MoeJackson

Most of the NBA world is waiting on Adam Silver’s press conference right now, wondering what, if any, penalty is going to be brought down upon Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling. In case you’ve been completely out of the loop on all things in sports, just Google his name and you’ll find out what’s going on. I’ll be keeping an eye on that as well but there’s still lots of great basketball going on. The first round continues to impress and I stated yesterday, the final week (if needed) should provided a drama-filled finish. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they won’t be participating in the next round. First to be eliminated in a somewhat clean sweep by Miami yesterday, Charlotte bows out in a respectable fashion. Yes, this was the most boring series of the first round but the Bobcats still fought well and exposed a couple of things that could haunt Miami heading forward. Shout out to the fans in Charlotte as well, giving their team a standing ovation for their brief playoff stint. What’s next for Miami? Well, for one, some much needed rest and recovery. The Heat have been the league’s busiest team for a while now and watching the rest of the conference continue to battle while they ice their knees has to be a blessing. When you’re a team trying to not only re-peat as champions but three-peat, quick and effective wins are what’s needed the most. Also, LeBron putting up a ridiculous stat line (31 pts, 7 reb, 9 ast) can’t hurt. Quick shout out to Kemba Walker and Josh McRoberts too.

Elsewhere in the eastern conference, the Atlanta Hawks have pushed the conference favorite to the brink of elimination. Now, this wouldn’t be surprising except this is coming in the first round of the playoffs. I know it’s been asked for months now but i’ll say it again: what in the world happened to this Indiana Pacers team? Is it possible for Roy Hibbert to play any worse? At this point, I think it’s fair to say that Hibbert has hit the low of all lows in his professional basketball career. In 12 minutes of play, the Indiana center managed no points, no rebounds and all of four fouls. Yes, that’s his real box score from last night. Big ups to Paul George though (26pts, 12 reb, 6 ast, 6 stl) for trying to do everything in his powers to bring his team back into last night’s game. After the Hawks erupted for an impressive 30 point lead in the 3rd, it was pretty evident that Atlanta was going to get two chances to win this series. Who was the difference to the Hawks? Relatively unknowns Shelvin Mack and Mike Scott (not from The Office) gave Atlanta their boost in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Can Atlanta really go from sub-.500 “throwaway” playoff team to giant killers? Right now, as the Pacers are put on the brink of elimination, things look in favor of the Atlanta Hawks.

Let’s switch over closer to where I am as the Spurs were in Dallas once again, looking to bounce back from a heart-breaking loss and even up their series. The Spurs controlled the game against the Mavericks last night and even after Dallas made a furious rally, San Antonio was able to close the game out to even up the series. San Antonio played Dallas very well last night, managing a big 20-point lead in the second half. Things looked bleak for my Mavericks but they fought and battled, taking the lead in the 4th and making it a back-and-forth game in the 4th quarter. But like other instances in this series, it came down to a couple of plays that ultimately decided who came out on top. Unheralded heroes Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw came up big for the Spurs. Ginobili led all scoring for the Spurs and Diaw hit a dagger 3-pointer that ended up going the go-ahead bucket. It’s hard for me to say this but a big part of me feels like the winner of last night’s game is going to go on and win the series. Then again, nobody thought the Mavs were going to give the Spurs this much of a series. If anyone’s going to be a homer, that’s me. My feeling is that this turns into another classic Spurs-Mavs series that finishes with two, possibly three more games that leave us wanting more.

Breaking news edit: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling from NBA for the rest of his life. Also, a $2.5 million fine, the highest allowed. There’s a lot to bring from this but my initial thoughts are that it’s a fair punishment.