NBA playoff action: Spurs, Heat, Thunder all coast to victory

This is a persistent issue with some coaches, but Drew might be the league’s top offender, with Horford as the victim. It makes no sense on so many levels! Horford is not remotely foul prone -- he averaged 2.2 per game while playing 37 minutes a night this season. Drew has been his coach all year. He has seen first-hand that Horford can defend really well without fouling.

Drew pulled Horford with five minutes left in the second quarter, so there were 29 minutes of game left. Even if Horford had three fouls at that point, his performance all season long indicates he would pick up two or fewer fouls the rest of the way, even if he played all 29 minutes remaining plus a five-minute overtime period. At two fouls, which is where Horford was when yanked, he would have had to pick up fouls at more than double his normal rate while playing the entire second half and one overtime to foul out.

The Thunder got off to a quick start, pushing the pace and bolting to a 13-2 lead on the strength of six fast break points. The Rockets looked a bit shell-shocked, with their high powered offensive attack not making a single field goal through the first seven-plus minutes. Houston started 0-of-9 from the field before a Harden layup with 5:46 remaining in the first quarter.

While the Rockets were busy bricking jumpers en route to a 25-percent shooting mark in the quarter, the Thunder got stuck in an offensive rut as well after the fast start. Oklahoma City made just four field goals over the final 7:11 of the first, and a little Houston spurt led by Harden to close the quarter trimmed a 13-point lead to seven.

So it begins. The NBA playoffs means that we get to see all of the players’ most creative outfits during postgame press conferences. LeBron James gets the party started with this insane red sweater thing.

(photo via @AnaheimAmigos)

James took only two 3-point field goal attempts, using his trips to the charity stripe to serve as an efficient boost to his scoring total. James was 8-for-11 from the free throw line.

It wasn’t just his scoring though, it was James having a team-high 10 rebounds to go with it as he outworked his opponents and teammates alike. It was his eight assists, the zippy passes he carved the Bucks’ defense with, and the court-vision he displayed for the basketball world. It was the field goals he didn’t take more so than the field goals he did make.

The Pacers have lost 11-straight games in Atlanta and have not won the opening game of a playoff series since 2006.

Here is what you need to know for Sunday’s game:

Game time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas.

The Heat breezed through the regular season, which included a 27-game winning streak, and have the No. 1 overall seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Bucks are an obvious underdog as both the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and the only sub-.500 team in the playoffs.

The Heat won the other three matchups by an average of more than 10 points per game.