Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Good morning. Finally, a playoff series decided by the NBA Replay Center.
That and more in Saturday’s NBA newsletter.
HAWK-UNA MATATA: Of course it was going to happen like that. Paul Pierce had a chance to tie the game with the clock winding down, Atlanta defended it well and Pierce still hit it. Only this time the review showed it came just after the buzzer, wiping it off the board and sending the Hawks to the East Finals. Yes, we had a playoff series decided by the NBA Replay Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Fitting.
NOTED: The Cavaliers and Hawks meet in the Eastern Conference Finals (beginning Wednesday on TNT). Both are shorthanded. One because a Canadian oaf accidentally tore a star’s shoulder out of socket. The other because the NYPD broke a key reserve’s ankle. The NBA is so weird sometimes.
GOOD NIGHT, GRIZZLIES: The Warriors refused every push by Memphis, quieted a vibrant crowd time after time and zipped into the Western Conference Finals for the first time in almost 40 years. Credit the Grizzlies for continuing to fight all the way down. But when Stephen Curry nails a 62-footer at the buzzer to kick-start a Warriors run, I mean, what are you supposed to do?
Golden State has a few days off (WCF begin Tuesday) as the Clippers and Rockets need to settle their series on Sunday. Memphis can’t really relax until after Marc Gasol signs a new contract in July, assuming that he does. He has said he’ll listen to other teams. Can anyone see him leaving Memphis, though?
NO BASKETBALL ON SATURDAY: You could always go play basketball yourself! I’m sure Marv Albert will come out to call it.
THE OTHER MOREY: After Houston’s improbable Game 6 win, I wrote that Daryl Morey deserves credit for finding the Rockets’ bargain-bin saviors. Myself and others have made a big deal about the two stars he ended up grabbing, and their faults. But he’s done a ton more work to get Houston here and that should be acknowledged.
BULL-EW IT: Ricky O’Donnell writes that this should have been the season Chicago won the East. Zach Lowe on what’s next for the Bulls. Howard Beck, too.
REVISITING 1985: Chris Ballard goes long on the 1985 NBA Draft. Frozen envelopes!
MEET THE BULLS: Two of the worst playoff performances in memory were by members of the Bulls this postseason. The most recent, Kirk Hinrich’s 20-minute, invisible effort in Game 6, was a perfect summary of Hinrich’s season and perhaps career.
OH FOR THE LOVE OF THE BASKETBALL GODS: 34 percent of SportsNation respondents think a 52-year-old Michael Jordan could beat LeBron 1-on-1 right now.
QUESTION AND THE ANSWER: Allen Iverson did a Facebook Q&A. That’s all you need to know. The Showtime documentary on A.I. airs Saturday at 9 p.m. ET. Showtime will have it through their on-demand service following that.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR TOM THIBODEAU? He’s probably leaving the Bulls. Will he land with the Pelicans or elsewhere?
THE T-SHIRT MALL: Scott Cacciola with a great piece on the Grizzlies t-shirt cottage industry that has sprung up around the Grindhouse.
Happy Saturday. See you (briefly) Sunday morning.
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