NBA Playoffs schedule & results: Clippers lose Chris Paul and Game 4, Thunder advance

Doc Rivers says the injury “doesn’t look very good” for Paul.

Paul was leading the Clippers on Monday when a win would have given them complete control and a 3-1 series lead. Instead, the Clippers appear to be without their star point guard for an extended period of time.

Russell Westbrook may be the most ferociously emotional player in the NBA. He’s the basketball version of a howling pressure cooker on the stove. Most of the time, it settles and produces something fantastic. Occasionally, though, it leaves you needing a kitchen remodel.

The Mavericks made a collective effort to rile up Westbrook into the danger zone, and all it got them was a ticket home for the rest of the playoffs. It was a desperate move by a desperate team that had little chance defensively to stop Westbrook and the Thunder. They could take a shot, however unlikely, at throwing him off his game. He was going to trash their defense with or without the extra motivation, so why not try.

Here is the full question and answer from Durant.

Although listen again closely to KD in the background. He adds more commentary. Angry Kevin Durant is the hero we deserve.

There aren’t a lot of rules when it comes to loose balls in the NBA, but regardless of how physical things usually get, landing an elbow to the chin of an opposing player comes off looking pretty dirty.

You could argue that Justin Anderson had no intent to elbow Russell Westbrook. That he was merely a bit off-balance as he went for a loose ball, and that this sort of thing happens when players get on the floor.

Cameron Payne hasn’t played much in Oklahoma City’s playoff series against the Mavericks, but he has danced. A lot. He’s done a lot of pregame dancing with his teammates, and on Monday he even broke out some in-game dancing.

Andre Roberson recorded the steal and dunk in impressive fashion. Payne was so happy about it, he pretended he had a hula hoop.

Walker had 34 points as the Hornets thwarted the Heat offense for the second game in a row. Game 5 will be in Miami on Wednesday.

The Heat, however, had a run of their own up their sleeves. They went on a 17-1 run to stay in the game, but the Hornets led 69-61 through three quarters. Lin poured it on in the fourth as the Hornets built up a nine-point lead, but once again, the Heat wouldn’t fold. They fought back and trailed 76-75 with less than 6:00 to play.

The series between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder has been chippy throughout, with the apex happening in the last minute of Game 4 when Kevin Durant hit Justin Anderson in the head. But all of that was limited to the court, and the majority of it is simply the result of aggressive play.

But now Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is spilling out the bad blood between the two teams away from the court. While he thinks Kevin Durant is a superstar, he doesn’t consider Russell Westbrook—the same player who has taken over games in their series with 23.5 points per game—to be in that same caliber.