"Winning is done when a team sacrifices to reach a common goal. The LA Clippers have sacrificed from roster spots 1-through-15.
Coming to Orlando to win the franchise’s first championship ever was a decision made by the whole team. Winning a title would mean a new era for a team with a ruffled past.
Great players have suited up for the Clippers. Players have made the All-Star team. Also, they have received great honors. The team though has always been known for losing.
Los Angeles is legendary. Some of the greatest talents in the world have made a name for themselves in this town. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are homegrown talents and need no introduction to the glamour and glitz of LA.
In this first-round matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, both players knew they had to be great. Both players needed each other to be great. Eventually, that was accomplished. The result?
The LA Clippers finally ending their first-round drought."
Golden State Warriors Face Masks
"In a decisive and momentum-shifting Game 5 of the NBA playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks fell to the LA Clippers, allowing a record scoring night in the loss.
Just when it seems the series was just beginning to get even more interesting the Dallas Mavericks collapsed and the momentum shifted back in favor of the LA Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Clippers came full force Tuesday night and refused to let their foot off the gas in an absolute throttling of the Mavs in Game five.
Prior to Tuesday’s loss, in which Dallas gave up 154 points, the most points the Mavs allowed in a playoff game were: 1) 137 points against the Sacramento Kings on May 10, 2003, 2) 134 points against the LA Lakers on April 28, 1984, and 3) 133 points against the LA Clippers in Game 4 of this series on Sunday night. It also ties for the largest playoff loss in franchise history at 43 points, which happened at the hand of the LA Lakers on April 28, 1984, at Staples Center.
Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
In fairness, the Clippers had a historic night on the offensive end, being the first team in NBA history to score 150+ points on 60+ percent from the field and 60+ percent from 3-pt range in a playoff game. They also set multiple franchise records: most threes in a playoff game (22), most field goals in a playoff game (53), highest field goal percentage in a playoff game (63.1 percent) and their biggest playoff win (43 points).
Though this was just a blip on the radar on social media once video surfaced of Clippers’ Marcus Morris Sr. appearing to purposely step on the injured ankle of Luka Doncic."
Boston Celtics Face Masks
Once the Gordon Hayward shoe dropped, it seemed like all was lost. The Hornets weren’t even willing to play ball on a sign-and-trade. Instead electing to waive and stretch Batum (which would have resulted in $9M in dead money over the course of the next 3 seasons). It was the worst case scenario for the Celtics because their options for adding talent dwindled down to using the full MLE and the bi-annual exception.
Grading all four Charlotte Hornets picks in the 2020 NBA draft
"The Charlotte Hornets took a leap forward with the picks in the 2020 NBA draft. Let’s grade their four picks.
Since the Charlotte Hornets traded Kemba Walker to the Boston Celtics they have been lacking star power. They have not had a player who can take over the game and drag the team to a win the way Walker could since he left.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s smart game-planning has been a huge advantage in its series against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA playoffs. "The Miami Heat are up 2-0 in against the first seeded Milwaukee Bucks. They need to win twice more to earn an Eastern Conference Finals berth, a height that no one saw them reaching when they retooled their roster last offseason.
Several of the Heat’s newcomers have been impactful in Miami’s two victories against the Eastern Conference’s best team but one of the longest-tenured people in the Heat organization deserves credit as well: head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Miami’s two-time championship-winning coach has proven to be a cut above the rest yet again. The culture he fosters in the Heat organization pays dividends, attracting stars like Jimmy Butler and developing guys with few, if any, expectations to be big-time contributors at the NBA level into key starters (see: Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson).
While the play on the court is always the most important aspect of the game, coaching makes a tremendous difference, and it’s showing in this series. Spoelstra has run circles around Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer. Spo’s decisions have put the Miami Heat in a prime position to take the series while Bud’s have cost his team momentum and possibly the outcome of games.
For one, Spoelstra has managed his rotations better than Budenholzer, who still has a reluctance to play his best players through the entirety of crunch time.
Spoelstra has made minimal substitutions near the end of the fourth quarter. By roughly half-way through the final period, Spo has his key players in for the remainder of the game. Budenholzer has struggled with this.
With 5:06 left in Game 2, Middleton picked up his 5th foul. He was subbed out for Wes Matthews and subbed back in with 3:32 left. In that time, Matthews committed a turnover and two fouls, one of which was a shooting foul on Jimmy Butler, who made both free throws, extending the Heat’s lead to eight.
The absence of Eric Bledsoe in Game 1 doesn’t excuse some of Budenholzer’s rotation decisions. Pat Connaughton receiving 25 minutes in Game 1 and Marvin Williams receiving 21 minutes in Game 2 are huge lapses in judgment by last season’s Coach of the Year."
Los Angeles Lakers Face Masks