Good morning. Let’s basketball.
The Spurs are now mad they aren’t getting called for fouls
Good morning. We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
FEARLESS: The Spurs led the Thunder in the crucial Game 5 in San Antonio by 13 in the second half. In fact, OKC didn’t have a single second half lead until an Enes Kanter layup made it 90-88 with under 2 minutes left. Then Russell Westbrook finished it out, scoring a critical and-1 on a controversial call to give OKC a 95-91 win and a chance to clinch the series at home.
Westbrook finished with 35 (12-27 shooting), 11 and 9 (plus 8 turnovers). An extraordinarily Westbrookian game in every way. (Ask Patty Mills about that.) Kevin Durant shot worse and scored just 23. That OKC won despite that is a credit to Westbrook and the entire defense of OKC, which held LaMarcus Aldridge to 6-21 shooting.
Why was the last Westbrook make controversial? Kawhi Leonard clearly intentionally fouled Westbrook with 8 seconds left, just as he received the ball on the inbounds and well before he went up for a shot. The refs ignored it, Westbrook drove to the rim, scored and got fouled by Aldridge. It didn’t cost the Spurs the game (they already trailed) so much as it cost them a reasonable chance to tie the game. Down 4, Leonard bricked a final three anyways.
ON THE AIR TONIGHT ...
Heat at Raptors, Game 5, 8 p.m. ET, TNT (Series tied 2-2)
Blazers at Warriors, Game 5, 10:30 p.m., TNT (GSW leads 3-1)
HUMANIZING DWIGHT: Dwight Howard sat in Shaq’s seat for Inside the NBA (no word on whether he left something for Big Aristotle) and answered some brutally tough questions, like “Why don’t people like you?” And ... he actually made some really great points, and came off as thoughtful and sweet. Good for Dwight. He’s a villain that really doesn’t deserve to be a villain. That said, he is disliked and mocked because he’s had a couple episodes in which he’s been shown to be fake. That Stan Van Gundy press thing is scorched into many of our memories. Which is interesting, because as I noted in Tuesday’s F&Z (see below), the Notorious SVG isn’t beyond a little villainy when it suits him.
SPEAKING OF WHICH ... Paul Flannery and I took another spin on the coaching carousel to discuss Frank Vogel, Dave Joerger and more sideline shuffling in this week’s Flanns & Zillz.
UNANIMOUS: Steph Curry became the first unanimous NBA MVP in history. Kawhi finished No. 2, with LeBron, Durant and Westbrook rounding out the top five. More importantly, Riley Curry returned during Steph’s award moment. Here’s that moment mashed up with Rich Homie Quan’s “Walk Thru.”
OH BOY: SI got someone who interviewed for the Kings’ coaching job to spill the beans on what that process was like. And it was totally, utterly ... normal? Yeah, normal. No trust falls off of the Tower Bridge or anything. Weird.
THE RADICAL FREE AGENCY OF LEBRON: Awesome academic talk by friend of GMIB and UMich professor Yago Colas on LeBron’s 2010 Decision.
Happy Wednesday. See you next time.
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Stephen Curry’s MVP season was on another level
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