think very hard about it. But with zero? Yah, that's gonna be a problem. Al Horford is a no-go for this series, and Zaza Pachulia is questionable with a sprained foot, leaving the Hawks likely starting Jason Collins token minutes at the 5 and going long stretches with Josh Smith in the middle.

Against a Boston team that doesn't bother contesting offensive rebounds (the Celtics set the record for the worst offensive rebound rate in history) that may not be as big a problem as it is against other opponents, but it's equally important that it subtracts two incredibly useful players from Atlanta's rotation. Josh Smith-Ivan Johnson has actually been a very effective frontcourt (plus-53 in 379 minutes) and we'll probably see a lot of it in this series, but extended daylight exposes Johnson's proclivity for fouls and turnovers.

The Hawks have had a lot of success playing Joe Johnson at 3 and Kirk Hinrich at 2, and Hinrich does a great job chasing Ray Allen through screens. Nonetheless, the overwhelming stat here is on Boston's side: when Kevin Garnett plays, the Celtics are really good. Boston outscores opponents by 10.71 points per 100 possessions with KG on the court, according to basketballvalue.com; this trend is consistent across nearly all their lineup combinations.

Overall, I expect an extremely ugly, defensive series much like the two regular-season games they played with their starters (Boston won both, 79-76 in regulation and 88-86 in overtime). It will be closer than you might think, but Boston will prevail in any scenario where Garnett stays on the court all series.

Pick: Celtics in 6

(2) Heat vs. (7) Knicks
Season: Heat 3-0
Power Rankings: Heat 104.6, Knicks 104.0
Accuscore: Heat 83%, Knicks 17%

The marquee series of the first round gives us our first-ever pairing of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, not to mention four of the top five picks in the star-studded 2003 draft. (Darko Milicic will be watching from somewhere in St. Paul, presumably.)

New York has a few items in its favor in this matchup -- the Knicks' 3-point heavy offense pairs well against the Heat's inability to guard the long ball, they have enough wing defenders to handle the Wade-LeBron combo, and you don't need a backup center against Miami (or even a starter, really).

Unfortunately, New York's stubborn commitment to making the Melo-Amare Stoudemire combo work in the frontcourt will be their undoing. New York has been outscored this season when Anthony, Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler play together; with Anthony at the 4, on the other hand, they've been brilliant. Start Anthony at the 4, bring Stoudemire off the bench, and New York might really have a shot at this.

The Knicks are a better team than their win-loss indicates and they finished the year strong. But with their conventional lineup, the Knicks will need to shoot ridiculously well on 3s to win the series. I see them having two lights-out games from deep to extend the series, but that's as far as I can ride them.

Pick: Heat in 6

(3) Pacers vs. (6) Magic
Season: Magic 3-1
Power Rankings: Pacers 102.8, Magic 99.5
Accuscore: Pacers 80%, Magic 20%

Let's not waste a ton of time here. If Dwight Howard were healthy this would be a great series; without him it's a mismatch. Indy is healthy and its starting five has been extremely effective as a unit. Orlando counters with a wounded Glen Davis, no stars, and virtually no bench. If the Magic win this one, Stan Van Gundy should be allowed to fire Howard.

Pick: Pacers in 4

WEST

(1) Spurs vs. (8) Jazz
Season: Spurs 3-1
Power Rankings: Spurs 109.2, Jazz 101.9
Accuscore: Spurs 93% Jazz 7%

Could Utah make this interesting? Perhaps. Size gives San Antonio some problems, and the monstrous Millsap-Jefferson-Favors frontcourt the Jazz have rolled out of late has been incredibly effective. Additionally, Utah stinks against zones, and the Spurs hardly ever play zone.

Nonetheless, I just don't see how the Jazz will get any stops. Utah is by and large awful against the pick-and-roll, and the Spurs have been carving up teams with that play all season. The Jazz's defense at the point of attack would have to dramatically improve to give them much of a chance against this Spurs juggernaut.

Keep an eye on the Jazz because in another year or two they're going to be handful, but they can't handle this big a step up in class just yet. Even when the Spurs sat their three stars in Salt Lake City, the Jazz barely beat them.

Pick: Spurs in 5

(4) Grizzlies vs. (5) Clippers
Season: Clippers 2-1
Power Rankings: Clippers 103.4, Grizzlies 102.5
Accuscore: Grizzlies 62%, Clippers 38%

These two foes have a lot in common. Both relied heavily on their starting units and showed signs of running out of gas down the stretch. Both have worrisome minor injuries to key players -- Chris Paul's groin, Marc Gasol's knee. And both racked up a lot of wins in the final month against dubious schedule quality.

The fact that the Clippers won the season series puts this one "in play" based on my guidelines above; nonetheless, I'm going with Memphis. The Clippers' best lineups this season all featured Chauncey Billups, who won't be participating. With Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on the court together the Clippers were plus-7.7 points per 48 minutes, according to NBA.com's advanced stats tool, which is good but not overwhelming.

Memphis, meanwhile, was plus-7.4 with Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and Tony Allen together, but that figure soared into double digits once Zach Randolph joined the fray. I'm still not sure how close to last year's Z-Bo he is, but the good news for Memphis is he probably doesn't need to be quite that good for the Griz to advance.

Finally, there's the little matter of the sideline matchup. Lionel Hollins coaches by feel and doesn't always feel what the math says, but he's developed a fairly strong sixth sense for which buttons to push with this group. Vinny Del Negro is a pleasant enough guy who mostly got this team to play hard for him, but he's not exactly the Bobby Fischer of the clipboard.

This is going to be a fascinating series thanks to some killer matchups -- Tony Allen guarding Chris Paul, Z-Bo on Blake Griffin, Memphis' swarming hands against the Clippers' precision offense -- but my Grizz Fever is starting to burn up again.

Pick: Grizzlies in 7

(2) Thunder vs. (7) Mavericks
Season: Thunder 3-1
Power Rankings: Thunder 106.9, Mavs 101.6
Accuscore: Thunder 73%, Mavs 27%

This is not a great matchup for Oklahoma City, as we saw in last year's Western Conference finals and again in this year's regular season. Despite the way Dallas stumbled and staggered through the regular season, it gave the Thunder all they could handle in the four meetings and it took a miracle shot by Kevin Durant to avoid a split of the four games.

Dallas will make the Thunder uncomfortable again in this one, with its heavy use of zone defenses. The Thunder were only 16th in points per play against zones, according to Synergy Sports, and the Mavs used that defense more than any other team except Golden State.

Additionally, we don't know how James Harden is going to come back from his concussion -- setbacks aren't uncommon with this injury -- and the Thunder don't have the depth to easily withstand his loss.

Ultimately, however, Dallas' offensive woes will allow Oklahoma City to survive. The Mavs won the title last year playing offense, scoring at a blistering 110.2 points per 100 possessions that was by far the best mark of the 2011 postseason, but that attack has been AWOL all season: Dallas finished just 20th in offensive efficiency.

The Mavs also have something of a Jason Terry conundrum lineup-wise -- their two-man game with Terry and Dirk Nowitzki is superb, but their defense suffers mightily with Terry on the court. Dallas gave up 7.5 points per 100 possessions more with Jet out there, and for some reason the Terry-Shawn Marion combo has been a particularly awful look for Dallas.

The Mavs have wobbled along like a one-and-done team all season -- no big shocker in light of the decision not re-sign Tyson Chandler -- and while they'll make the Thunder look ragged and impatient at times, I just don't think they can score enough to win more than once or twice.

Pick: Thunder in 5

(3) Lakers vs. (6) Nuggets
Season: Lakers 3-1
Power Rankings: Nuggets 103.7, Lakers 101.2
Accuscore: Lakers 60%, Nuggets 40%

If there's a series that's tempting me to bet against 51-2, this is the one. This could absolutely, positively be the first-round upset that very few see coming.

Let's run through the numbers. Denver had a better plus-minus on the season than the Lakers, even though it dealt with far more injuries; this was true even before the ridiculousness in Minnesota last night. L.A., in fact, finished with the worst Power Ranking of any Western playoff team; again, that was true even before last night.

Denver was a wide-open missed layup away from splitting the series and rendering that 51-2 stat irrelevant. Denver is 27-16 when Danilo Gallinari plays and its worst lineup combinations (according to NBA.com's stats tool) mostly involve Nene and Timofey Mozgov, neither of whom we'll be seeing much of in this series. (Nene has been traded to Washington.)

Contrast that with the Lakers, who won't have Metta World Peace for the first six games, and he's a player who figures heavily in most of the Lakers' best lineups this season. I normally would give the Lakers a big advantage in that they'll rely less on their awful bench in a playoff series, but this season I think that's more of a two-way street -- the same bench awfulness also caused them to put a ton of mileage on their starters. Kobe Bryant, for instance, hasn't been the same since the first month of the season, although his recent injury may be a blessing in disguise that regenerates his legs.

There's more. L.A.'s biggest weakness -- defending quick point guards -- is a major weakness against Ty Lawson and Andre Miller. Also, I'm not covering this series and thus won't be around to curse the Nuggets.

L.A. does have two big items in its favor. First, I'm not sure the Nuggets can handle the Lakers' size; this Al Harrington-at-the-5 stuff isn't going to fly against Andrew Bynum. Also, I think the additions of Ramon Sessions and Jordan Hill address major shortcomings on the L.A. side.

Ultimately I changed my pick six times in half an hour before settling on L.A. because, at the end of the day, I'm not sure my case for Denver is ironclad enough to bet against a trend that's 51-2. But everybody is sleeping on this series -- it should be a barnburner.

Pick: Lakers in 7

Conference semis, conference finals and Finals picks coming soon

INDY > ORL in 4 - lol orlando lol dwight lol nba

BOS > ATL in 4 - prediction hawks average <80ppg this series

SA > UTAH in 4 - utah is not v good

^^^^

*jizzes*

xxp

the others
CHI 5
NY 7
OKC 5
DEN 4
MEM 6

DEN 4 B-)

lol trollin

;-)

due to shortend lockout season, all series will be sweeps

hollinger cont

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

In the conference semis, none of that head-to-head stuff applies. Hey, I don't make the rules here, I'm just telling you that the trendline that is so overwhelming in the first round completely disappears afterward.

For example, last season the Lakers beat the Mavs 110-82 two weeks before the playoffs started to complete a 2-1 win of the season series, and they had home-court advantage against Dallas in the second round. Not much good it did 'em. Similarly, Chicago's season-series sweep over Miami last season was of little portent in the Eastern Conference finals.

EAST

(1) Bulls vs. (4) Celtics
Season: Bulls 3-1
Power Rankings: Bulls 107.1, Celtics 104.5
Accuscore: Bulls 62%, Celtics 38%

Three years ago Boston and Chicago gave us one of the most exhilarating first-round series in history. I'm wondering if we'll get something close to a repeat. These are two elite defensive teams playing basically the same defensive system with a manic intensity none of the other 28 teams comes close to matching. Chicago led the league in defensive efficiency, Boston was a close second, and nobody else was within a point of them per 100 possessions.

While the regular season might make you think a huge gap separates these teams, I'm not sure that's really true. Take away Boston's second unit and Chicago's second unit -- one among the league's worst, the other among its best -- and I'm not sure much separates these teams. With the benches likely to see much less action in a playoff series, that's an important distinction.

This won't be easy on the eyes at times because of all the defense, but the Bulls' ultimate advantage is at the other end. Boston just doesn't score all that much -- the Celtics finished 24th in offensive efficiency and dead last in field-goal attempts.

Pick: Bulls in 7

(2) Heat vs. (3) Pacers
Season: Heat 3-1
Power Rankings: Heat 104.6, Pacers 102.8
Accuscore: Heat 76%, Pacers 24%

Here's the other potential barnburner that nobody is talking about. Indy is better than you think -- the Pacers are tough defensively, they're basically completely healthy, and their size on the wings allows them to match up well against Miami. With George Hill at the point, the starting five outscores opponents by 15.1 points per 100 possessions, and regardless of who plays point, the other four starters are plus-10.0, according to NBA.com -- a number that nearly matches Miami's output with its three stars in the game.

The problem is actually the rest of the game. Indy's bench is secretly terrible; virtually every bench unit combination has been outscored this season, and a few combinations have endured savage beatings. (Lou Amundson-Dahntay Jones, for instance, is a minus-7.0 per 48 in 519 minutes, while Collison-Tyler Hansbrough is minus-5.2 in 555 minutes.) The Pacers' best bet is probably to use a six-man rotation as much as possible, with Danny Granger moving to a smallball 4 and David West getting some burn at center, but in a compressed series with a back-to-back in the middle that may prove extremely difficult in practice.

In the big picture, Indy is a good team on the upswing, but this is the part where they come oh so close, lose painfully, and gain from the experience.

Pick: Heat in 7

WEST

(1) Spurs vs. (4) Grizzlies
Season: Spurs 4-0
Power Rankings: Spurs 109.2, Grizzlies 102.5
Accuscore: Spurs 80%, Grizzlies 20%

It's a rematch of last season's huge upset, in which No. 8 Memphis knocked off top-seeded San Antonio, and a few trends from a year ago remain. Memphis did an amazing job taking away San Antonio's 3-point game a year ago, and that will be Job 1 again this time around. The Grizzlies also have a matchup problem for the Spurs in the Randolph-Gasol frontcourt, and this time around they have Rudy Gay on the wing too.

Alas, San Antonio did not stand still. Manu Ginobili is healthy this time, and the supporting cast is much better. Boris Diaw and Tiago Splitter give the Spurs more options for defending Randolph, plus the Spurs aren't facing the Z-Bo of a year ago. Also, the second units are going to matter in a compressed series with a back-to-back in the middle, and the Spurs' bench is going to blow the Grizzlies' off the floor. Finally, there's the issue of accumulated rest. San Antonio is fresh as a daisy; the Grizzlies have been riding the starters all year and may very well be coming off a grueling seven-game slog with no rest.

For all those reasons, I think San Antonio avenges last season and emerges relatively easily as a conference finalist.

Pick: Spurs in 5

(2) Thunder vs. (3) Lakers
Season: Thunder 2-1
Power Rankings: Thunder 106.9, Lakers 101.2
Accuscore: Thunder 86%, Lakers 14%

It's our two favorite talented-but-frustrating hero-ball teams, in a heated rematch that sees Metta World Peace return to what will likely be an angry welcome in OKC. As long as James Harden is healthy, however, I'm not sure the Lakers have the firepower to hang with the Thunder. The big picture matchup says it's one Big 3 against the other, with the supporting casts on either side playing comparatively minor roles.

But look deeper. The home-court advantage and compressed schedule both will weigh heavily in the favor of the younger Thunder's legs, and their Big 3 also plays nice with each other much better than the Lakers' trio. Oklahoma City outscores opponents by 10.6 points per 48 minutes with their three stars on the floor, according to NBA.com's advanced stats tool; the comparable number for the Lakers is a mere 3.2. In fact, the Lakers don't have any three-man combos that played at least 150 minutes and outscored opponents by more than 10 points per 48 minutes.

The other variable is which team will do more to make us throw things at the end of games. Oklahoma City reliably ends up with Kevin Durant shooting a 28-foot contested 3s during crunch time; in the last three minutes of one-possession games, 31 of his 58 shots have been 3s and he has zero assists. This has also been Kobe's M.O. for the past few years, but of late he's shown a willingness to defer to the more effective option of Andrew Bynum.

A crunch-time snafu or two by the Thunder could allow the Lakers to extend this series. But I still have a hard time seeing them win it.

Pick: Thunder in 5

CONFERENCE FINALS

Sorry to be so chalky here, but the fact is four teams have dominated the entire regular season, so it would be a little bizarre to go off kilter and pick somebody else to show up at this point. Not saying it can't happen; just saying it's probably not the way to bet.

(1) Spurs vs. (2) Thunder
Season: Spurs 2-1
Power Rankings: Spurs 109.2, Thunder 106.9
Accuscore: Thunder 51%, Spurs 49%

The Thunder are really talented and nearly always play hard. They don't always play smart, however, and they're about to get a serious education in this series. I expect the Spurs' offensive precision to pick them apart, and while Durant and Westbrook will get some of those points back for the Thunder, I still have a hard time picking OKC when the Spurs basically used the regular season as a warm-up exercise and still outpaced them in the standings.

My favorite stat: San Antonio's three stars -- Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan -- have only played 297 minutes together the entire season because Ginobili missed half the year and the Spurs have been so proactive about resting players. When they do play together? San Antonio outscores opponents by 17.8 points per 48 minutes. Again, that's not a typo: 17.8.

The good news for the Thunder is that the Spurs have a few ineffective lineups. The bad news is that most of them included Richard Jefferson, now with Golden State. San Antonio's bench won't be as much of a factor as it was in the regular season, but they'll still run the Thunder's subs off the floor when they're matched up. And that Big 3 that has played just four minutes per game together this season will get closer to 20 minutes of family time a night in this series.

Pick: Spurs in 5

(1) Bulls vs. (2) Heat
Season: Tied 2-2
Power Rankings: Bulls 107.1, Heat 104.6
Accuscore: Bulls 58%, Heat 42%

We haven't had two No. 1 seeds meet in the Finals since 2008, when the Lakers played Boston. Prior to that, believe it or not, it hadn't happened since 2000. And I'm guessing it won't happen this year either. Chicago actually has a tough road just to get to this point -- Boston won't be a pushover, especially given the Bulls' injuries -- and unfortunately the Heat may have too much star power for them.

I would like Chicago better, actually, if the Bulls would just go ahead and put Ronnie Brewer back in the starting lineup, use Kyle Korver as the lone wing off the bench, and tell Richard Hamilton it was great and all but they just want to be friends. Chicago's starting lineup has been significantly less effective with Hamilton on the floor this season, and he doesn't bring much defensively to a matchup against Dwyane Wade.

Here's the key stat for Miami: The Heat outscored opponents by 12.8 points per 48 minutes when their three stars play together, and by 7.4 when at least two of them play together. In all other situations they've been outscored.

Guess what? "All other situations" isn't happening in this series. Miami will nearly always have two of its three stars on the court, and in those situations Chicago's on-paper advantage evaporates. Throw in the ongoing health question marks with the Bulls, and the scales tilt slightly in Miami's favor.

Slightly. I won't be shocked at all if Chicago wins. It's just not how I would bet.

Pick: Heat in 6

NBA FINALS

(2) Heat vs. (1) Spurs
Season: Heat 1-0
Power Rankings: Spurs 109.2, Heat 104.6
Accuscore: Spurs 53%, Heat 47%

If you haven't figured this out by now, I'm all-in on San Antonio. The Spurs' best players are in far better shape physically than anybody else's, their bench is kicking serious butt, they can match up any big, small or anything in between, and they've taken steps to address their biggest shortcoming, defending post-up 4s.

Statistically, the lineup data backs the Spurs, too. San Antonio's Big 3, when on the court together, has actually been even more effective than Miami's. The same applies when only two of the three stars share the floor.

And they're still gaining steam. The Spurs outscored opponents by over 15 points per game over the final 20; what stands out about that is that they were resting their best players heavily in that stretch and still destroyed all comers. They're 21-2 in their past 23 games; one of the two losses was a game against Utah in which they opted not to play their three stars. If New York or L.A. had a stretch like this it would break the Internet but because it's San Antonio hardly anyone is discussing it.

So, yes, I expect the Spurs to win it all. But let me offer solace for fans of the other 15 teams: It's been a while since I got this right. Strange stuff can and will happen during the next two months, and that's the best part of the playoffs.

Nonetheless, the odds say that we'll have fiesta No. 5 on the Riverwalk this June.

Pick: Spurs in 6

Spurs are a respectable enough choice, but there are 4 or 5 teams with a good shot this year. If it does come down to Heat vs. Spurs, and the Spurs are all healthy, then I'd go with the Spurs over the Heat, too.

Those hollinger pieces should come with a spoiler alert

pruiti http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7862612/lebron-james-kobe-bryant-new-york-knicks-one-x-factor-watch-every-first-round-series-nba-playoffs

pruiti needs to be able to feed his articles into a machine that make them interesting to read

hah

chandler has the flu btw

netw3rk ‏ @netw3rk Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Maybe Tyson is just faking like MJ was. *runs away*

CHI v PHIL bulls 5 i mean
MIAMI v NY heats 5 east first rd is boring
INDY v ORL pacers 4 gettin sleepy here
BOS v ATL celtics 4 sleeepy

SA v UTAH spurs 4, jazz are an appetizer.
OKC v DAL thunders 6 dirk u r the ppl's champion :(
LAL v DEN nuggets 7 fuck it
MEM v LAC grizzlies 7 dark days for socal

zach lowe links

general playoff storylines post http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/04/27/key-questions-storylines-for-playoffs/?sct=nba_t11_a0

bulls/sixers http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ian_thomsen/04/27/bulls.sixers/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a1
heat/knicks http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/zach_lowe/04/27/heat.knicks/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a2
pacers/magic http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/chris_mannix/04/26/pacers.magic/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a3
hawks/celtics http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ian_thomsen/04/26/celtics.hawks/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a4

spurs/jazz http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/zach_lowe/04/26/spurs.jazz/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a5
thunder/mavs http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/sam_amick/04/27/thunder.mavericks/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a6
lakers/nuggz http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/lee_jenkins/04/27/lakers.nuggets/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a7
clips/grizz http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/lee_jenkins/04/26/grizzlies.clippers/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a8

Simmons' obligatory 15k words: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7863321/nba-playoffs-preview

CHI v PHIL - CHI in 5
MIAMI v NY - MIA in 4
INDY v ORL - INDY in 4
BOS v ATL - BOS in 6

SA v UTAH - SA in 4
OKC v DAL - OKC in 5
LAL v DEN - LAL in 5
MEM v LAC - MEM in 6

CHI v PHIL - CHI in 5
MIAMI v NY - MIA in 5
INDY v ORL - INDY in 4
BOS v ATL - BOS in 6

SA v UTAH - SA in 5
OKC v DAL - OKC in 5
LAL v DEN - LAL in 7
MEM v LAC - MEM in 7

rooting for the clippers and nuggets tho

Metta WorldPeace ‏ @MettaWorldPeace Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
I'm out socially right now..Lots of girls.. Just conversation.. But they scared to sit next to me.The afraid of my elbows.Not a good feeling

metta world friendzone

it's not going to end well for Metta, is it

cock blocked by ones own elbows, harsh

Thx for the dn, mwp

AMPED

o jeez

Paul Flannery ‏ @Pflanns Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Ray Allen: "If I could, I would get surgery tomorrow." http://bit.ly/IZLuOK

calf reduction surgery

we we we we so excited

bunch of good video breakdowns of playoff matchups here http://www.hickory-high.com

ITS ON

Chi in 4 and Phi never breaks 80pts
Mia in 6
Bos in 6
Ind in 4 aka who cares

Spurs in 4 lol utah
Okc in 4 SUP Y'ALL
Griz in 7
LAL in 6 also w /a cheap Bynum hit that suspends him next round

I think my only real challop is I think MIA/NYC will be all close games

this really is a game of runs just like they say isnt it, has anyone mentioned that

men at a work a new comedy abt men at work and by work we mean play

omg a h8 these weak ass charge calls so much

heaven forbid you brush kyle korvers chest while going by him

*lovingly brushes kyle korvers chest*

raise your hand if you called rip hamiltons 19 points on 7 shots through 3 quarters

i'm only catching parts of this, but did you guys see cj watson's wraparound assist to noah? that was nuts

SebastianPruiti ‏ @SebastianPruiti Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Why was Rose in?

Homework Liker ‏ @homework_liker Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
doug collins trying not to do a jig

rose hurt his left knee pretty bad at the end of that game

pharmacy gorilla ‏ @radiokeller Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
oh shit, rose is hurt bad

otm

i felt really bad watching that tbh - everyone in the arena looked so legit concerned

shits getting heated
amare v haslem jawin

this Knicks heat series could be goooood
baron looks like he wants to bust out some 07 warriors swag

game is p intense so far!

what happened to rose? I'd already flipped over to heat/Knicks. He just went down in pain?

this city is gonna be legit depressed if rose seriously fucked himself up

the good news is that they could conceivably make to the ECF w/o rose

naw

what happened to rose? I'd already flipped over to heat/Knicks. He just went down in pain?

― I'm out socially right now (Clay), Saturday, April 28, 2012 3:52 PM (16 seconds ago)

seemed to hurt his left knee on a jump stop

they would average what 60ppg v the celtics

depending on how boston's playing, it's possible xp

celtics offense sux too btw, and bulls d wouldn't miss a beat without rose

oh dang they just showed it, looks pretty bad, really hope dude is ok

playoff series w/o anyone who can create a shot is srs nagl, not sure they could beat philly tbh

like u can get by on fumes in the regular season but that shit dont fly come THE BIG DANCE NBA PLAYOffS

god, NY's offensive sets are awful

http://30fps.mocksession.com/2012/04/28/not-even-nba-superstars-are-immune-from-knees-do-not-bend-that-way/

ny doesn't look that bad for a team that scored 16 pts in the first / had their best player go 0/7.

u really need ball movement against the heat and well

lol at melo being 0-7 in this qt

i hope you guys are watching bron on melo right now - frustrating the shit outta him. on that prev possession, he gave him a good foot and a half of space, daring him to shoot a 20-footer (his favorite shot), and melo bricked it. bron is in his head already

bron's d is crazy, but he's settling for shit on offense

ppl who drink beer on th reg: what is the purpose of the punch top can?

lmao at the single loner crying over ps3 cubs winning ps3 world series

it's still so hilarious that mike woodson coach the knicks

it's a special kind of hell, presumably, for an nba coach to have to say "bibby, you're in for baron."

ppl who drink beer on th reg: what is the purpose of the punch top can?

― arsenio and old ma$e (m bison), Saturday, April 28, 2012 4:02 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

easier to shotgun

what are these fucking lineups right now

battier going hammer

heat are pretty scary when they get rollin

nice ft differential

hahahahahaha tyson chandler

not flagrant imo

get the fuck up

that's absolutely a flagrant

midfield tackling is a no-no

at least knicks fans will have an excuse besides "the knicks are garbage"

there are backcourt screens all the time? it's not on the screener to make sure you know he's about to impede your progress. XP

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

It wasn't a clean screen by Chandler, Clay.

lol lebron pretending his shoulder was injured and then pulling that shot off.

it wasn't epic bullshit like Bowen's "screen" on Finley but it wasn't a garden variety foul either.

lol @ lebron dominating round 1 game 1

flagrant 1 was the right call. lebron has been a little floppy today tho

chandler bodied bron p hard, flagrant.but doesn't merit a suspension IMO

It wasn't a clean screen by Chandler, Clay.

― Matt Armstrong, Saturday, April 28, 2012 4:44 PM (33 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it wasn't a clean screen but calling that a flagrant in the playoffs is lol

it was also a flop

RIP knicks

i'l enjoy remembering this game when lebron turtles in some game seven a couple weeks from now

uh oh they made lebron mad

jr smith manning lebron one on one is definitely a good idea

pretty ridiculous free throw disparity right now tho

lebron didn't flop btw, that was legit whiplash

yeah who would've thought that a team that only jacks up three pointers and jumpers from the elbow would be getting killed on the free throw line

the knicks will be lucky to win a game if they're just gonna stick jr smith on lebron one on one

j0rdan a million pct otm
Knicks are playing the human garbage they are

playin like

i mean maybe the heat shouldn't have 23 free throws, but if you take away six or seven of those they're still up 10+ in FTs because the knicks offense is absolute crap

God this Rose thing is such a catastrophe

What kind of run did the heat go on to close the half, like 22-2?

feeling really good about picking LeBron for dpoy

lebron has become a fuckin jedi knight of the flop game

he picks his spots well

amazing tech call on melo

holy shit rose tore his acl

oh shit

well according to the nbc affiliate in miami... not sure why exactly they'd be privy to that info, but it's out there nonetheless

RIP Ric Bucher

haha

lebron 27
knicks 33

rip rose that super sux

rose is done :(

god, fuck life

don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but I thought he was overrated before the injury, now I'm not sure he'll even be as good as Monta Ellis.

twitter is saying acl AND mcl busto

i'd still be a bit cautious on that... the source of that news isn't necessarily untrustworthy, it's just kinda bizarre that a local nbc affiliate in miami would break that. so idk.

full ACL/MCL tear being reported now.

oops xp

rose is def overrated but also v good, tho a bit of a lost season altogether this year obvs

poor rose

and down goes shumpert

the heat's and 1s today have been hilarious

rip shump, people thought you could effectively guard dwyane wade for an entire series

uh oh knee blowout #2

Jesus what's going on

shumpert hurts his knee every other month

TORN ACLS
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE
FIRST ROUND NBA PLAYOFFS
OFFER GOOD ONLY THRU THE WEEKEND
NO COUPON NECESSARY

its is weird that nbc miami is breaking the news, dont know is that an injury thats easy to read sans mri, iirc someone telling me a horrible gross story abt when they tore theirs all their leg muscles just kinda pooled at the top of their thy

lol Jord

hang on, other than winning MVP last year how is rose overrated

shit, shump down too

when Rubio tore his they knew before the MRI what was up

what do you mean other than winning mvp

haha ok i mean yeah

theres a knee assassin in the playoff crowds

http://oi43.tinypic.com/281535u.jpg

rofl amon

ha

shumpert's knees just aren't right and this is kind of how his career is gonna go, unfortunately

Matt Armstrong, MD

haha

it's why he slipped in the draft

that must be so frustrating to be so good at basketball and put so much work in then you get to the nba and one part of yr body just wont cooperate

mike miller is such a clown, looks like he stepped off the set of dukes of hazzard

gonna put the odds at 15% that JR smith ends up throwing a punch at some point in this series

really worried about deej :(

we're talking about a guy who sprained his MCL in his first NBA game xp

it's weird to me how Brandon Roy never had any catastrophic lying facedown on the court injury thing. His knees just decayed.

remember when Mike Miller was just a clean cut white dude. Also he was really good at basketball.

went through the j-will progression

melo looks hella shook

knicks are like the nuggets of players that can fail

so many options

mike miller is such a clown, looks like he stepped off the set of dukes of hazzard

― am0n, Saturday, April 28, 2012 5:25 PM (12 seconds ago) Bookmark

well he was born in south dakota and went to the univ of florida.... so yeah, basically

feel like Knicks and Nuggets exchanged some players fatefully at some point.

it's weird to me how Brandon Roy never had any catastrophic lying facedown on the court injury thing. His knees just decayed.

― I'm out socially right now (Clay), Saturday, April 28, 2012 9:26 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Roy's injuries were always just "ow my knee fucking hurts" and he'd limp off and come back 10 minutes later.

Breaking News ‏
Update: Report of Derrick Rose's injury was premature; his status is unknown - @NBCMiami

lol you don't say

need a spike lee cam going in the corner

http://i.imgur.com/X28u1.jpg

faces of meth

Breaking News ‏
Update: Report of Derrick Rose's injury was premature; his status is unknown - @NBCMiami

lol you don't say

― J0rdan S., Saturday, April 28, 2012 5:29 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha

Oh my lord melo just throwing balls out of bounds at this point.

okay lebron, that's enough

mike miller looks of yesteryear

http://www.3aj.com/pics/Mike-Miller.jpg

http://blogimages.thescore.com/tbj/files/2011/05/mike-miller-profile1.jpg

okay lebron, that's enough

― J0rdan S., Saturday, April 28, 2012 5:32 PM (19 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lebron finally snaps after years of people saying he doesnt have the killer instinct and spends four games grinding melo into a fine dust

I really don't understand why coaches ever leave stars in when they're up 30+. Is the psychological warfare and humiliation of the opponent worth the miles and risk?

mike miller lookin like Dave grohl

i think spoelstra went to get lunch

only explantation

it must be something about the rhythm of the players or something? i don't really get it

if spo really wants to humiliate the knicks he should put eddy curry in

at point guard

fake walt is on the case

(Not) Walt Frazier ‏ @NotWaltFrazier Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Rumors about DRose are aboundin' and confoundin'! Looks like Twitter's up to its usual pouncin' on fake RIP announcin'!

netw3rk ‏ @netw3rk Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Time to cheer up by watching that Sarah McLachlan abused dog commercial on a loop.

my god get wade out of this game before he gets hurt

yeah wade especially

"my god keep amare on the floor so he can get hurt" - knicks fans

Bill Simmons ‏ @sportsguy33 Close
28 FT's to 5. I don't watch rigged NBA games, I'm switching to hockey.

heat are only up 35 NOT SURE THE GAME IS SAFE

this series needs more jorts

how come no teams have alternate uniforms thatre jorts a wife beater n tims

bill simmons rmde

wade still in.....

here's the difference b/w the heat and knicks

steve novak is an indispensable part of the knicks offense -- james jones comes in when the heat are up 32 points

something to think abt, the knicks best player has the flu

how did I not know amare has a tear tat under is right eye

feel like it might be pretty recent -- maybe after his brother died?

he got it after his bro died xp

oh that makes sense. sorry to make fun amare, we're still buds. xp

people plz dont get tattoos on yr faces, thats all

HoopIdea ‏ @HoopIdea Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
If you don't like the kind of flopping you saw in the Knicks-Heat game, follow @HoopIdea.

someone needs to kill these people

I'm discovering thru my intense tweeting as a sadness police man that twitter is full of shitheads

people enjoying that zoey based tweet

which one

theres MORE than one

http://instntrply.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BronFlop.gif

is there a @jvghoopidea

bull confirm rose tore his acl

rip chicago bull

its amazing how good these guys are at flopping, its takes a fraction of a second for bron to start acting there and he wasnt expecting the hit at all, i say we should be CELEBRATING THEIR GENIUS

rip rose, rip bull

stick to your guns next time, @NBCMiami

its amazing how good these guys are at flopping, its takes a fraction of a second for bron to start acting there and he wasnt expecting the hit at all, i say we should be CELEBRATING THEIR GENIUS

― lag∞n, Saturday, April 28, 2012 3:30 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

dude I did call him a Jedi earlier

rip rose, rip bull

― lag∞n, Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:31 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

rose dies bull dies deadly 2012 unless trade bron for howard

otm

@sportsguy33 Asterisk titles last 40 yrs: 2012 (Rose), 09 (KG), 06 (Refs), 05 (melee), 02 (refs), 99 (strike), 94 + 95 (MJ), 78 (Walton), 73 (Havlicek).

gimme a break.

seriously, please

rip rose but seriously he was never right to begin with this season, i'm kind of afraid he's just made of glass

though he's right about 02 and 06

I wonder if sometimes athletes are just too strong for their joints, like maybe a good strat would be to tell rose to cool it with all those muscles

pretty sure we'll remember the 66 games in 68 days thing before we remember that a guy got hurt.

@sportsguy33 Asterisk titles last 40 yrs: 2012 (Rose), 09 (KG), 06 (Refs), 05 (melee), 02 (refs), 99 (strike), 94 + 95 (MJ), 78 (Walton), 73 (Havlicek).

― I'm out socially right now (Clay), Saturday, April 28, 2012 11:15 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol at the walton one. I guess every year from 78 to 85 is an asterisk since Walton was hurt for all of them.

really the 77 title is the asterisk, since it's the one year he was both a starter and not seriously injured

2007-12 (oden)

87-91 (Bias)

yeah that tweet is ridiculous

adidas gave rose a 200m shoe contract 2 months ago (185m "guaranteed".)

so...nobody's watching orl/ind huh?

i'm not but the score looks close...may turn it on just because

nah, hitting the books

shumpert tore his ACL, rip

Henry Abbott ‏ @TrueHoop Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Bulls should still aim for a title, even through the horrible news. No team better equipped, emotionally, to battle on no matter what.

thhhhbbbbtttt

thhhhbbbbttttibodeau

its kinda poetic how rose went down in the first playoff game in chicagos 1st year as legit title contenders, i declare the curse of mj

i guess it wouldve been better if he had been healthy and killin it all year tho

rose and shumpert w/ non-contact ACL tears, jeez

yeah the play on which he was injured looked like absolutely nothing, its weird how that happens

wonder if you can get tommy john for your knee

http://i.imgur.com/Lb8hj.jpg

sup tiny guy you have done a lot of harm this year

u sure like making a big deal out of yrself, maybe try being more of a team player lil acl

big baby is soooo bad at basketball

lol @ everyone itt

this indy v orlando business is a travesty

NBAtv for games 2 and 3, mercifully

this series should be airing on OWN or something

this game from granger...

hahahahahaha

you can't get a 3 point shot off over Glen Davis dude?

heat should sit wade in the second round

duhon!!!

http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DUHON-TRAVEL-DANCE.gif

hahaha!

Hoopism ‏ @Hoopisms Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Are the Thunder fans wearing Mavs Jerseys?

haha

omg kidd terrible pass

lol kidd

hahahaha perk ignores harden, takes the ball up himself, and throws it over ibaka's head

perk really asserting himself here

that possession where ibaka bricked a turnaround post move, perk got the board, bricked a no-look turnaround, all while durant watched from the perimeter with his hands on his hips, was the saddest of things

duhon is eligible for the HOF for his contributions to that .gif

hey okc gave durant the ball and he scored, weird

he missed 2 or 3 wide open jumpers in the first few minutes tho

good lord, jet

nice to see a real game

voulgaris says the spurs are +355 to win the title right now, which to me seems like a great bet

yo ibaka

espn halftime show srsly in mourning over rose right now

magic practically giving him a eulogy

sup w/kd h8ing on doodle jump wtf

I srt8 up h8 this girl who sends 1000 emails a day

good game right chea

wut a awful call

dirkin' it

this is a horribly officiated game

man I forgot about Dirk going 49-51 from FT vs. the thunder last year

lol Diggler

man, if the thunder lose this series

omg westbrook stuffed by kidd

wow this game

this would be a crushing loss for Dallas

lol this is nuts

holy moley

how tf did Dallas hang onto that

wow, mahinmi was laughing as he took the first FT!

4th quarter has been f'in crazy

god, would it KILL them to run a play?

okc blew the 2 for 1 !!!

dallas losing would be pretty lame, feel like the series would be over

amazingly dumb foul by harden, come on bro

yeah jeez

srs

ibaka blocking that dirk layup attempt was like 99%

~playoffs~

scotty drawing up the iso here

omg

Dudes

I cannot BELIEVE that shot went in.

lucky bounce for kd

WOWW

oh, fuck that

allan houston

i was really pulling for the mavs

yeah OKC in 4 or 5 would be so lame

what a day, rip rose, rip mavs, Knicks are a rotting corpse

wow, that was great D by marion too

god what will sunday bring

that was BS

okcs offensive execution was flawless down the stretch until the last couple posesstions, amazing work to get back into the game then lol durant isos

some of my friends are saying durant doubled? anyone see that?

double dribbled? Didn't notice anything but I'll look next time I see it.

nah he didn't, i just watched it again

Just caught up on all games, amazing Stern knee assassin pic very otm, lold for about 2 minutes.

Feel sick about Rose, real sad, RIP Bulls RIP Rose

Dirk was Dirkin then kd got lucky, sad for Mavs. RIP Mavs.

Lebron flopping today smh, RIP NBA.

Playoffs are alive.

I cannot BELIEVE that shot went in.

― I'm out socially right now (Clay), Saturday, April 28, 2012 9:20 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Duhon gif is all time. Right up there with Caron Butlers "cameras rollin" gif.

Clay double otm, off balance one handed leaner off the mark gets crazy perfect bounce.

Lbj looks so much better sans beard.

I liked how everyone kept remarking on that. Like every media person has wanted to say lebron looks like shit for months now and it was this collective whew that he shaved.

harden 19pts on 7 shots

lebron 32 pts, 14 shots, 32 minutes

Nike designer 'bout to get fired

http:✧✧✧.y✧✧✧.com/bt/api/re✧✧✧.2/✧✧✧.18H_lw6HQVLUk5hu0A--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://me✧✧✧.ze✧✧✧.com/en/blogs/sptusnbaexperts/Screencap-v✧✧✧@sevenzro1-Nike-designer-Jason-Petries-Twitter-f✧✧✧.j✧✧

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/nike-designer-injured-derrick-rose-adidas-man-chose-040710618.html

lol what a lame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9_dDCcchkY

love it

Lbj looks so much better sans beard.

― Bulge Pimp (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Sunday, April 29, 2012 1:22 AM (7 hours ago)

^^yes

lebron's PER is 54.9 right now btw, let's see if he can keep that up

nbd

kiu

tyson chandler's is -20.4

that intro rules, dayo

diaw!!!!

Manu with a sick dunk

tiago is nice

metta srt8 making a fool of himself on twitter

Metta WorldPeace ‏ @MettaWorldPeace Close
I respect James harden. So smart. Check this play out. He tricked the ref. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGzSNsPafY0&feature=youtube_gdata_player Smart to run into Tyson @RealSkipBayless

Harden runs hard into Metta's elbow, fakes a concussion.

netw3rk ‏ @netw3rk Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
"The playoffs just have a different energy. Everyone's more focused. I've cut down on Starcraft to 4hrs a night." - Gordon Hayward

that was v lol

https://mobile.twitter.com/MettaWorldPeace/status/196668298165882882

lol

i replied to that one w/a youtube of him flopping

games where one team is ahead by 8 the entire time are kinda the worst

holy shit manu that pass

hayward coast-to-coast is one of the most fun things in the league imo

why is carroll playing more minutes than alec burks?

hayward's got 15 points on 2-5, 10-10

bizarre loss of composure by pop there - def wasn't a foul

Nuggets D looks great

afflalo mostly

offense, not so much

this is a really promising start, I'm feeling the Nuggz upset mania

uh oh mcgee free throws

uh where was the foul

bad call - saved denver a point tho cuz bymun had an easy putback

ebanks is handchecking the shit out of gallo on those baseline drives and it's not being called

jordan hill playing playoffs mins, excites me

quit passing to mcgee!

nuggs missin shots

los angeles blakers

the kobe rules smh

steve blake just throwin in threes like nothin, nuggs might want to guard him

haha i forgot nuggs means JAVALE MCGEE in the playoffs, cue bad pass directly to matt barnes

steve blake just throwin in threes like nothin, nuggs might want to guard him

― doc has never told me nothing that wasn't true (agent hibachi), Sunday, April 29, 2012 4:02 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he was guarded on the last one!

Nuggz need to stop challenging Bynum and shoot some threes

wow, denver is killing itself with these doubles

why do refs fall for that brewer leg kick smh

4pt play!

hahahaha matt barnes misses a wide open layup and fouls for a 3-and-1

here we go!

corey brewer should never ever ever dribble in transition

nuggs found the hot spot on the staples floor ala nba live 95

EBANKS! logs on

Afflalo ended up having a nice season after that horrible start

still way overpaid

I have no idea who the best Nuggets center is. It might be Birdman!

birdman has played pretty great in the oddly few minutes he's gotten. i don't get it

they feel obligated to give minutes to McGee I guess

ebanks with 10 and steve blake with 9 to lead all scorers. jordan hill with 4 & 5. the lakers!

unfortunate use of derrick rose in nba comercial

pretty obvious offensive goaltending, no?

nah it was close

quit. challenging. bynum.

^^^

quit passing to mcgee!

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, April 29, 2012 3:52 PM (36 minutes ago)

nuggs need to play faster

lol kobe

GREAT CALL

I feel like if they really want to win the series they need to DNP mcgee

i dunno, his body needs to be in there for defense and shot blocking - the problem is he keeps getting the ball on offense

his defense kind of sucks. At least when Mozgov or Birdman gets the ball there's some chance of something non-stupid happening.

er i meant shot-blocking and rebounding but yeah i agree he's not a great one on one defender

jvghoopideas

where was the fucking foul

where the hell was the foul on that

man that's totally a technical for looking like a strong black guy

yeah what was that? i've got the sound off but i didn't see anything

faried just sort of looked in gasol's general direction

objective for lawson in game 2: try not to get blocked 5 times.

oh wow gasol just clowned manimal so hard

yeah, this playing harrigton at the 5 thing is not going to work

if bynum ever touches the ball again on offense he might get a points-rebs-blocks triple-double

"there's a blank blankness to the look of the nuggets right now"

That was a nice jvg-ism

Corey Brewer: ok nba player

he's like the Darrius Heyward-Bey of the NBA, a triumphant journey to mediocrity

i really love him though, mostly for his facial expressions and gait

harrington's had 4 of his 11 shots blocked today

lawson, 3 of his 6

and faried is 4-8 with 3 of those misses being rejections

my god mcgee

nuggz are missing these threes but this is how they should play this series imo

mcgee misses easy tip in, comes back with two great defensive efforts, the mcgee experience

nuggs have 21-11 free throw advantage, but are only 14/21

we should have a javale mcgee free agency thread

okay, jordan hill just stuffed lawson, time to turn this off

what the hell happened to the ty lawson I loved

kobe travels on consecutive layups, cool

hey let's just watch danilo get double teamed for 5 seconds under the basket, no biggie

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi?request=1&player=&match=game&year_min=&year_max=&age_min=0&age_max=99&team_id=&opp_id=&is_playoffs=Y&game_num_type=team&game_num_min=&game_num_max=&game_month=&game_location=&game_result=&is_starter=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&c1stat=pts&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c2stat=trb&c2comp=gt&c2val=10&c3stat=blk&c3comp=gt&c3val=10&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=pts

ha, bynum knows he has 9 blocks and is playing differently, leaving his feet on every shot in the paint

there it is

I guess eaton got his 10 blocker before 86?

what an uncool game, nuggs need to play more crazy

btw, I'm adamant that Manute Bol deserves this record and that he got hosed by the Sixers scorekeeper

bynum almost got the quadruple double except that he had zero assists

this is the game I'm referring to:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198604180PHI.html

xp irl lol

ray allen: outso

:(

Ray looks nice in his suit but :/

yep, teague's not guarding rondo

hotlanta up in this

Kg is ruuusty

celtics lookin good here early

Holy crap kg looks ten thousand years old suddenly

doo doo jump

my god enough fouls in this game

insane pass by rondo

I really like this Bradley kid, hadn't seen him play yet.

kg should try hitting some shots

yo kg, why don't you try hitting some shots

take some jumper lessons from this fellow josh smith, he seems to be making them today

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkyr46qeuv1qcb5fko1_250.gif

l,r; hawks, celtics

lol

kg def standing around, i think he finally became one with the stanchion

Kenny Smith: wrong about everything

"from the top of the key and in, he's a very comfortable jump shooter"

http://i.imgur.com/qselJ.png

yeah that was a real wtf

hes comfortable, just not that accurate

it just means he's wearing comfortable shoes, he experiences no discomfort when he shoots

xp

fuck you

haha

hey dude how do u get twitter ppl to follow u, I've been exhausting all my best shit and I've got like 50-something
should I include picture of my breasts?

idk im sure you got to 50 followers faster than i did

man

you should probably start tweeting at some people who are 'heavy on twitter' and hope they reply to you

good idea, rare basement RT'd me and that was the most successful tweet of my life (guest spot offered on CBS' rules of engagement, turned down)

this game is a pile of poop

why do u think I'm talking abt twitterr, need a distraction from the abominable hawks

id rather a game of dice decide this series ffs

Quickly approaching unwatchable here

OMG HIT A FUCKING SHORT FFS GUUH

PLAY SOME BASKEBAL

LEARN ONE (1) SHOOTING PLS

Wayne Gretzky ‏ @DinkMagic Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
i was watching hoops and eating pizza and blew apart my a.c.l.... my anchovie chewing ligament ha haha hahahah haha haha

DID U GUYS (CELTICS) KNOW ITS PLAYOFFS

totally the vibe of a mid season back to back up in here

well it wouldn't be a deep celtics playoff run without some horrible performances vs. the hawks

haha true

SAME TEAM GUYS

I CANT EVEN

Hey was that chicken fries on the atl bench? They have the best Nba randos for a bench

WHAT WAS THAT SEQUENCE

who is chicken fries

Erik dampier = basket of chicken fries

ha ok, tmac/stack/damp is p lol

Also this game is disgusting, pp getting ref-blocked says it all

lol at the celtics toting flip saunders along w/them

flip saunders looks like a 5th-tier mafioso more than ever

clutch rebound by kg there

that steal by rondo was nuts

my god my feed crapped out and now im watching it in spanish

OMG FUCK THESE REFS

did rondo just get ejectedo

cool timing refs

fuck u refs

isn't there an automatic suspension for contact with refs?

i think so

Oh boy rondo is gonna get suspended congrats hawks 2012 nba champs

rondo's gonna get a richly earned suspension for that bullshit. roast in hell you little bitch

mine crapped out too wtf

yeah celtics just lost game 2 too

jus a lil bump guy totally deserved come on

well the good news is the celtics couldnt possibly play worse and the hawks still turned it into a losable game for themselves

This game had the worst reffing ever and rondo just lost it

hungry don't hurt em

the only nba crime worse than toucning a ref, is touching lebron

the call was fine, bass didn't get his hands on the ball and was all over smith

Or having an intact ACL

Xpost

what is this thing where the hawks call themselves the highlight factory? is this a new thing?

yeah it was definitely a foul

why is this game still on

the hawks are a highlight factory? honestly never wouldve guessed that in a million years

paul pierce 5-19 12pts
joe johnson 3-15 11pts

marque matchup that one

philips arena's been the highlight factory for years, u lil scrublets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EprveDGVBA

if horford was healthy the hawks would be guaranteed a title this year

civil war 2
civil war 2

Hardwood Paroxysm ‏ @HPbasketball Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
NBA rulebook: Any player... guilty of intentional physical contact w/official shall automatically be suspended without pay for one game.

philips arena's been the highlight factory for years, u lil scrublets.

― these pretzels are makeing me horney (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, April 29, 2012 9:36 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

usually airballed jumpers don't make the highlights but i'm sure things are slow down there

*does tomahawk chop*

what is this thing where the hawks call themselves the highlight factory? is this a new thing?

― call all destroyer, Monday, April 30, 2012 1:33 AM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there was like a 3 month period when they had Childress and Smith and every game had a ton of dunks.

if horford was healthy the hawks would be guaranteed a title this year

― these pretzels are makeing me horney (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, April 29, 2012 9:36 PM (1 minute ago)

*nods head slowly*

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1089145/doh.gif

lol pierce turning away in disgust

Playoff Grizz

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1089153/collins.gif

gonna be a gr8 series!

grizz look sharp, kinda forgot how good they can be

clips got some playoff yips

I barely watched the Grizz this year, since they're a different team in the playoffs (and they were waiting on Z-Bo)

nick young's line right now is pretty hilarious

10-0-0-0-0

I feel like nick young has had some really great trillions before

Z-Bo's defense on Griffin has been pretty good

haha nick young had a 19 trillion two weeks ago

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201204160LAC.html

mike fuckin conley

it's so hard to fathom how this team recently picked Hasheem Thabeet number 2

so, these games sucked this weekend

some teams looked ready, some teams didnt.

there was one good game

LOLOLOLOLOLOL bledsoe

Clips in this!

might be another good one. glad i didn't turn this off. all signs indicated otherwise. still hate the clips, tho.

22-1 run!

reggie evans has 13 rebounds in 19 minutes

can't believe they're playing Sirius, that's property of the Bulls imo

Cp3 got the superman cape on

hhah clips lead griz totally shook can't do anything amazing well xp gay scores

this is insane

pretty unbelievable, griz laid down

Lionel Hollins...

WOW

unbelievable

wish i had watched it lol

Amazing

I missed that Caron broke his hand and was out

Where was z bo in the 4th?

congrats to vinny del negro... ...

I guess?

Grizz got punked by Reggie Evans

"Nick Young was amazing" - Chris Paul

lol Paul's shot on sages was the best in awhile

Where was z bo in the 4th?

― doc has never told me nothing that wasn't true (agent hibachi), Monday, April 30, 2012 4:20 AM (44 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

missing shots like everyone else

pretty depressed right now u guys

WHAT HAPPENED

WHAT THE FUCK

wowowowowowowow

stealing this from k3v but

@RoyceWebb: 3 prev teams lost playoff game when leading by 18+ going to 4th quarter. All advanced to Finals. Two won NBA title

fuck the clippers

f u

Woooooooowoooow. Hate the clips but holy cow! Zbo looked pretty bad all game tbh.

he played pretty good d in the first half, seemed out of gas as the comeback wore on

Yeah his d was alright, offensively really shaky tho, lots of fumbled balls and weird shots, also note that he completely air balled a wide open point blake standing layup.

man if you had told me at the beginning of hte season that nick young would lead an epic comeback win in a playoff game ....

I get all the hyperbole but c'mon don't say "greatest playoff comeback ever" when the Mavs Game 2 vs. the Heatles just happened one year ago

though the way they seemed to basically lay down and take nothing but bad jumpers after the game was "out of reach" looked really familiar

That comeback by Brandon Roy RIP against the Mavs game 4 (?) last year was pretty hot too.

yeah, I mean, lol at anyone who thinks that a comeback in the first game of a first round playoffs means anything

... but still.

i'm not sure anyone was saying that it "means anything"

i think everyone needs to take a step back and chill if there's a backlash against ppl going "wow, that was an insane comeback" about a team that went on a 22-1 run in the final three minutes of a game

of course it means something

well it happened over the entire 4th quarter really, and yeah, it was quite impressive but that kind of massive hyperbole cheapens it IMO - the Mavs Game 2 thing really did happen in about four minutes

frogs, they were pretty similar, and really the clips had bigger deficits at every point. with five mins to go in mavs-heat game 2, dallas was down nine points. last night, LA was down 12. with six minutes left, mavs were down 13, clips were down 16.

you can make the argument that it was more impressive bcuz it was the finals, but the mavs overcame a smaller deficit at any point in time.

sorry but I woke up to people calling it the 'greatest comeback in nba playoffs history' - that's just not acceptable

without a doubt the greatest comeback in the 2012 nba playoffs

otm

was it the biggest comeback points wise tho

in the history of the world? yes.

phew

frogs, they were pretty similar, and really the clips had bigger deficits at every point. with five mins to go in mavs-heat game 2, dallas was down nine points. last night, LA was down 12. with six minutes left, mavs were down 13, clips were down 16.

IIRC they had a 15 point defecit with 6 minutes left. Pointswise yes last night was greater, but the fact that we're talking about the finals with aging Mavs vs. a stacked team that looked unbeatable the series before instead of a 1st round Grizz/Clips series makes that comeback much more impressive in my eyes.

http://i.imgur.com/X1RDZ.jpg

always hard to predict the psychlogical effects of an epic collapse. a mentally tough team just shakes it off. a weaker team starts looking for someone to blame.

ime it doesnt really matter that much, these guys have played a lot of basketball games before

just reading simmons' column today and lol so hard at his carmelo fawning

he actually wrote this

Let's say Carmelo plays LeBron to a draw. Let's say Iman Shumpert slows down Wade. Let's say Chandler executes his 2011 Finals defensive know-how and throttles Miami around the rim. Let's say a delirious MSG crowd wins Game 3, 'Melo wins one game, and they win one game on the road because Novak and J.R. Smith started draining 3s as if it were a pop-a-shot game. That makes it a seven-game series, which means that the Knicks only need ONE monster throwback Amar'e game to pull off one of the great upsets in the history of the franchise.

i'm honestly stumped at which is the most ludicrous scenario listed in that paragraph

Just know that the surest wager of all time is Carmelo Anthony showing up for Round 1 this season.

Carmelo Anthony missed 12 of 15 shots and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... It was the worst playoff loss for the Knicks since a 126-85 defeat at Chicago on April 25, 1991.

It sounds silly, but sometimes things are just destined to happen … and that's why I can't take Atlanta seriously.

lol that simmons quote

always hard to predict the psychlogical effects of an epic collapse. a mentally tough team just shakes it off. a weaker team starts looking for someone to blame.

― Aimless, Monday, April 30, 2012 5:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Nets made the finals the year they had that huge collapse vs. the celtics right?

I've just decided that I'm going to root for the Spurs

here's hollinger on that xp:

Check out this stat, Grizzlies fans: According to Elias, the only three teams to blow a postseason fourth-quarter lead of 18 points or more all ended up in the Finals. Two of them won the title, including last year's Mavs after the Brandon Roy game in Portland. The Blazers didn't win another game that series; neither did the Celtics in 2002, after coming from 21 down to defeat New Jersey in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The other 18-point comeback victim, Houston in 1994, blew the lead at home just like Memphis did; the Rockets became just the second team in history to win a series after dropping the first two games at home.

This doesn't mean that the Grizzlies are destined for greatness. It does, however, mean any discussion of psychological impacts is likely gobbledygook. The other teams that suffered this fate recovered dramatically, going a combined 9-1 for the rest of the series in question.

http://www.egotripland.com/10-possible-brooklyn-nets-slogans/

8. Ballin’ Under Control.

frogs, they were pretty similar, and really the clips had bigger deficits at every point. with five mins to go in mavs-heat game 2, dallas was down nine points. last night, LA was down 12. with six minutes left, mavs were down 13, clips were down 16.

IIRC they had a 15 point defecit with 6 minutes left. Pointswise yes last night was greater, but the fact that we're talking about the finals with aging Mavs vs. a stacked team that looked unbeatable the series before instead of a 1st round Grizz/Clips series makes that comeback much more impressive in my eyes.

― That's a pretty funky dance, Garfield. Show me how you do it. (frogbs), Monday, April 30, 2012 12:57 PM (4 hours ago)

alright so you're admitting that your criteria for which is 'more impressive' are entirely arbitrary and subjective, got it.

rondo suspended for game 2

My memory is that the celts-nets comeback was more insane

rondo decision as per rulebook

you can clearly see rondo puffing his chest prior to making contact - lol rondo

the hell - http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7873075/los-angeles-lakers-jordan-hill-charged-choking-case

alright so you're admitting that your criteria for which is 'more impressive' are entirely arbitrary and subjective, got it.

of course they are! I don't get paid to post on this thread

Marv Albert ‏ @NotMarvAlbert Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
At least the ref didn't outlandishly flop to the ground and start convulsing when Rondo bumped him. #Leflop

http://i54.tinypic.com/scb0wi.gif

wtf @ jordan hill! that could legit swing a game or two in the series

not to speak ill of the dead btw, but the notion that shumpert was gonna be able to lockdown wade or w/e was so delusional to me. aside from the fact that shumpert is a rookie and wade is one of the best SGs of all time still in his prime, there was literally zero evidence that shumpert could do anything to put wade off his normal numbers.

granted, wade will probably go ham now that shumpert is out, but it wouldn't have mattered in the long run.

at least avery bradley played good D on wade for two quarters or w/e it was that one day

welll... now we'll never know if shumpert could have affected wade in a playoff type situation

lol

i guess we never know if i could either

I think you could

As word of the charge, which was first reported by KTRK in Houston, began to spread, two messages were posted on Hill's Twitter account: "Wowwwww," and "Unbelievable!!!!!!!!"

btw where did the notion that shumpert is some lockdown defender even come from? sure his body looks the part, but opposing SGs put up a 15 PER on him this year. dude was a worse defender this year than wes johnson.

woww man i just got charged w choking my girl

#wow #whoa

As word of the charge, which was first reported by KTRK in Houston, began to spread, two messages were posted on Hill's Twitter account: "Wowwwww," and "Unbelievable!!!!!!!!"
― am0n, Monday, April 30, 2012 5:45 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

notably more articulate with his following tweets, strange!

UGH REGGIE MILLER STFU

reggie is oppressively stupid

bron/battier/miller/haslem/joel line up is making me cry

battier tried a behind the back pass (turnover) and a pick and roll dish to joel (loose ball that happened to roll out on a knicks player)

battier absolutely cannot guard carmelo

nice of spo to do all the adjusting for melo

spoelstra is playing some wacky ass line ups

chalmers/wade/jones/miller/joel

?

riles should write line ups into spoelstra's contract

spo's awkward, box lefty

woodson one ups spoelstra with an amare/novak frontcourt

the carmelo dynamic in this series is so bizarre

when lebron is guarding him he's legitimately lucky to hit rim. when battier's guarding him he shoots something like 80%

battier is so insanely overrated

his shot is on at least

melo is such a delay of gamer

UGH REGGIE MILLER STFU

― frogbs in the trap (J0rdan S.), Monday, April 30, 2012 7:24 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

his rant abt how bron shouldnt meet w/great ballers of yore was so nonsensical and lame

lol melo is such a knucklehead

that was a fireable offense -- he also said something like "great players should be coming to you!" -- like, what, hakeem is gonna call up lebron and ask him for some tips on how to run the fast break or something? it literally made zero sense

xp

god that flop by wade wtf

Hey magic/pagers is on nba Tv exile if yr looking for something to do during halftime

Funny Paul George v. Turkolol matchup

btw where did the notion that shumpert is some lockdown defender even come from? sure his body looks the part, but opposing SGs put up a 15 PER on him this year. dude was a worse defender this year than wes johnson.

Don't have the patience to find the stats, but I'm guessing that Shumpert's defensive numbers got better during the second half of the season. Maybe it's because Shumpert's narrative is kind of similar to Paul George's this time last year (somewhat unheralded rookie coming on strong 2nd half of the season, athletic, great defensive instincts, fun dunker, etc.), but Vogul put Paul George on Derrick Rose during the Pacers/Bulls series last year with good results. Don't see why it's so crazy that Shumpert couldn't have done the same with Wade.

i'm guessing it's cuz shumpert plays for NYK so people wanna act like he's better than he is right now

ILH is definitely the heart of pro-knick bias

i've spent way too much time looking at everyone's opposing PER numbers on 82games and i've decided that there's way too much noise in that stat. pretty much all defensive stats suck imo

agree

but yeah shump is a solid defender and a pest but yeah the idea that he was gonna contain wade was pretty much wishful thinking

Turkolol just airballed a 7ft pullup jumper

Big baby doing lots of big baby things

I kind of secretly enjoy the non-dwight magic