NBA Playoffs: Night Eleven

Eastern Conference

Indiana Pacers (8) vs, Chicago Bulls (1)
4/16: Game One--BULLS 104, Pacers 99 (1-0, Chicago)
4/18: Game Two--BULLS 96, Pacers 90 (2-0, Chicago)
4/21: Game Three--Bulls 88, PACERS 84 (3-0, Chicago)
4/23: Game Four--PACERS 89, Bulls 84 (3-1, Chicago)
4/26: Game Five--BULLS 116, Pacers 89 (4-1, Chicago wins)

After a Game Four speed bump in Indianapolis, the Bulls finished off the Pacers last night on their home floor, winning a game that was never really close. Chicago outscored the visitors by 11 points in both the first quarter and the third quarter at the United Center, essentially sealing the game by taking a 19-point lead into the final period. Tom Thibodeau's squad even kept up the pressure late in the game without Derrick Rose, holding a lead of 20 or more for the final 7:09. Unlike in the Bulls' Game Four loss, Rose did not try to carry the team on his injured ankle; rather, he got his teammates involved. He dished out six assists, attempted a series-low 17 field goals, and facilitated five of his teammates scoring in double-figures. Though Rose still had a fantastic statistical night (25 points on 8-17 shooting) the big performer for the Bulls was Luol Deng (see above). He collected 24 points, six rebounds, a team-high seven assists, and three steals in 41 minutes of play. On a night when Carlos Boozer scored only two points (on one-for-five shooting) and D-Rose could not drive with his usual aggressiveness, Deng stepped up for his team and led the Bulls into the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Atlanta Hawks (5) @ Orlando Magic (4)
4/16: Game One--Hawks 103, MAGIC 93 (1-0, Atlanta)
4/19: Game Two--MAGIC 88, Hawks 82 (Tied 1-1)
4/22: Game Three--HAWKS 88, Magic 84 (2-1, Atlanta)
4/24: Game Four--HAWKS 88, Magic 85 (3-1, Atlanta)
4/26: Game Five--MAGIC 101, Hawks 76 (3-2, Atlanta)
In the first blowout of this first-round series, the Magic trounced the Atlanta Hawks to fend off elimination at least for one more game. Now the series travels back to Atlanta, where the Hawks took both games--but only by a total of seven points. Expect Game Six to be nothing short of a dogfight, which is the exact opposite of how Game Five went down. The Magic led by 13 points after 12 minutes and 23 points at halftime en route to utter statistical domination of the Hawks. The Magic had a better shooting percentage from the field (41%-36.2%), from downtown (42.3%-25%), and from the free throw line (75.9%-68.8%). Orlando also bested the Hawks in rebounds (48-43), assists (18-15), steals (seven to three), and blocks (four to three). The Magic even pulled down four more offensive rebounds than Atlanta, while turning the ball over six fewer times. That translates to 10 extra possessions for Orlando, giving them three more fast break points, eight more points in the paint, and nine more points off turnovers. The silver lining for the Hawks? They committed three fewer personal fouls. Congrats.

Western Conference

New Orleans Hornets (7) @ Los Angeles Lakers (2)
4/17: Game One--Hornets 109, LAKERS 100 (1-0, New Orleans)
4/20: Game Two--LAKERS 87, Hornets 78 (Tie, 1-1)
4/22: Game Three--Lakers 100, HORNETS 86 (2-1, Los Angeles)
4/24: Game Four--HORNETS 93, Lakers 88 (Tie, 2-2)
4/26: Game Five--LAKERS 106, Hornets 90 (3-2, Los Angeles)
In New Orleans' two wins so far in this series, Chris Paul exploded for elite statistical performances--33 points, 14 assists in Game One and a triple-double in Game Four. Last night in Los Angeles, however, the Lakers held CP3 pretty much in check all night. He finished with (what for him would be considered) a modest performance: 20 points, 12 assists, and only four rebounds. Paul dished out eight assists in the first quarter alone, but then the Lakers backcourt limited him to only four dimes the rest of the evening. Similarly, the former Wake Forest star was held to only two points in the first quarter and three points in the third quarter. Paul was never able to really get a consistent rhythm going last night at the Staples Center due mostly to swarming Lakers defense. Their seven-footers (Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom with some heels) controlled the paint all night long, and Bynum had five offensive rebounds all on his own. The Hornets, by contrast, had more offensive fouls (four) than offensive rebounds (three) or second-chance points (two). That is not a winning formula in the playoffs, especially not when every starter for your opponent (including a hobbled Kobe Bryant and octogenarian Derek Fisher) scores in double-figures.

NFL Draft Preview: AFC South

Welcome to the 2011 AFC South draft preview, part three of an eight-installment series looking at each NFL division leading up to this Thursday’s NFL Draft (ESPN, 8 P.M.)

The AFC South was a mediocre division last season, top to bottom. Peyton Manning and the Colts emerged as champions (again) with a 10-6 record, but they lost their aura of invincibility they had had in previous seasons. Jacksonville was wildly inconsistent all season long, finishing with a .500 record but losing by more than 20 points four times while never winning by a margin that large. And both Houston and Tennessee took large steps backward throughout the season, and enter this year’s offseason with a lot of uncertainty. So how will each team approach the draft? Hit the jump to find out.

NBA Playoffs: Weekend Recap

We NBA fans got to watch an incredibly exciting weekend of basketball the past two days, as one series came to a close, a few others were pushed to the brink, a couple of Eastern underdogs staved off elimination (for now), and a couple of favorites out West had trouble handling their lower-seeded opponents.  Chris Paul was the big story on Sunday, with Brandon Roy provided the fireworks on Saturday night.  Hit the jump to get a recap of and interesting stat from all eight NBA games this weekend.

NBA Playoffs: Night Six

Eastern Conference
Indiana Pacers (8) vs, Chicago Bulls (1)
4/16: Game One--BULLS 104, Pacers 99 (1-0, Chicago)
4/18: Game Two--BULLS 96, Pacers 90 (2-0, Chicago)
4/21: Game Three--BULLS 88, Pacers 84 (3-0, Chicago)

The Bulls' strong play inside was too much
for Hibbert and the Pacers last night

Last night saw another ultra-close game in what I never thought would be a close series. Granted, the Bulls now have a commanding 3-0 lead; every game has been close, however, and the Pacers have shown that they can play 48 minutes of quality basketball against the East's top seed on a nightly basis. In every game, though, a Bulls players has come through big in the clutch to secure the win, and last night it was Derrick Rose hitting a driving layup with four defenders draped on him and under 20 seconds left in the game. The fact that he could even penetrate like that shows the big flaw for the Pacers all night long: mediocre play from their big men. Center Roy Hibbert and power forward Tyler Hansbrough each shot 3-12 from the floor, combining for only 16 points. They also weren't much of a force in the paint, with only 12 rebounds between them. Though those numbers are barely below their season averages (12.7 rebounds combined), that just isn't enough against a team like the Bulls. Most alarmingly for the Pacers, the team was outscored significantly when their two big men were on the floor. In 31 minutes of action, Hansbrough had a -13 +/- rating, as D-Rose and Co. slashed to the bucket all night long--including when it counted most.

Philadelphia 76ers (7) @ Miami Heat (2)
4/16: Game One--HEAT 97, 76ers 89 (1-0, Miami)
4/18: Game Two--HEAT 94, 76ers 73 (2-0, Miami)
4/21: Game Three--HEAT 100, 76ers 94 (3-0, Miami)
On a night when only eight players saw action for the Heat (even Mike Miller was a "DNP--Coach's Decision") and the bench contributed only 12 points, Dwayne Wade stepped up and led his team to a close road victory. The game was tight all night, and Philadelphia even had an eight-point lead in the third quarter. D-Wade was just too much for the less-talented 76ers, though, as he nearly got a triple-double. He shot 10-19 from the field and hit all 12 of his free throws en route to a game-high 32 points. Wade also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 8 assists--he even got a couple blocks for good measure. The task of guarding D-Wade seemed to tire out Andre Iguodala, who shot just 3-10 for the game. An honorable mention in last night's game goes--little surprise here--to LeBron James. He also made more than half of his field goal attempts (8-15, 24 points) and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to go with six assists. The Sixers showed some fight after a horrible Game Two performance, but the Heat's big stars were just too hot to handle.

Western Conference
Portland Trailblazers (6) @ Dallas Mavericks (3)
4/16: Game One--MAVERICKS 89, Trailblazers 81 (1-0, Dallas)
4/19: Game Two--MAVERICKS 101, Trailblazers 89 (2-0, Dallas)
4/21: Game Three--TRAILBLAZERS 97, Mavericks 92 (2-1, Dallas)
In cutting the Mavs' series lead to 2-1, Portland has gotten themselves back in the series--but they have to win Game Four as well to have a legitimate shot at the upset. After a rough Game Two in Dallas, Brandon Roy played a key role in the Trailblazers' Game Three win. Though Roy went scoreless in only eight minutes played on Tuesday night, he scored 16 points on 60% shooting and four assists in a nice rebound effort last night. Roy was critical to the Blazers' balanced scoring that led them two a hard-fought victory over the unbalanced Mavericks in Game Three. Portland had four players (Roy, Wesley Matthews, Andre Miller, and LaMarcus Aldridge) with at least 16 points scored. By contrast, the Mavericks had only two players (Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry) in double-figures. Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd combined for only 17 points and four assists, well below their season averages of 20.4 points and 9.6 assists per game. Those two players need to step, back up if the Mavericks are going to hold off the Blazers in this series.

NBA Playoffs: Night Three

Last night saw two very different games in the NBA playoffs.  In one, the home (and higher-seeded) team dominated the opposition from the first whistle.  In the other, the heavily-favored hosts battled to the final whistle against a mediocre team, but still came out on top.  Though the second game sounds--to me, at least--more like one in which the Heat were playing, it was actually the Bulls that had to sweat it out in Game Two.  The Heat got some great offensive performances from their stars, and they even played defense, too.  Let's take a look back at last night's games and see what we can learn going forward.

NBA Playoffs: Nights One and Two

Now that a full weekend of playoff basketball is in the books, and every series has seen at least one game played, let's look back at the first weekend of the NBA playoffs.  Each series has played Game One, and Game Two for half of the series is tonight--the other half play tomorrow.  Though the results of the first game in a best-of-seven series do not necessarily foreshadow the remaining three to seven games, key trends start to develop and key players begin to emerge as difference makers. So with that in mind, let's take a look back at the first weekend of games, and we'll identify a stat line of each game as well.

NBA Playoff Picture: Eastern Conference 8th Seed

Brown was fired just 28 games into the season

When it comes to making the playoffs, the NBA is a much more inclusive league than, say, Major League Baseball.  While only eight of 30 baseball teams make the playoffs each year, 16 of 30 in the Association are given the privilege of attempting a run at the championship.  Though the 8th seed has  never won it all (and has only once made it to the Finals--the 99-00 Knicks), the battle for that last playoff spot is often just as fierce as the battle for the top spot. Though the eighth seed is almost guaranteed to lose to the one-seed, a playoff appearance is a big boost for coaches and general managers looking to claim progress for their squad.  This year, the Charlotte Bobcats and Indiana Pacers are in a dog-fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  The Pacers finished nine games out of the playoffs last season, and Bobcats coach Larry Brown (see right) resigned/was fired 28 games into the year, leaving both teams in need of some good news.  As April 2011 beginnings, they're both in the hunt for the playoffs, with only one game separating the two.  Which team will make the playoffs--Pacers or Bobcats?  Hit the jump to find out.