Walking down the back hallway of the TD Garden toward the media scrum arranged around Doc Rivers before Monday night’s Celtics-Sixers game feels a tiny bit like being in an unpretty NBA version of one those long Wes Anderson panning shots crammed full of highly detailed mise-en-scene and all that. Looking to the rooms on my right, there’s Chris Webber, his tie hanging loose around his neck, kibitzing with the TNT crew; Lavoy Allen, on his stomach, a trainer on top of him jerking his ankles up toward his thighs; David Aldridge and Mickael Pietrus chatting off to the side; and the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan, trudging the other way and muttering something about how’s he gonna need an extra pen tonight, as a cameraman rolls tape while walking backwards in front of him.
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
Actually, Dennis Hopper, Russell Westbrook Can Land on a Fraction, Man
There are basketball shots that DO THINGS TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM. A ball rips through a net, and the arc of Venus BENDS. You can't explain it. You just know from the emotional glitter that explodes all over everything that operating conditions are suddenly and permanently different.
Here's the conversation I imagine Russell Westbrook having with physics as he stole the ball from Ramon Sessions, with the Thunder and Lakers tied at 70 with 4:10 left in the third quarter, and went in for the shot of the NBA playoffs so far.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
Russell Westbrook scored 28 points and Kevin Durant added 25 and 10 boards as the Thunder eliminated the Lakers and advanced to the Western Conference Finals with a 106-90 win. As he walked out of the building, Pau Gasol felt something heavy in his coat pocket. He reached in and found the hilt of a knife with a note wrapped around it. "Amigo," it said. "Mine has a blade. See you tonight. -K." He's probably just letting off steam, thought Gasol, who found himself sprinting.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
Tim Duncan scored 21 points and Tony Parker added 17 as the Spurs moved on to the Western Conference Dinals with a 102-99 win (and a 4-0 sweep) over the Clippers. After the win, Duncan sneaked off to the parking lot, sat in the backseat of his minivan, and filled a plastic cup to the halfway line with red wine. "This is your moment, Tim," he whispered to himself. "Enjoy." He took one sip, stared at the wine, and whispered, "Don't be a glutton" before carefully pouring the rest back in the bottle.
After splitting a couple ofone-point games to open their series with the 76ers, the Boston Celtics emphatically won Game 3 in Philadelphia on Wednesday night by shooting 52 percent from the field while holding the Sixers to just 41 percent shooting. Since there was a mini Storage Wars marathon on A&E on Wednesday night, your plan was probably to watch that for a little bit before checking out the second half. But because the game was pretty much over at halftime, chances are you immediately flipped back to A&E for the remainder of the night. And when you woke up this morning, I’m guessing you regretted your decision and have spent all day wondering what happened with last night’s game. Well, luckily for you, I watched the entire thing and made notes on everything you missed. Here are my four observations.
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
'Rondo Was Extremely Serious'
That was Doc Rivers’s assessment of his point guard’s demeanor going into Game 3 in Philadelphia. It ended with Rajon Rondo scoring 23 points (13 in the first quarter), doling out 14 assists, and losing just one turnover. So, yeah, you could say Rondo was serious. After Game 1 — in which he messed around and got a triple-double — the Celtics point guard complained of not getting his nap before the game and how it negatively affected his performance. Rondo looked … well-rested Wednesday night.
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
From the Cradle: Evan Turner
This late-game, game-deciding layup came right after Kevin Garnett tried to turn Evan Turner's face into an ottoman. Most men would've needed to go to their happy caves, talk to their spirit animals, find their chi, whatever. Evan Turner? It's almost like no one gave him the memo. He's not scared because he doesn't know he's supposed to be. There he is waving his hands, asking for the ball, per usual. But after seeing this ball fake on Rondo and his Keith Byars imitation past Paul Pierce, I'm wondering: Maybe he should stop asking. He should start demanding. — Chris Ryan
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
Russell Westbrook tallied 29 points, seven boards, and nine assists as the Thunder routed the Lakers 119-90 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. "I'm not going to blame this loss on fatigue," said Lakers coach Mike Brown, who then urged reporters to keep the noise down as he carried a sleeping Pau Gasol to the team bus.
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
The Clippers and Their Sad, Effective Bench
As Chris Paul dribbled out the clock Sunday in Memphis, everything the Clippers had hoped for when he arrived had come true. In just one season, Paul managed to provide the franchise with both relevance and probably the biggest win in its history. What the Clippers did Sunday — on the road, in a building known for the grind — was play the type of game they didn’t always seem fit to play this year. The result was a kind of success that often seemed out of reach. So why, after all that, does it still feel like they’re doomed?
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
The Los Angeles Clippers stunned the Memphis Grizzlies at home, winning Game 7 82-72 for the franchise's third playoff-series victory in 41 years. After the game, Chris Paul surveyed the catatonic Memphis crowd. "Are they actually stunned?" he asked. "Or do they just always look that way?"
After Paul Pierce single-handedly won Game 2 of the Atlanta series, a friend of mine e-mailed, "Has there ever been anyone quite like Pierce?"
The short answer: No.
The long answer is a little more fun. Statistically, there's never been a wing player like him. In the regular season, he's already played 37,785 minutes (39th all-time), scored 22,591 points (30th), averaged 22 points a game (30th), grabbed 6,164 rebounds (150th), dished out 3,935 assists (100th), tallied 1,499 steals (40th), earned a 20.7 PER (52nd), submitted a 27.8 percent usage rate (19th), accumulated 131.2 win shares (34th), made 6,101 free throws (17th) and drained 1,679 3-pointers (ninth). The first number (minutes) and the last two (free throws and 3s) explain Pierce's career better than anything: He's one of the finest, most durable inside/outside offensive players ever, and that's before you factor in his career shooting splits (45% FG, 37% 3FG, 81% FT). He also hasn't been a slouch in the postseason: In 116 playoff games (and counting), he's averaged 39.6 minutes (33rd), 21.4 points (34th) and 6.5 rebounds (117th) with 43/35/83 shooting splits, making 190 3s (11th) and 714 free throws (24th) and even winning a Finals MVP (in 2008). Combining the regular season and playoffs, Pierce could approach 45,000 total minutes by the end of Boston's current playoff run. With no sign of slowing down.
Just so you know, last night was like basketball nirvana for me. First, the Sixers knocked off the no. 1 seed Bulls, giving my beloved Celtics the possibility of having home-court in Round 2. Then, the banged-up Celtics squeezed out an emotional Game 6 win at home and vanquished Atlanta, propelling them into the second round. And then, to cap things off, the Lakers self-destructed in Denver -- highlighted by Bynum sulking on the bench!!! -- and have to play Game 7 against the surging Nuggets. I loved last night and I want to relive it again and again and again. But since that was impossible, I brought on one of the guys who called Game 6 for TNT in Denver -- our friend Steve Kerr -- to talk about Round One, as well as the playoff picture, great point guards, Clippers-Grizzlies, JaVale McGee, Greg Oden and even his recent Grantland column about the one and done rule.
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
Hero of the Night: Andre Iguodala
In the end what this Sixers team needed — after their regular-season hymn to the joys of team basketball — was a hero. In the absence of that, they turned to Andre Iguodala. And last night, that was just enough.
All season long, Iguodala seemed like the graduate still haunting his college campus bars, showing up at parties. Hell, audit some classes! Why not? Here's why not: This turf belongs to a new set of kids now. Namely, Holiday, Turner, Lou, and Thad. Iguodala was always a bridge from the Iverson-era Sixers to whatever was going to come next. This season, it felt like "next" had finally arrived.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Thursday.
On a night when Kobe Bryant was hampered with a stomach issue, Ty Lawson scored 32 points and the Nuggets forced a Game 7 with a 113-96 win over the Lakers. "It sucks when you're sick for a big playoff game, doesn't it?" said Michael Jordan, in a really sarcastic phone call to Bryant. "So hard to play well. So hard to win. Hey, good luck man. Good luck with everything. Jordan out."
In January, I wrote a blog post attempting to stand up for Atlanta sports fans. While I'm still pleased with how it turned out, there was a glaring flaw in the entire premise: I'm an Atlanta expat living in New York, so I was writing from afar about what it means to be an Atlanta sports fan. Sure, I love my hometown and its sports teams, but my perceptions were based off of what I remember in the early-to-mid-2000s, not recent events.
