Ballin': Clippers Fans Need to Be Reminded of Portland's Amazing Rally Against Dallas in Last Year's Playoffs
By Jason McIntyre
LA Clippers 99, Memphis 98: Chris Paul had the Grizzlies right he wanted them – down 27 in the second half, and down 21 with eight minutes left. So he begged his coach to put him back in, then sparked a rally. Then Nick Young (19 points) got hot, the Grizzlies permitted a 26-1 run, and LA escaped with a glorious victory. Reggie Evans was effective off the bench (13 rebounds in 20 minutes), and Eric Bledsoe was, too (9 points, 4 rebounds in 20 minutes). Now, the bad news: Caron Butler broke his hand and will be out a month. This probably means Nick Young, one of the game one heros, will start in his place. And more bad news (historic version): Don’t worry, Memphis fans. Remember when Portland did this to Dallas in the playoffs last year? Remember when the Celtics did this to the Nets in the playoffs in 2002?
Boston 74, Atlanta 83: The Hawks opened up a 19-point lead, then the Celtics cut it to four, then the Rondo bump happened. Ray Allen didn’t play, the bench scored four points, and Boston was 0-for-11 on three-pointers. Before getting ejected, this Rondo drive and dish to Avery Bradley was nice. I expect we’ll see much more of this frothiness from the Atlanta media in the coming days.
LA Lakers 103, Denver 88: Kobe scored 31, Andrew Bynum had a triple double (10 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks) and the Nuggets need to get healthy or they’ll get swept. Other than Gallinari (19 points – definitely check those two videos), nobody showed up and Denver shot 35 percent. Can they win without Birdman and Chandler? The triple-double by Bynum was the first by a center in the playoffs since David Robinson in 1993.
Here are all 10 of Bynum’s blocks.
San Antonio 106, Utah 91: Wasn’t really competitive in the 4th quarter. The Jazz are going to need more than two assists from Devin Harris (he had five turnovers). If I’m Utah, I move Josh Howard to the bench, Gordon Hayward (12-of-12 FTs) to the shooting guard spot, and have him try and defend Tony Parker (28 points).