The best performance in the NBA on Monday night wasn’t Kevin Love’s 27 points on seven shots in a Cavaliers win over the Pacers in Game 2, nor was it Kawhi Leonard’s 37 and 11 in a Spurs win over the Grizzlies. It was clearly Memphis coach David Fizdale’s epic, righteous rant after the Grizzlies’ loss. Check it out. (There’s a transcript, too, if you can’t listen right now.)
David Fizdale’s rant has me believing conspiracy theories
Good morning. We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Fizdale indicates lays out stats that show the Spurs got way more calls than Memphis despite the Grizzlies taking far more shots in the paint. Then he claims that Mike Conley doesn’t get calls because he’s never been issued a technical foul in his life and has class. This suggests that the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard (19 free throws, more than the Grizzlies’ team total) benefit by working the refs ... but Kawhi has exactly one career technical foul, so I’m not sure this argument works.
It doesn’t matter. Game 3 will be officiated differently, Memphis will no doubt earn some of those fouls by hitting harder and Conley will get to the line more. In the meantime, everyone is going to know Fizdale’s name. It’s our biggest star turn of the playoffs, and it might not be topped. Take that for data.
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Cleveland closed out a win, but it was close as the Cavaliers defense is just not very good. A middling Indiana offense has been able to score almost at will for long stretches. Matt Ellentuck writes that despite Cleveland being up 2-0, they need to improve to get back to the finals.
Two plays signify the Pacers’ start to this series: Lance Stephenson hits an absurd 60-footer that didn’t count, and Indiana blew a coverage to give Kyrie Irving a wide-open dagger layup.
Tuesday’s schedule:
Bucks at Raptors, 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV, MIL leads 1-0
Bulls at Celtics, 8 p.m. ET, TNT, CHI leads 1-0
Jazz at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, UTA leads 1-0
Shout-out to Gabrielle Union, who keeps roasting Dwyane Wade on Twitter.
James Jones on the keys to success in the NBA and life.
Latest Ricky O’Donnell mock draft has the Knicks winning the lottery.
Chris Bosh says he’ll play in the NBA again.
We are all Swearing Celtics Kid.
Why the Nuggets should not give up on Emmanuel Mudiay.
The Suns are keeping GM Ryan McDonough for the 2017-18 season.
Touching story from Mike Piellucci about Khelcey Barrs III, Russell Westbrook’s childhood friend who died on the court at age 16.
Tim Cato calls Patrick Beverley a “bag of bees,” which strikes me as both poetic and accurate.
I wrote about Kyle Lowry’s future should the Raptors fall short again.
There is nothing that gives me a bigger sports-related stomach ache than the idea of watching tape on your rec league performance.
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