Community Picks: Washington Wizards 0% vs Atlanta Hawks 0%

In the first half it seemed everything went wrong for the Clippers. First, Gordon Hayward went off for a Utah playoff record 21 points in the quarter on 7-of-8 shooting (he would finish the night with 40). Then late in the first half Blake Griffin suffered a bruised big toe — may well be a turf-toe injury — and he had to leave the game. Los Angeles was down 13 after one quarter and nine at the half, but more than that it was hard to see a path back to the win. Then Chris Paul took over — he was the embodiment of the point god. CP3 had 24 second half points, he was attacking the paint or dishing to DeAndre Jordan rolling down the lane, and more than all that he completely controlled the flow of Continue to Article

April 22, 2017 1:57:am EST

Rajon Rondo may be out, but the core problems that have the Celtics down 0-2 to the Bulls have not gone away — Chicago is more physical, stronger on the boards and in the paint, the Bulls’ size has them playing better defense, and Jimmy Butler has been the best player on the court. What is Boston’s Brad Stevens going to do to change the dynamic? Something wholly unexpected. Did not see that coming. A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com added this. The last time Gerald Green started a game for the Celtics it was 2007. The Celtics are clearly going smaller and more athletic, a counter that Stevens hopes will get buckets and force the Bulls to go smaller as well, taking away some of their advantage inside. Continue to Article

April 21, 2017 6:32:pm EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was fined $25,000 by the NBA for kicking the basketball into the stands at the end of a playoff game. The league announced the fine Friday. As the final buzzer sounded for Washington's 109-101 Continue to Article

April 21, 2017 1:52:pm EST

Kawhi Leonard got his first points of the night on Thursday in emphatic fashion: a swooping one-dribble dunk from the 3-point line past Marc Gasol. The play came early in the first quarter during Game 3 of the first round playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies. Gasol got switched onto Kawhi, and with the big man out on the arc the Spurs wing saw an opportunity down low. Don’t ever come at me with “the Spurs are boring” ever again. Continue to Article

April 21, 2017 12:00:am EST

The uniforms and team colors are different. The same team that got lucky when Wall broke bones in his hands and wrist after the since-departed Jeff Teague inadvertently undercut him on a fastbreak layup. The same team for which they’ve been waiting for an opportunity to get some payback ever since. Continue to Article

April 20, 2017 3:46:am EST