Good morning. The Grindfather is not impressed, Warriors.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

MIKE DROP: Mike Conley returned to action wearing a mask and, let’s be honest, some real Terminator vibes. He killed Stephen Curry (not literally), and Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph were dominant inside as Memphis stole a game from the Warriors in Oakland. But outside of Conley the most important story from Game 2 was also its most entertaining: Tony Allen snaked into the darkest corners of the Warriors’ soul and shut them down. Ricky O’Donnell has that story.

And yes, the Grindfather did call Conley “One-eyed Charlie.” All hail Tony Allen.

WELL THAT WAS A WEIRD GAME: DeMarre Carroll and Ramon Sessions battled it out for control of Hawks-Wizards, because of course. Actually it was because John Wall was a late scratch due to his wrist (injured late in Game 1), and because the Wizards struggle to generate offense without their all-world PG. The Hawks did their usual socialist thing on offense but struggled to put Washington away. Eventually, it happened. Let’s hope for Washington’s sake that’s not a parable for the series.

TONIGHT! Earlier games!
Bulls at Cavaliers, 7 p.m. ET, TNT, a rare early must-win for LeBron
Clippers at Rockets, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, Gods save us from the free throws

SAVE US FROM DISAPPOINTMENT: Paul Flannery and I debated whether the playoffs are now doomed to be boring after the highs of Spurs-Clippers. I think there’s hope. The Rockets tried to prove me wrong; The Grindfather saved my skin. Thank you, Grindfather.

NO: James Dolan hired Isiah Thomas to run the MSG-owned New York Liberty of the WNBA. Thomas will also take an ownership stake in the team, pending WNBA Board of Governors approval. This is a bad idea. For one, as Rodger Sherman writes, you should never hire Isiah Thomas to run a team. Bad things happen. This is a particularly noxious hiring because Isiah Thomas was involved heavily in one of the biggest sexual harassment settlements of all time while running the Knicks. I think Isiah has a lot to offer our society -- his work with Chicago youth is unparalleled -- and I believe in second chances. But this is not good. Michael Powell’s column hit the right notes. So does the one from Mike Vaccaro.

GODS BLESS YOU, SIR FOSTER: The notoriously wonderful organist for the Atlanta Hawks, Sir Foster, played Ginuwine’s “Pony” during Game 2. We’d like to take full credit for that. You’re welcome.

MEMPHIS HAS THE BEST MURALS.

SPEAKING OF GASOLS ... Cleveland needs to stop giving Pau open jumpers, because he will hit those consistently.

LEBRON’S OTHER ASTERISK: A couple weeks ago I noted that LeBron’s path to the Finals was typically easier than the path for Kobe or Duncan. I was called a LeBron hater. [shrug] Now I’ve shown that LeBron’s supporting casts are typically much weaker than those of Kobe, Duncan and MJ. I’m being called a LeBron stan. [shrug] You can’t please everyanyone.

STILL MAD: Zito Madu is right: the Rockets should be ashamed of themselves.

ERNIE JOHNSON IS GREATNESS.

THE TRANSFORMATION: Ken Berger on how Blake Griffin became what he is.

[CLICK]: Gregg Popovich’s exit interview.

INTERESTING: Mike DeCourcy has an interesting piece on how lightly recruited prospects like Stephen Curry owe their success in part to making really smart decisions about where to play. Curry passed up an invitation to be a walk-on in the ACC to be a star at Davidson. It worked. It applies in some ways to NBA players’ development as well, though the draft removes a lot of choice.

Happy Wednesday. See you next time.