Spurs Sweep Jazz, Clippers Survive Overtime

Well put, Lionel. Of course, shutting down Chris Paul is easier said than done.

In yet another classic in this series that is carrying the 2012 NBA Playoffs the way that Paul has carried the Clippers in countless fourth quarters, the Grizzlies overcame a 10-point deficit in the final four and a half minutes of regulation, only to watch Paul break their hearts again in the overtime period. With the win, the Clippers took a commanding 3-1 lead as the series heads back to Memphis. During regulation of the three Clipper victories, a total of two points has separated these teams. That’s how close this has been. Any or all of those three games could easily have gone the other way.

The 2012 NBA Playoffs saw their second participant advance to the second round on Monday night. Fortunately for fans of competitive basketball, entertaining basketball broke out in the nightcap.

For more on the NBA’s postseason, be sure to check out SB Nation’s dedicated hub.

As it turns out, the Clippers inbounded the ball to Williams again after the timeout and he hit the game-sealing free-throws, but this was a classic Vinny Del Negro moment that ultimately was more amusing than damaging.

For all news and information regarding the Memphis Grizzlies, please visit Straight Outta Vancouver. For updates and perspective on the Los Angeles Clippers, head on over to Clips Nation or check out SB Nation Los Angeles. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

CP3 is truly a man of the people, no ifs, ands or butts about it. He may play aggressively, but does his best to turn the other cheek when slighted.

Some people say he makes an ass out of himself from his constant flopping, but he is simply trying to keep his team from falling behind. His role as point guard assures he’s rarely bringing up the rear.

The Clippers entered halftime leading by a score of 51-45 but the Grizzlies refused to curl up and die. Memphis tied things up in the last minute of the game, thanks to an 11-1 run, but the Clips went ahead by two with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.

For all news and information regarding the Memphis Grizzlies, please visit Straight Outta Vancouver. For updates and perspective on the Los Angeles Clippers, head on over to Clips Nation or check out SB Nation Los Angeles. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

That’s seriously impressive flop work right there. Teach me your ways, CP3.

This photoshop of Charles Barkley as an obese San Antonio woman is funny, in a juvenile sort of way, but I don’t think it is this funny. Shaquille O’Neal and I obviously have different taste in humor.

UPDATE: I’m told he was laughing more at something Barkley said about San Antonio. Either way, I don’t think it was that funny. Giggle away, Shaq.

1. Randolph is trying to get into Griffin’s head.

2. Griffin’s aggressiveness is getting into Randolph’s head.

Try as I might, I can’t make this sound awesome. I guess you’ll just have to see it for yourself.

We talked earlier Monday night about how awesome it is to watch point guards block shots, but not all point guard blocks are created equally. As impressive as Devin Harris’ was earlier, he was running at full speed and was jumping with nobody around him. Bledsoe was moving backwards and still managed to block a guy 10 inches taller than him. Unbelievable play.

Why is Reggie Evans having such a strong series against the Memphis Grizzlies? Because Memphis is the perfect opponent for him. The Grizzlies are what I like to call a “free-throw line and down” team, which is a fancy way of saying their identity is as a physical team inside. Their offense either runs through the post or baseline screens, and their defense funnels everyone into those bigs.

Under those circumstances, a guy like Evans is huge because of the way he gets physical. If the Clippers advance to face the Spurs, though, don’t expect to see Evans play as effectively.

“Well, we wanted to save Mike a couple fouls, because Chris does a good job of flopping.”

He paused for a second, then added, “Drawing fouls.” Nice save, Lionel. Here’s video.

So, basically, Reggie Evans is a philanthropist.

The San Antonio Spurs completed their sweep of the Utah Jazz with an 87-81 win in Game 4.

For all news and information regarding the San Antonio Spurs, please visit Pounding the Rock. For updates and perspective on the Utah Jazz, head on over to SLC Dunk. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

In an attempt to rectify what happened at the end of Game 3, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley is starting to attack Chris Paul off the dribble. He got an easy layup once and set up Zach Randolph for a dunk another time. If Conley keeps trying to attack Chris Paul instead of being content to just be another guy, maybe Paul won’t dominate crunch time quite as thoroughly.

Maybe.

Here’s video of the whole sequence.

The Jazz have nothing to be ashamed of for their season. That ending just really hurts.

Even if this feels like it’s too little, too late, this is impressive stuff.

This is what happens when you have poor guard play and no good frontcourt perimeter shooters.

Nice season, Jazz.

The Jazz made a nice little run to get back into this Game 4 against the Spurs, but the Spurs held it off and pushed the game back to double digits by spreading the floor and being themselves. They now lead by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, and their unique lineup of Manu Ginobili, Gary Neal, Stephen Jackson, Matt Bonner and Tiago Splitter did the job.

The Spurs have played that lineup a few times during the regular season, and it always seems to work. Ginobili and Neal are good enough to share the playmaking role, Splitter runs pick and roll very well and Bonner and Jackson provide three-point shooting. It’s a lineup that scored an average of 120 points per 100 possessions this season, and you can see why. Unless you have an elite defender on Ginobili, you can’t stop it.