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We have ourselves a game 7

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6-3

Before the NBA playoffs begin every year, I always hope two things happen: First, I hope a player takes advantage of the moment and step his game up for the rest of the sports world to watch in admiration. Stephen Curry assumed that role with his shooting skills over the two series that he was a part of. The other thing I always hope to see is a game 7. The deeper in the playoffs the better but i’ll take a game 7 at any point in the postseason. I thought we were going to finish without seeing a 7th game but luckily for us, we have the Heat and Pacers going the distance. Fighting for the eastern conference title and a date with the Spurs for a chance to win it all. Despite seeing them play each other for the past week and a half, I have no idea who is going to win this game. My gut feeling is to go with Miami because they’re simply the better team and at their best have been better than the Pacers’ best. Then I think about how well the Pacers match up against the Heat, neutralizing every single player not named LeBron James. Will it take another super human performance by LeBron in order for the Heat to win tonight’s game? Wade and Bosh have been mediocre in the series overall and in the last game combined for only 15 points. Or will the Pacers once again find a way to use their advantages and pull out a victory? Paul George has been great and Roy Hibbert’s size advantage has been evident throughout the series.

Speaking of Roy Hibbert, he’s certainly been the topic of discussion in these past couple of days. Hibbert’s wallet is now $75k lighter after using inappropriate language during a post game news conference. His first comments included saying “y’all motherf—rs don’t watch us play throughout the year” but what really got attention was when he was questioned about his defense on LeBron. Hibbert used the phrase “no homo” and it really got some attention. He has since apologized, issuing a statement through the Pacers organization. I’m not going to sit here and explain whether or not I feel that the phrase is offensive, that’s my personal opinion and everyone has their own. The point is that both things (cussing and slurs) are things that shouldn’t be said in a professional environment. We all have our moments of saying things that we shouldn’t but it’s no excuse. You’re paid like a professional so act like a professional. Some people were saying that Hibbert should be suspended for tonight’s game but I think the fine and the amount fined was appropriate. Let’s move on and watch some good basketball tonight.

Lastly, I just wanted to thank Grant Hill. He announced his retirement before game 6 and it’s going to be sad to see him go. Fun fact: my father, to this day, says that if Hill didn’t get injured so much then he would have finished as the greatest player of all time. Hill certainly had the potential to be among the best players of all time and might go down as the biggest “what if” player the league has ever seen. You have to commend his efforts to continue to be in the league despite not being anywhere near the same player after that first ankle injury. Great career.

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Heat win critical game 5 to take series lead

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5-31

We’ve heard the statistic so much that it’s simply part of the conversation when a massive game 5 happens. The team who wins game 5 (when the series is tied at 2) goes on to win the series 86% of the time. Sure, momentum and confidence has a lot to do with the trend but it comes down to simple math. Miami only has to win 1 of 2 while Indiana has to win two in a row. That’s going to be a tall order for this Pacers team because of how well the Heat was able to turn it on last night. A strong 3rd quarter, led by LeBron, was the difference as Miami takes a 3-2 series lead in a critical 5th game. Things were physical throughout the game but especially early on, we all saw the Hansbrough-Birdman scuffle that happened during the 2nd quarter. It seemed to fit the Pacers more as they played a much better game in the first half and had the lead going into the locker room. Then what happened? Well, apparently Juwan Howard of all people gave a halftime speech and LeBron followed it up with his own version, most of his having to be blurred out by TNT. The result was a 3rd quarter that was simply a spectacle to witness, especially during the final 5 minutes or so when LeBron (30 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast) went into” beastmode” and absolutely dominated the Pacers.

At the same time LeBron was doing his MVP thing, the Pacers were finding it very difficult to get anything going on offense. Part of it was the Heat’s ability to turn it on defensively but the biggest reason was the terrible play by Hill and Stephenson. If the Pacers want to extend this series to a 7th game, their guards must play better. Better would be good but even mediocre play would be improvement from last night’s performance when the Indiana guards combined for five points. Quite the drop off from 39 points in the previous game. Hibbert could have rebounded a bit better last night but his offense is on point. Paul George was great once again (27 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast) continuing to do his best to try and offset whatever LeBron performance arises. Also, I think Udonis Haslem needs to be getting more praise because he was very critical to Miami’s 3rd quarter success where they clinched the game and essentially, the series. I don’t think the Pacers can come back 2-3 with one of those games on the road. I’m hoping for a 7th game, mostly because we all love game 7s but I think either way we’re headed to a Spurs-Heat series in the Finals. Essentially a Mavericks fan’s worst nightmare.

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Pacers even up series at 2

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Miami Heat v Indiana Pacers - Game Four

It would be very easy to blame the referees for a great part of last night’s game. Every time things seems to get going, there was a referee making a questionable call. Questionable to say the least because half of the fouls called during the 4th quarter had me rewinding the game just to try and see where the foul was committed. But as a fan of the NBA for some time now, it’s pretty much a given that sometimes when the games get to this level of play the officiating crew will have some sort of influence. I just hope that it’s far less than this going forward because this series has the potential to be great without the referee wild card in play. Despite all of that, last night’s game was still very entertaining as the Pacers were able to make big plays late to take the victory and tie the series at 2 games a piece. The Pacers looked like the more desperate team as they came out strong to start the game, going up 11-0 but Miami responded well and were only down by 1 despite some inconsistent play. Still, there was pretty much nothing Miami could do about Roy Hibbert and his size advantage in the paint. Hibbert was strong, positioned himself great throughout the game and was the biggest reason Indiana finished with an 18-point advantage in the paint.

It was even more obvious that Miami doesn’t match up well with Hibbert when Chris Bosh went down with an injury during the 3rd quarter, the Pacers using that period to extended their lead. LeBron didn’t have a great game by his standards (24 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) and a lot of that was due to the fact that he was battling foul all game, something that he’s not particularly used to. Despite all that, he did have the most memorable play of the game. I think I heard the TNT crew say that the last time James fouled out was during last season’s conference finals. Then I found out that he fouled out right before he had that ridiculous performance in Boston. Now, I don’t think he’s going to have THAT kind of game but it’ll be interesting to see how he responds after fouling out on such a “ticky-tacky” call. As a matter of fact, it will be interesting to see how the “big 3″ as a whole responds because as we know, the winner of the 5th game with a series tied at 2 usually goes on to win the whole thing. Oh yeah, big props to Lance Stephenson for stepping it up this game and making some pretty big plays.

Shout out to whoever made this NBA commercial. I’ve always been a fan of the “BIG” commercials and this is pretty much a Finals version of it. It’s certainly better than those NBA commercials that feature Christina Aguilera singing some hook over and over.

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Spurs sweep to advance; Previewing tonight’s Heat-Pacers game

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Tony Parker

Before the series began, I thought Memphis had a real shot of beating the Spurs or at the very least making this series go the distance. San Antonio had other plans. This group of veterans wasn’t going to have a repeat of last year’s western conference finals.  The Spurs grinded out a 93-86 win to sweep the Grizzlies and clinch a spot in the NBA Finals. It’s very impressive that it’s been six years since this same core (Duncan, Parker, Ginobilii) have reached this point with the best coach in the league leading the way. If I could describe the series in one way a short sentence: the Spurs wore down the Grizzlies with effective team ball. Whether it was effective passing around the perimeter, knocking down open shots or tough play around the rim, the Spurs did it all. I thought Memphis had a real advantage up front, the Gasol-Randolph combo would be scary for any team but the Spurs defended it really well, only letting either one of those guys dominate for flashes at a time. While Tim Duncan looked ageless for so much of the series and Ginobili made clutch shots, it was Tony Parker’s play that really led the Spurs to this point and will do so heading forward. Parker’s performance in the clinching game (34 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb) was indicative of how well he was able to control the game against the Grizzlies, never letting a hard foul or slight injury get in his way. This is certainly a rest > rust team so i’m sure they wouldn’t mind their opponent from the east being pushed to a 7th game before they face them. For now, the Spurs celebrate and join the rest of us as we watch how the east shakes out.

So, how WILL the east shake out? Well, before Miami’s solid game 3 performance, I would’ve said that Indiana is the superior team. But the Heat’s performance in game 3 really changed my opinion about how this series is going to play out. I’m not saying that Miami has the clear advantage now but what I believe is that it’s going to be impossible to predict this series at all. The Pacers are a match up nightmare for Miami and only LeBron has a clear advantage but then again, he has an advantage over every player in the league. The difference in game 3 was the starting five players for Miami not named LeBron scoring at least 14 points and shooting effectively from the rim. It’s type of ball movement that makes Miami so dangerous and it’s what made them the team with the best record during the regular season.  Indiana has to do a better job with their help defense, something that helped them be so effective against Miami up to this point. And of course, there’s no way that Indiana can let Miami score 70 points in the first half and hope to have any chance of winning tonight’s game. A win for the Pacers means it’s an entirely new series but a loss means a commanding lead for the Heat. That’s a position no team wants to be in.

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Heat take the first game in OT thriller

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5-23

There’s no doubt that lst night’s game between the Heat and Pacers was the best we’ve seen in this year’s playoffs. It had pretty much everything you could want in a basketball game. Last second drama, costly turnovers, crazy possessions, great plays on defense, incredible shots, questionable calls by the officials and to top it all off, a buzzer beater to win the game. LeBron’s game-winning lay up at the buzzer was the difference, sealing the win for Miami in a thrilling overtime victory over the Pacers. If game 1 was any indication of how this series will play out then it looks like we could have ourselves a classic. Even though Indiana was so close to victory, I don’t feel that it was their only chance to win a game on the road. A couple of mistakes that they don’t make and this game is their’s but at the same time, the same could be said for the Heat. That’s how good last night’s game was. LeBron had a super-human game (30 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) to lead all players but also impressive was Paul George’s play, who’s future gets brighter by the game. But what has to be remembered is that despite George’s incredible 3-point shot to send the game into overtime, his defense on LeBron’s game winning lay up was less than stellar. Then again, it’s easier said than done to say “Hey, just say in front of LeBron” and actually be successful. I also think Indiana coach Frank Vogel is catching just the right amount of criticism about his decision to bench Roy Hibbert on those final possessions. Sure, LeBron might get to the rim either way but at least you have your big man (who played great) there to, at the very least, foul him and make him earn the points at the line. Just a thought.

Hot off the presses, this season’s All-NBA teams have been announced. Here’s the entire list and for the most part, every single player that’s listed deserves to be there. If I were to change anything it would probably be in what specific team they’re in. I know Bryan is going to disagree but I don’t think Kobe deserves to be on the first team, mostly because of his defense. Kobe’s heroics this season can’t be denied but when I look at the first team for any season, it’s basically saying “who are the best 5 players that can be put together right now” type of deal. Give me Russell Westbrook over Kobe in that situation. I’m less opposed to Tim Duncan being on the first team but i’d still rather have Marc Gasol as part of the first 5. Also, I think Stephen Curry and Joakim Noah deserve spots somewhere on the 3rd team.

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‘Bachelor’ Winner Courtney Robertson Also Looks Great in Leather

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**EXCLUSIVE** 'Bachelor' winner Courtney Robertson rocks a pair of leather pants while out and about in Los Angeles

The last time we saw Courtney Robertson was when she was spotted running around the beach in her bikini. You can check those photos here >>>

These latest photos were snapped yesterday as the Courtney was spotted catwalking around L.A. in a pair of sexy leather pants. Seeing how this woman is single & lonely these days, some L.A. sugar daddy needs to pounce!!

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Ryan Gosling’s New Film TRASHED & BOOED at Cannes

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Only-God-Forgives-604x400
Photo Credit: A Grand Elephant/Bold Films

“It’s a shit macho fantasy — hyperviolent, ethically repulsive, sad, nonsensical, deathly dull, snail-paced, idiotic, possibly woman-hating, visually suffocating, pretentious.”[HuffPo]

Ryan Gosling typically enjoys good reviews from fans and critics. But his latest movie with director Nicholas Winding Refn is proving to be atypical – in a bad, bad way.

So hated was the movie at its first screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week that it was slammed by virtually every major critic who saw it. A choice sampling:

Peter Debruge (Variety): “The wallpaper emotes more than Ryan Gosling does in Only God Forgives, an exercise in supreme style and minimal substance.”

Jeff Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere): “Movies really don’t get much worse than Nicholas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives . . . This is a defecation by an over-praised, over-indulged director who thinks anything he craps out is worthy of your time. I felt violated, shat upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled and bored stiff.”

Many in attendance also reported several walk-outs and boos during screenings. Yikes.

Is it really that bad? Guess we’ll find out when it releases July 19. (Is it telling that Gosling himself skipped the premiere to stay back in the States and work on his next film?)

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Spurs take 2-0 lead after OT win

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5-22

Last night’s game had all the makings of a Grizzlies rally to even the series. The Spurs looked tired by the end of the 4th quarter, missing easy shots and playing mediocre defense but Memphis simply couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities. Tony Parker led the way for the Spurs, who managed to hold off the Grizzlies in OT and take a big 2-0 lead in the western conference finals. Parker looked pretty beat by the end of the game and when a point guard managed to net 18 assists in any game, you know he’s going to be out of gas by the end of the game. Although he didn’t put up massive numbers like Parker, Tim Duncan had a really solid game on offense that included some really big shot in overtime. One the other side of things, it felt like this was the best opportunity that Memphis was going to have to get a win on the road. Z-Bo had a good bounce-back performance but despite that, he couldn’t get buckets to take the lead in overtime. No one on Memphis could for that matter. I expect a much better performance from the Grizzlies as the series goes back to their house but at the same time it’s hard for me to see the Spurs easing up at all. Now i’m not trying to say that the Spurs aren’t capable of close out a series after leading 2-0 but as it’s been pointed out, this game ended very similar to the second game of last year’s west finals. Stay tuned. Oh yeah, nice job selling (pictured abve) that flagrant foul last night Tony Allen.

Sports as a whole are probably my favorite things in the world (right there with pretty brunettes) but when disaster strikes, professional athletes and fans know that they take a back seat. It’s also an opportunity for these larger-than-life athletes to do even greater good by their off the court/field contributions. I’m giving a MASSIVE shout out to Kevin Durant who pledged $1 million to help the people of Moore, OK and surrounding areas. It’s just another reason to like KD, on top of all the other things that he does. Durant is biggest athlete in Oklahoma since Adrian Peterson’s days at OU so for him to step up in this situation shows the type of person that he is. Also, people need to calm down about Matt Kemp’s $1,000 per home-run pledge. Some athletes have pledged nothing and since then, Kemp has said that he’s also going to give an additional $250k.

I’m a big fan of the NBA’s YouTube channel (duh) but i’m also a big fan of the “floater” shot. I use it as part of the my personal game but i’m not anywhere near NBA-level. Anyways, here are the top 10 from the regular season.

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