The Lakers were pretty much done by the opening minutes of the third quarter, and by the end of the third frame, OKC had disposed of the bodies in a covered ditch. A 15-2 run spanning the end of the second quarter to the start of the second half, which was punctuated by a Russell Westbrook lob and then a pull-up transition triple from Kevin Durant, put the home team up by 22 and it only got worse from there. In Game 1 of perhaps the most hyped series of the playoffs so far, the Thunder strangled L.A., 119-90. In a way it was shocking. But then again, it wasn’t, even if Metta World Peace was shocked enough to leave center stage with nearly an entire quarter to go and head back to the locker room. Read More »

As long as Rajon Rondo doesn’t have to shoot with the game on the line, he’s good money. We’ve constantly heard that the Celtics’ point guard is the John Nash – the genius – of the NBA. Maybe he just really is that smart. The dude fouls the Sixers up three, and then watches as Lou Williams botches it by making both instead of missing the second. Then, Doc draws up a spectacular play and Rondo runs into the backcourt all alone for a touchdown. Evan Turner couldn’t catch him for a foul, and that was that. Rondo bamboozled Philly’s whole team; Game 1 to Boston, 92-91. Read More »

In the last few minutes of Denver’s improbable Game 5 win in L.A. last night, Kobe Bryant was straight surgical with the rock, taking everyone in Denver on a ride back to 2006. He hit triple after triple, and when his final shot didn’t fall, it was an anti-climatic finish to an awesome 43-point night. Here’s his most acrobatic shot of the night, a play that seemed to be pleading with Marv Albert to call, “Ohhhh, a specTACular move by … KOBE BRYANT!” Read More »

JaVale McGee alone had more highlights in Tuesday’s Game 5 win in Los Angeles than there were combined in the Lakers-Nuggets series’ first four games (unless you count the clips of the reactions of his mom, Pam McGee, in the stands). Mixed into his 21-point, 14-board game were the crazy dunks, head-scratching goaltends and blocks we’ve all come to expect — plus something new. Read More »

The good and bad of Rajon Rondo surfaced in the final 10 seconds of Atlanta’s 87-86 Game 5 win against Boston. With Boston down one, the point stole the inbounds pass and came racing up court with a chance to win. Off a switch, he was matched up with Al Horford, dribbled in place for a few seconds, tried to go baseline, lost the ball, and then threw it to Kevin Garnett even as the buzzer sounded. Rondo never even got a shot off, and thus all he did (13 points, 12 assists, five steals) won’t be remembered. Read More »

If you’ve been keyed in on the most disappointing playoff series at all, you’d know that before the Knicks dramatically eluded elimination yesterday against Miami, Carmelo Anthony owned the prestigious title of having the worst playoff record of any player with at least 50 postseason games. Now after his drama-bursting, 41-point Game 4 performance to keep the Knicks alive, he’s entered the record books for something else entirely. Read More »

It took a couple of hours, but Rajon Rondo finally found his groove in the fourth quarter of Boston’s overtime 90-84 mercy win over ailing Atlanta. With the Hawks down to throwing anyone they could find into the game outside of the security guys along the bench, this was very nearly a must-win for the Celtics. Losing to this pickup squad from Atlanta wouldn’t fly. The Hawks had more talent on their bench in street clothes than they did on the court. They had to start Jason Collins, who proceeded to somehow score one-on-one against Kevin Garnett, and yet still is so bad offensively that he makes Greg Ostertag look like a once-upon-a-time low post beast. Read More »

And you thought only LeBron James and Josh Smith could pull this off? In the midst of his 38-point game last night, Kobe Bryant had a number of nice dishes, but this chase-down block on Al Harrington was probably his best play of the night. Or should we call it surprising? The crazy part about it is Bryant doesn’t look any different in 2012 than he did in 2008. Read More »

The only thing seemingly happening more often than freak injuries through the playoffs first two days are blocked shots. We saw Roy Hibbert sending away all sorts of shots from the Orlando Midgets. Kevin Durant somehow had four of them. And Serge Ibaka was just… Serge Ibaka. But only one guy this weekend tied the NBA Playoff blocked shot record, and that was Andrew Bynum. By the four minute mark in the third quarter of the Lakers’ blowout win against Denver, 103-88, Bynum already had seven rejections and before the night was over, he not only had a triple-double (10 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks), but he had also broken the franchise playoff record and tied Mark Eaton and Hakeem Olajuwon for most blocks ever in a playoff game. Read More »