Community Picks: Memphis Grizzlies 0% vs San Antonio Spurs 0%

Overshadowed by Golden State's historic run, the San Antonio Spurs put together their own season for the ages, too. ''We didn't play the way we did this season just to be on vacation after a few games,'' Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. The Spurs tied for the seventh-best record in NBA history at 67-15 only to earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference behind Golden State. Continue to Article

April 16, 2016 5:05:pm EST

Mike Conley gave the Grizzlies a jolt of playoff energy last year when he returned to the Memphis lineup after taking an elbow to his face. There probably won't be a Conley sequel in this postseason. Conley is just one of several Grizzlies nursing injuries as Memphis prepares for its first-round series against San Antonio that begins Sunday. Continue to Article

April 15, 2016 5:22:pm EST

One of the wackier NBA regular seasons in history is over, for better or worse, and the two-month playoff run is set to begin. With the first round upon us, the minds at Ball Don't Lie decided to preview each series. Here's our look at the No. 3 Oklahoma City Thunder and No. 6 Dallas Mavericks. How They Got Here • Oklahoma City: The Thunder's season started with a mixture of hope and pressure thanks to the introduction of new head coach Billy Donovan and the return of Kevin Durant from foot injuries that limited him throughout the 2014-15 season. With Durant set to become an unrestricted free agent this forthcoming offseason, the conventional wisdom was that the Thunder needed to prove themselves as a tactically diverse team with the ability to beat the likes of the Warriors and Spurs in many different ways. It didn't work out as planned, although that wasn't necessarily a problem for OKC. Donovan's Thunder look a lot like Scott Brooks's Thunder — the offense relies heavily on Durant and Russell Westbrook, the role players rarely step outside of their prescribed roles, and the late-game offense finds the stars looking to score in isolation. As with the Brooks Thunder, though, the team was pretty darn good. OKC won 55 games, finished second in points per possession, and looked like the third best team in the conference all season. Durant came back in superstar form and Westbrook put up 18 triple-doubles in an MVP-caliber season, and the likes of Serge Ibaka and Enes Kanter contributed substantially as secondary options. The problem with these developments was that OKC looked a step behind San Antonio and Golden State all season, to the point where it's difficult to have too much confidence in the No. 3 seed in a potential playoff matchup against either team. That's largely because the Thunder struggled to win against other elite teams, though not because they were ineffective. Durant and Westbrook give every defense fits, particularly now that the latter has become impossible to defend with one player at the point of attack. For that matter, the Thunder are the only team that can even contemplate running with the Warriors for any protracted period of time. Continue to Article

April 15, 2016 4:46:pm EST

Continue to Article

April 15, 2016 3:00:pm EST