Good morning. The Hawks and Bulls ought to be nervous.
That and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Many thanks for Ricky O’Donnell for covering the newsletter the last couple of days. Let’s basketball.
EVEN THE NETS: Your Brooklyn Nets tied up their series with the flailing Hawks on the back of Good Deron Williams. Turns out he’s taken the opportunity of the improbable playoff run to galvanize the Nets’ locker room. Looks like perhaps Paul Pierce gave him the ass-kicking he needed? Deron was hitting Kobe threes, crossing over DeMarre Carroll and leading people on the Internet to pretend to eat mailbox keys. HOW ARE YOU GONNA GET IN YOUR MAILBOX, MAN? Some starry-eyed team is definitely trading for Deron this summer now. [looks at the Kings’ cap sheet, dives off the roof]*
* DID YOU KNOW: I write GMIB from the roof of my house.
BUCK UP: Milwaukee has drawn to 3-2 in its series against the Bulls. The good news is that the Bulls are headed back to Milwaukee, where they have a much better crowd than in Chicago. Are Bulls fans just too bored by the first round to cheer? Are they looking longingly at the Western Conference?
SWEEP THIS: The Blazers avoided a sweep, which has got to be so damn annoying to the Grizzlies. They had a couple days off of work lined up, and then the Blazers were like “Yeah, we’re going to need you to come in Saturday to finish those TPS reports.” Meanwhile, the Warriors are at the beach ...
TONIGHT!
Mavericks at Rockets, 8 p.m. ET, TNT, HOU up 3-1, Carlisle Trap Status: TAPED SHUT
Spurs at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, Tied 2-2, #FREEHAWES
A TERRIBLE PRICE: Paul Flannery on the Cavaliers’ brutal cost in finishing the Celtics, which is that ...
YIKESVILLE: Kevin Love is expected to miss the entire second round. Yep. The Cavaliers will also be without J.R. Smith for two games against the Bulls or Bucks because of his jab at Jae Crowder. For breaking Love, Kelly Olynyk will be suspended for the first game of next season. That doesn’t really seem commensurate with the impact of the nasty play, does it?
MEANWHILE, IN MIKE CONLEY’S FACE ... We won’t know when Conley will be back from his broken face until Wednesday.
JOKES ASIDE: The Doc & Austin Rivers thing is damn cool.
BLUE CHIPS IN THE BLUEGRASS: Mr. O’Donnell on the 5-star recruits barnstorming the Midwest. These guys will be in the NBA in a few years, just you wait.
WHAT’S BEHIND THE BOOING OF MONTY WILLIAMS? The Bird Writes explain.
WILL THE RAPTORS BLOW IT UP? An argument that they should.
On that note, happy Tuesday! See you next time.
