Good morning! Let’s basketball.
Norm Powell is history’s greatest dinosaur
Good morning. We have that and more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.
CLAWS OUT: The Raptors survived Game 7 to knock out the Pacers thanks to their top-flight bench. They’ll take it! DeMar DeRozan scored 30, but needed 32 FGAs and 9 FTAs to get them. He also got a beneficial swallowed whistle on a key Pacers possession. Meanwhile, Norm Powell hit 5-of-6 for 13 points; Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo played big minutes, too. The Pacers nearly came back and won it, and must be looking longingly at that huge blown Game 5 lead. There are suggestions that maybe Frank Vogel’s job isn’t all that safe.
But who will the Raptors face?
THE HEAT IS ON: No drama in Sunday’s other Game 7: Miami ran the Hornets right out of the playoffs. Goran Dragic had a phenomenal effort, and Hassan Whiteside was his dominant interior self against Al Jefferson, Frank Kaminsky and the gang. Now, the Heat will face an entirely different Toronto team. Should be a fun series. It begins Tuesday at Air Canada.
SCORES GALORE ...
CHA 73, MIA 106 (Heat win series 4-3)
POR 106, GSW 118 (Warriors lead 1-0)
IND 84, TOR 89 (Raptors win series 4-3)
ON THE AIR TONIGHT ...
Hawks at Cavaliers, Game 1, 7 p.m. ET, TNT
Thunder at Spurs, Game 2, 9:30 p.m., TNT (SAS leads 1-0)
In case you missed it over the weekend, Paul Flannery dove into the Hawks’ quest in Sunday Shootaround and Tim Cato described the Spurs’ mood after smoking the Thunder in Game 1.
BLESS: He won’t be moving on to Round 2, but let us remember Paul George’s 2015-16 season by his 360 dunk in a Game 7.
ON AUDIENCES: There’s been some pushback on a Dwane Casey comment after the emotional Game 7 win, in which the coach called out the media for prematurely burying the Raptors. This Zach Lowe tweet captures both Casey’s comment and the obvious, accurate defense from a prominent media member. The thing is, is that Casey isn’t talking to the media when he says that. He’s talking to his players. We’re not the audience. They are. Like any coach or manager or whatever, he wants to motivate his charges to go as hard as possible. “Nobody believed in us” is a really common call to action. Everyone likes to prove someone else wrong. So, that Casey is exaggerating the level of confidence anyone had in Indiana doesn’t matter. The tall tale has a different purpose to serve.
THE KINGS ARE REALLY DOING THIS: Vlade Divac hinted that he wanted to interview like a dozen potential head coaches, and he’s getting fairly close. This week the Kings will talk to David Blatt and also Patrick Ewing.
SPEAKING OF WHICH ... Nice Ailene Voisin column in which George Karl opens up about his own mistakes in Sacramento and the Kings’ organizational flaws.
Happy Monday. See you next time.
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