Good morning. [Boat emoji] [Fire emoji]
That and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
LIVE FROM WELPVILLE: Wow. The Rockets faced elimination down 13 in the fourth with James Harden on the bench, so Corey Brewer and Josh Smith just combined for 29 points in the final quarter to come all of the way back and beat L.A. by 12 and force a Game 7 back in Houston. The Clippers went almost seven minutes without a field goal late. That’s bad!
GOOD NIGHT BULLS: The Cavaliers put the Bulls to sleep in Game 6 on the road, ending a bizarre and disappointing season for Chicago. Paul Flannery compares the 2015 Cavaliers as they stand to the oddball 2007 version LeBron carried to the Finals; the biggest difference other than an obviously injured Kyrie Irving and an absent Kevin Love is LeBron himself. (Kyrie left the game in the first half. Cleveland didn’t need him to return, because Matthew Dellavedova is everything.)
This may well end the Tom Thibodeau era in Chicago. Let’s hope to heck for Bulls fans it is also not the end of the Jimmy Butler era. (It really should not be, and it feels silly to suggest it. But Jerry Reinsdorf has priors.)
AS IF DWIGHT NEEDS TO BE DISTRACTED: Pretty successful free throw distraction technique by this Clippers fan.
THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES COOKBOOK: Presented by the great Jon Bois.
AFTER THE FALL: Rob Mahoney went deep on Mike Conley’s facial fracture. YIKESVILLE.
TONIGHT: The Hawks can finish off the Wizards (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and the Warriors can end the Grizzlies (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Or we can get some more Game 7s. Who knows?!
Happy Friday. See you next time.
