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Jesse Wright, strength coach for the 76ers, recently got himself a technology budget, something he'd never had before with the Sixers, a gift from his new GM Sam Hinkie.

He's stressed about it though.

"You've got a blank slate!" I said to him, failing to reassure.

"I can't get everything," he told me, "but I need to get the right things."

What are the right things for an NBA team that wants healthy, fit players and is willing to spend on technology?

Wright and I were taking in the NBA vendors show, an unpublicized sideshow at the draft combine, held each year in a Chicago hotel ballroom.

What are the disruptive digital technologies that offer a clear injury prevention payoff? Some candidates:

Next generation compression

The NormaTec system is the pair of black sleeves you sometimes see athletes wearing over their legs when television cameras look into the locker room before games. They compress the large muscles in the legs to improve blood flow and speed recovery.

The systems have been around since 2007 and are an established, widely used technology to help athletes speed recovery. Every single player on the Miami Heat has a $5,000 deluxe-version NormaTec Pro of their own. LeBron James owns three, including a custom, personally-fitted hips and legs version.

Custom fits aren't normally required. The sleeves are made from thick industrial nylon and zip closed around the leg. Air fills the sleeve; the tightness is controlled by embedded pressure sensors.

One leg of a NormaTec sleeve is split into five section compartments, overlapping zones that fill with air from the control box. The bottom compartment fills first, and on up the leg. The pressure builds and the compression benefit kicks in. When the sleeve is fully pressurized air flows into and through the sleeves in computer-controlled pulses that further stimulate recovery.

Evidence for NormaTec's effectiveness is more anecdotal than empirical. Gilad Jacobs, the CEO of the Newton, Massachusetts, company says that's not because the systems haven't been tested. They have been, by the likes of the U.S. Olympic Committee which took dozens of NormaTecs to the London Olympics -- but the U.S.O.C. is not publishing what they have learned in sports science journals, according to Jacobs.

Identifying fatigue that can lead to injury

The core of the Catapult system is a wearable sensor package that tracks and radios precise body position data on a working athlete to a base computer. The system gets its precision from the many sensors in the package:

• a GPS sensor (that works far better outdoors than indoors)
• an accelerometer that measures the force associated with an athlete's movement
• a gyro sensor that measures rotational displacement and a magnetometer
• a compass, that measures directional vectors and validates rotational movements.

The package, a little larger than an apple core, weighs a few ounces and hides in the pocket of a snug-fitting under-jersey.

Data from the Catapult system relevant to injuries comes in two forms. Over time, once a baseline value has been established, the data can indicate when a player is fatigued and show patterns which differentiate between fatigue associated with improving fitness and fatigue associated with overuse. Athletes recovering from injury can see clearly if they apply equivalent and balanced forces when playing, running, jumping and cutting, or if they are favoring the non-injured shoulder/arm/hip/leg/foot.

Catapult was developed by sports scientists at the Australian Institute of Sport and has been used widely for the last six years by Australian Rules Football teams. (Catapult U.S. headquarters are in Atlanta.) League-wide the teams share data and study the results, according Catapult's Gary McCoy, leading to not just significantly fewer injuries but also more plays per game.

The system tells coaches how far and how fast athletes have moved throughout a practice. (Universally as far as I can tell, leagues disallow the systems during games.) The system also distills a player's work to a single number that reflects cumulative effort -- PlayerLoad. PlayerLoad is compatible with other measures of athlete effort that come from heart-rate monitors, from SportVu game-tracking or from simply asking players how they're feeling at a given time. It all goes into the big database that Catapult enables. "We create a dashboard for coaches to see their athletes and how they're working," said McCoy.

It's a versatile tool that teams look to for changing culture. McCoy also told me how one unidentified NBA team that uses Catapult (Celtics, Mavericks, Rockets, Knicks, Spurs are customers listed on the company website) decided to post PlayerLoad numbers on the wall after practice. The team was concerned about the loafing going on during practice and felt well-informed peer pressure could help.

Jumping to test fatigue

Force plate technology wasn't on display at the vendor show but it was presented by Phil Wagner from Palo Alto-based Sparta Performance Science at the Midwest Sports Performance Conference held at the University of Kansas last weekend. Kansas has the force plates installed and uses the Sparta software to monitor athletes.

Sparta is also known for training Jeremy Lin prior to his rise to fame with the Knicks.

Wagner has athletes do a vertical jump on the force plate which produces a three phase “movement signature.” The pre-jump “load” phase, the key transition “explode” phase and the energy-sustaining “drive” phase appear as peaks and dips in the resulting data graph. Sparta delivers the data graphs from jump tests to Kansas players and coaches through a private Web interface.

Evidence suggests these movement signatures can be injury predictive. Given all of the running and jumping basketball players do, when ground force production (what's measured in the jump test) is inefficient the joints and tendons at the root of those inefficiencies pay a price and break down.

When measured at regular intervals during the season the jump test will also show fatigue. Players who say they feel 100 percent but produce significantly less force than they do at their peak clearly lack explosiveness, a surefire indicator that fatigue has set in.

Peak Performance Project (P3), a sports training company in Santa Barbara, has a similar technology, but uses right- and left-lateral jumps to measure force production. P3 has had an ongoing affiliation with the Utah Jazz since 2007. Both P3 and Sparta Science are currently talking to other NBA teams interested in adopting their systems.

Brad Stenger is a New York City-based journalist and researcher.

SEATTLE -- There was a small victory for Seattle basketball fans (including me) Wednesday night. The town's resident NBA team, whatever opponent is playing the Oklahoma City Thunder (in this case the Memphis Grizzlies), knocked the Thunder out of the playoffs.

But that was barely consolation for the day's crushing news. When the NBA's Board of Governors voted down the proposal by a group of local businessmen to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle as the Sonics, it ensured Seattle will be without NBA basketball for at least a sixth season -- with no guarantees that will change any time soon.

The issue isn't with the Kings staying in Sacramento. Kings fans did nothing to deserve losing their team, and the local government and a new California-based ownership group stepped up to meet every challenge set forth by the NBA over the past four months. Just five years after we went through our own painful relocation, few fans in Seattle relished the thought of putting another city through the same thing.

No matter how much NBA commissioner David Stern tried to emphasize that Wednesday's vote was about what Sacramento did instead of what Seattle failed to do, here in the Emerald City it was hard to interpret the rejection of the move as anything but a rejection of Seattle. Stern said Sacramento was the winner in this scenario, and therefore we must be the losers.

What really hurt was the NBA's unwillingness to seriously consider expansion as a win-win solution to the Sacramento-Seattle conundrum. From start to finish, Stern and his successor Adam Silver were clear that expansion was a remote possibility until the NBA has finished negotiating its next TV deal. (The current one, with ESPN and Turner Sports, expires at the end of the 2015-16 season.)

The steadfast opposition to expansion is perplexing given the unique strength of the offer made by the prospective Seattle ownership group led by Chris Hansen. Between their increased $625 million valuation of the Kings and an unprecedented $115 million relocation fee, the group indicated a willingness to pay $740 million for an NBA franchise in Seattle -- nearly $25 million for each of the other 30 owners and more than double the $300 million fee the last time the league expanded, to Charlotte in 2004.

Under the current TV deal, worth $930 million per year to the league, the difference to other teams between slicing the pie 30 ways and 31 ways is $1 million per year. While that figure is expected to jump under the next contract, even if we make the optimistic assumption that the NBA's rights will double in value every seven-year contract, it would take 25 years of TV money to offset the net present value to owners of awarding Seattle an expansion team. How long is that in professional sports terms? Of the league's 30 teams today, just six have enjoyed continuous ownership for the last 25 years.

That analysis assumes there's no benefit to TV negotiations in adding a team in the country's No. 12 market. In theory, the NBA should be better off demographically whenever it can add a market better than the current league average. As for other concerns about expansion -- talent dilution, an odd number of teams, etc. -- I direct you to Tom Ziller's epic takedown.

As the NHL has demonstrated, expanding too rapidly is dangerous. But on average, the NBA has added a team every four and a half years since the merger with the ABA (eight in 36 years). Both the MLB and NFL have averaged a new team every six years or so in a similar span (six since 1977 in MLB; six since 1976 in the NFL). By those standards, the NBA is actually overdue for expansion at nine years and counting. The NFL landed at 32 teams and MLB 30; going to 31 would put the NBA right in the middle.

Surely, part of the league's thinking is that by the time the next TV contract is wrapped up there may be more clarity about troubled franchises elsewhere. The Milwaukee Bucks, whose lease runs through 2017, are likely to eventually move if they're unable to replace or renovate the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and other teams could look elsewhere if attendance fails to improve over the next few seasons.

The problem with this logic is that the clock is already ticking on Seattle's plan for a new arena. The memorandum of understanding signed last fall by Hansen's group, the city and King County expires in 2017. Between now and then, the same forces that opposed the deal last summer will be reinvigorated by this opening. While Sonics fans were still grieving Wednesday afternoon, the longshore union that has filed litigation against the arena site called on local politicians to reconsider the plan. This fall's mayoral election could sharply change the political landscape.

Fighting off the anti-arena forces once again will require Sonics fans to maintain the passion they have shown since Hansen began pursuing a deal to bring the team back. That's going to be difficult to do on the strength of vague assurances that the NBA would like to return to Seattle. Hope can go only so far. At some point, fans will need the league to reciprocate some of the love they have shown for the Sonics. On Wednesday, that was nowhere to be found.

David Thorpe's latest postseason MVP rankings are posted (Insider). Stephen Curry doesn't top the list anymore. We discuss:

• Marcus Thompson II of The Oakland Tribune: Warriors guard Jarrett Jack was on the verge of tears as he stood at his locker. He couldn't find the words to truly express what he was feeling, so he let his attire do the talking for him. "Usually before I would do any media, I would make sure I was dressed a certain way," Jack said after the Warriors' season ended Thursday with a 94-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. "I brought one of my best suits. But looking down at this jersey, it's just a sense of pride I don't think I've ever felt as a professional. ... Nothing in my closet is better than what I have on now." Perhaps it was the disappointing end to a magical run. Perhaps reality had hit him that he may have spent his last minutes in a Warriors uniform. And he didn't want to take it off. … Whether he takes the more lucrative offer else where, or whether the Warriors make a competitive offer to keep him in the Bay Area, that will all be figured out this summer. But Jack was never more clear about for whom he wants to play: Golden State. "I hope so, man," Jack said. "Obviously there are other things that go into seeing if that works -- we all know this is a business at the end of the day. If I could do it, if I could rearrange it, I would definitely be back at this same locker."
• Tony Bizjak, Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee: The Maloof era in Sacramento, at times spirited and uplifting, at times dismal, appears to have come to an end. A Sacramento investors group has reached a deal with the Maloof family to buy its controlling stake in the Kings. The deal is expected to be unveiled today. "It's the start of a new era," said Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive, leader of the Sacramento investor group, speaking to reporters after the Warriors game Thursday night. Ranadive added, "We just need to sign some papers and finalize everything." If the NBA approves the deal, a source told The Bee, escrow is expected to close at the end of May. The source, a stakeholder close to the deal, said the Maloof family was eager to "turn the page" and was pleased it was able to sell to a group that will keep the team in Sacramento. The deal would set the team's overall value at $535 million, an NBA record. The source did not say why the price values the team at $535 million, rather than the $525 million figure the local group had offered. The sale price translates into $347 million for the 65 percent of the team controlled by the Maloofs and their business partner, Robert Hernreich. Ranadive confirmed that the reported price was "about right."
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Following his response, Kevin Durant was then asked what he would say to possible critics who might hear his outlook and question his competitive fire. “I don’t give a damn. I’m going to be who I’m going to be,” Durant said. “I’m not Kobe Bryant. I’m not Michael Jordan. I’m not LeBron James. I’m not Magic Johnson. I’m me. I’m not going to ever compromise myself, my integrity and what I believe in for winning some basketball games and winning a championship. That’s just not I how I was brought up. I’m always going to fight for this game I love. I’m going to claw until the last buzzer sounds. And if that’s after a championship then of course I’ll be happy. I’m not satisfied just being in this league and losing. I’m going to work as hard as I can to try to get to that mountaintop. I enjoy playing the game. I enjoy being here. But I’m never going to come out to the media and say we wasted a year because we lost a championship. Like I said, I don’t have to be Kobe Bryant.”
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: Taj Gibson still is getting ripped by Bulls fans for his ejection in Game 2 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals. So the reserve power forward couldn’t even imagine what venom has built up toward Derrick Rose, who missed the season while ¬recovering from surgery to his left knee. “That’s what comes with the job we do,’’ Gibson said Thursday, one day after the Bulls’ postseason came to an end in Miami. “I’m still recovering from the Game 2 [ejection]. I still have fans basically ripping me to shreds. But you just have to take it with a grain of salt, keep pushing. “You’ve got a lot of people who want you to do certain things at a certain time that you [don’t] feel is right for yourself.’’ Besides, Gibson has been around long enough to know that once Rose steps on the court next season and scores his first few baskets, all will be forgiven. That’s the nature of sports fans.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: With their second-string point guard slated to become a free agent and their third-string point guard possessing an unguaranteed contract, Orlando Magic officials already have met with some potential backcourt replacements during the 2013 NBA Draft Combine. C.J. McCollum, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Lehigh, and Myck Kabongo, a 6-foot-2 point guard from the University of Texas, said they met individually with Magic officials Wednesday night. McCollum averaged 23.9 points and 2.9 assists per game as a senior before he broke his left foot in early January. McCollum has been compared to 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard hailed from a small school, Weber State, while Lehigh plays in the small-school Patriot League. Kabongo's sophomore season was limited to the Longhorns' final 11 games because he was suspended for accepting personal training instruction and taking airfare and not being truthful about it to school officials. But during his time on the court as a sophomore, Kabongo averaged 14.6 points and 5.5 assists per game. … In addition to their top-four lottery pick, the Magic own the draft's 51st overall pick. Jameer Nelson is slated to return as Orlando's starting point guard. But Nelson's backup, Beno Udrih, will be an unrestricted free agent. E'Twaun Moore, the team's third-string point guard, has one more year remaining on his contract at a league-minimum salary of $885,000. But Moore's deal is fully unguaranteed if he's waived on or before June 30.
• Jason Quick of The Oregonian: The player in mock drafts most frequently pegged as going to the Trail Blazers is UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad, and sure enough, the Blazers were one of the teams that interviewed the controversial wing at the NBA draft combine in Chicago this week. "They asked me how I liked their team, and I said it was a great team," Muhammad said of the meeting. "I've talked with Damian, I know LaMarcus (Aldridge) is a good guy, and they have (Nic) Batum at the three. I feel like I could really fit well with their program, and I think they are looking for a guy who can do a lot of things like me." Muhammad said he also interviewed with Toronto, Minnesota and Houston. Muhammad (6-foot-6, 220 pounds) averaged 17.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists while sharing the Pac-12 Conference freshman of the year award this season. The 20-year-old was suspended by the NCAA for the first three games of the season and forced to repay $1,600 in impermissible benefits he accepted, and was later shown to be one year older than he initially let on. He said many of the NBA teams he has interviewed with in Chicago have asked him about the circumstances surrounding his suspension. … the Blazers met with Muhammad, Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse wing James Southerland, Indiana big man Cody Zeller and San Diego State guard Jamaal Franklin.
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: Maybe it’s just being meticulous, but the Charlotte Bobcats seem to be interviewing players in Chicago who wouldn’t fit a top-five draft pick. The Bobcats finished 21-61 last season, second-worst record in the NBA. That means they can do no worse than the fifth pick in Tuesday night’s draft lottery. However, they spent time in Chicago interviewing at least two players – Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams and Gonzaga center Kelly Olynyk – who don’t figure to go before the early- to mid-teens. Carter-Williams, who models himself after New York Knicks veteran Jason Kidd, is interesting, in that he’s a 6-6 point guard who could offer both a contrast and a complement to 6-1 Bobcats playmaker Kemba Walker. The Bobcats played a lot of sets with two point guards last season, pairing Walker with Ramon Sessions and later Jannero Pargo.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: A group of current assistant coaches the Suns are planning to interview includes former Suns player and Utah assistant Jeff Hornacek, Los Angeles Lakers assistant Steve Clifford and two Houston assistants — former Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson and J.B. Bickerstaff, the son of former NBA head-coaching veteran Bernie Bickerstaff. CSKA Moscow assistant Quin Snyder, a former Missouri head coach and NBA assistant coach, is also in the mix and some here at the combine feel the Suns would be willing to look at collegiate head coaches such as Villanova’s Jay Wright, Butler’s Brad Stevens or Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg. Clifford and Sampson are candidates for vacancies in Milwaukee and Charlotte. Charlotte is also considering Snyder and Hornacek, who also is being interviewed by Philadelphia. Milwaukee and Detroit are looking at Bickerstaff. McDonough and the Suns staff are here for the NBA draft combine but the coaching search presses on to the point that assistant coaches who are tied up with postseason work — Indiana’s Brian Shaw, San Antonio’s Mike Budenholzer, Golden State’s Mike Malone and Miami’s David Fizdale — might become less likely candidates.
• Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune: With the NBA combine underway this week in Chicago, the Utah Jazz are busy studying their options, working through every possibility, tossing them in the air like a dough slapper at Pizano’s. They have two picks in the coming draft, one in the lottery, a likely No. 14 selection, and another at No. 21. There is both skepticism and sunshine as to whether the Jazz can add to their half-vacant roster a player or two who will actually help them improve what is already a young core. There’s been talk that this draft is weak, that it won’t benefit the club in any meaningful way, particularly at the positions where Utah is most thin. "There will be a player there that, hopefully we draft, but if not, drafted after us, that becomes a good NBA player," he says. "[It’s] our responsibility, our call, our job. … We’ve got to do it right and if we don’t do it right often enough, then we shouldn’t have the job." Those words might sound as though they are selling what the Jazz have said they will sell until the team once again becomes what it used to be — a real contender: hope.
• Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times: The Bucks are expected to draft a guard with their first pick, the 15th overall selection. But they have shown interest in three big men: Rudy Gobert of France, Gorgui Dieng of Louisville and Mason Plumlee of Duke. They have interviewed all of those players and are expected work them out before the draft as well. ... The Bucks also interviewed shooting guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of Georgia and Jamaal Franklin of San Diego State. .... Let’s say Franklin is one of the most confident players in camp. He said his offensive game is similar to New York’s J.R. Smith’s — “I can score in so many ways.’’ — and his defensive game is similar to Memphis’ Tony Allen.
• Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press: Even six weeks away from the NBA draft and being a possible top-five selection, Trey Burke remains as composed as ever. Burke adapted quickly to college at Michigan because he was mature beyond his years on the court and now, as the draft approaches, he remains steady. That’s why he didn’t hesitate to choose his father, Benji, and his cousin Alonzo Shavers as his agents. He said today at the NBA predraft combine that he and his father discussed the possibility for the past five to six months. It’s why he’s still working out in his Columbus, Ohio, hometown, as he has for the past five years with the same trainer. … Wednesday in Chicago featured interviews with the Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Hornets and Indiana Pacers and six more teams were to come tonight. The Pacers threw him the best curveball, asking “why are sewers round?” and Burke hit it right back at them, saying “so people can get out.”
• Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: Former Ohio State forward Deshaun Thomas said he's been working out with ex-Portland center Greg Oden. "Man, he looks unbelievable," he said at the draft combine. "He's running. He's lifting weights. You might be seeing a comeback. He looks like he's ready to go. He's running, getting in shape. I'll tell you one thing. For a big 7-footer that's all he does, running and getting in shape. He's looking right." Thomas said Oden is working out at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Indianapolis. Oden, who helped Ohio State to the NCAA championship game in 2007, has had five knee surgeries in his career. The Cavs had some interest in signing him as a free agent.
• John Reid of The Times-Picayune: Although construction on the New Orleans Pelicans' new 50,000 square foot practice facility is not scheduled to be completed until August, Coach Monty Williams is already predicting that will be a huge selling point when free agency begins on July 1. The new facility, located at the Saints complex in Metairie, will have a 32,000 square foot practice court area, accommodating two courts, offices for coaches and basketball operations staff, bleachers, as well as a theatre for film review. The practice courts will be made of maple that will be easier on the players' feet and legs. There's also a 12,000-foot area housing the locker rooms for players and coaches, as well as the equipment room and training rooms. The price tag for the new facility is $15 million.

After losing to the San Antonio Spurs 94-82 in Game 6, the Golden State Warriors just couldn't let go.

Neither could the fans, most of which were standing well after the final buzzer, possibly waiting for some kind of release. The waiting was rewarded as Mark Jackson's team trundled back out of the locker room, out onto the court. A mic was given to Stephen Curry, whose 10-of-25 night for 22 points was not reflective of the star turn he has taken since the All-Star break. Curry had been hurting physically all series, and appeared weary as he addressed the crowd.

"We just wanted to thank you guys," Curry began, his voice cracking. What followed was inaudible to all but recording devices close to the microphone. The crowd was roaring over the words. Eventually, Curry settled on a final call and response of "Just us!" As the crowd screamed it back, the season was finished.

In the end, the Warriors had acquitted themselves nicely considering the circumstances. "Just us!" was the symbolic chant that ended this season, but the harbinger of doom arrived much earlier. The death knell likely came when Curry sprained his ankle (again) in the fourth quarter of Game 3.

This is not to say that Golden State wins this series if Curry stays healthy. The Spurs were the better team, due to their superior defensive communication and ball movement. It's just that, the injury took an improbability and turned it into an impossibility. The sprain ripped off the hand of the puncher's chance.

Golden State just did not have enough to win a series against such a complete, strategically impeccable team. Curry was not his usual zig-zagging self over the last three games. Andrew Bogut was pained to the point of sitting out all but five minutes and 44 seconds of the second half of Thursday's action. After the game, the big man said, "I played terribly. My ankle just didn't hold up." David Lee was half a player, due to a hip flexor tear in the Denver series.

And finally, a bad situation turned awful when Harrison Barnes landed horizontally to the floor with a sickening thwack. Barnes was motionless for minutes, eventually leaving under his own power to the training room, where he received six stitches. Barnes later returned to action but wasn't as effective. The Warriors claim that he passed their concussion tests.

In the background of blood, strains and sprains, the Spurs were outplaying the Warriors. Since switching onto Klay Thompson after Game 2, Kawhi Leonard had essentially erased Thompson from the series. Game 6 was another night in which Thompson shot poorly (4-of-12) under Leonard's watch. With Tony Parker and Tim Duncan struggling for stretches, Leonard may well have been San Antonio's MVP of the series. He allowed the Spurs to focus max attention on Curry as he excised the other 3-point threat, while putting up steady numbers himself (14.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 60.7 true shooting percentage).

On the other end, the Spurs regained their 3-point stroke just in time to push Golden State over the ledge. A flurry of three corner 3-pointers put the game out of reach. Tony Parker had been struggling mightily, but two of his three made shots were corner 3s with less than four minutes to go.

That should serve as a reminder of what Golden State needs to work on next season, aside from getting healthy. The Warriors give up the most 3-point attempts in the league.

For now, few on the team are focused on that, and understandably so. During the postgame interview, after making mention of the three rookies getting major minutes, and the injury pileup, Curry settled on, "You have to be happy about how far we went and how hard we fought."

Curry's coach was certainly pleased with the effort. Mark Jackson eulogized the season as follows: "Guys battle, guys gave me everything they had, and we fought. And I could not be prouder of any group. I could go on to win championships, and I will not be prouder of any group that I ever coached."

Such praise of the loser might seem ridiculous to those who follow habitually great teams like the Spurs. That's to ignore the backdrop of a perpetually hopeless franchise, and the young players tasked with turning it around. For a season, and probably beyond, the Warriors are indeed turning it around. Nothing beats a title, but the long-awaited return of competent basketball can move thousands into chanting "Just us!" with the young, improving team they've come to love.

The San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Golden State Warriors to reach the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season and the eighth time in the last 15 seasons. Here are five things you need to know about the Spurs.

Spurs big men on a roll
Duncan and Tiago Splitter outscored the Warriors big men 16-3 on pick-and-rolls in Game 6, including eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from Tiago Splitter. The Warriors big men missed all seven shots on pick-and-rolls, and turned the ball over twice.

Shutting down Curry
Stephen Curry made 33 percent of his shots coming off screens or pick-and-rolls in the final five games of the series, including 5-of-13 in Game 6. In Game 1, Curry made 8-of-15 shots (53%) on such plays, including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers.

Coming up big in the fourth
The Warriors got within two points at 77-75, but it was all Spurs in the last four minutes of the game as they outscored Golden State 17-7 the rest of the way. Parker struggled with his shot most of the game, but scored 10 points in those last four minutes including two three-pointers.

Road to success
Clinching on the road is nothing new for the Spurs since Gregg Popovich took over. This is the 18th time they’ve celebrated a series win on their opponents court since 1996-97 – tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for most in that span. Their 50 road playoff wins under Popovich are the most in the NBA since 1996-97.

Milestone win for Big Three
The trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have now won 94 playoff games together. That passes the trio of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott for most playoff wins for a trio. The Spurs Big Three trails only another Lakers trio: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper.

Mark Jackson leans into his words as if they’re skinny, 1990s point guards trying to stop him. He shoves them around. Boasts are bellowed. Mind games are played. Sermons are delivered.

A lot happens when Jackson is on the mike. Between the platitudes and clichés, here are some Jackson pronouncements from this year's playoff run:

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"They tried to send hit men on Steph.”

Jackson said this after a Game 5 loss to the Nuggets wherein Stephen Curry was roughed up a bit off the ball.

I would call this a savvy public display of hypocrisy. It’s hard for the guy who coaches Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green to call out the opposition for roughing people up. It's ridiculous on its face.

At the same time, it was smart of Jackson to alert refs to off-ball action.

The natural tendency, even for referees, is to focus on the ball. With this declaration, Jackson took a laser pointer and attached the light to Kenneth Faried’s jersey. The Warriors coach called Faried out specifically for hitting Curry’s ankle. In Game 6, Faried picks up his third foul on a “trip” of Harrison Barnes. Except, Barnes appeared to trip over his own feet on the replay. We’ll never know if Jackson’s complaints helped swing the foul that caused Faried to get benched in Game 6, but I have my suspicions.

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"I've taken pride in not ever criticizing referees -- for two years. And then reading the statement by the NBA, I'm extremely thankful I am not fined for criticizing referees."

Jackson is a swaggering braggart. (After beating the Lakers, he declared his team better and even added, “They are in the rearview mirror.”) But it's complicated.

This brashness is at odds with an almost priggish devotion to his own sense of propriety. He never curses, at least in public. There’s no more rap music in a Warriors locker room, which could now double as a library reading room.

Jackson advocates a particular decorum around officials. He got his first and only technical foul by literally asking for it. Seriously, Jackson didn’t like the calls so he politely asked the ref to give him a technical as a demonstration to his players.

So it’s no surprise that, after making the hit men comments, Jackson takes pride that he didn’t violate his own code. Aspects of Denver’s play were criticized, but the refs were never questioned, at least explicitly. I have no firm grasp as to why Jackson adheres to these codes, but the structure may give him comfort.

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“I’m a guy that believes, again, that God has his hands on this team.”

The God issue is sensitive, especially when you consider that the Bay Area isn’t exactly the Bible Belt. As you’ve probably noticed over these playoffs, Jackson is publicly quite religious. Regardless of Jackson's right to sermonize, I will hazard that these statements are sometimes taken too literally. I don’t believe that Jackson believes God delivers the wind gust that causes Manu Ginobili’s air ball because God loves the Warriors. It feels more like a statement about how the team communes with whatever Jackson thinks God to be and how he thinks this is a good process.

Warning: I’m not religious in the slightest, and I’ve never had an extended theological discussion with Jackson. I’ve just noticed that Jackson is big on the power of positive thinking.

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"Those guys are just getting to the hospital. The baby has been born already."

This was in response to Curry’s 22-point third quarter explosion in Game 4 against Denver. In the amusing quote, Jackson isn’t just talking about how Curry's play; he’s talking about how ignored his greatness was when obscured by injuries, Monta Ellis’ ball-hoggery, losses and a non-Lakers Pacific time slot.

It has a certain resonance with a Bay Area populace that is equal parts proud of the region and insecure over how it doesn’t get enough attention. The Bay is beautiful and important, but it isn’t Los Angeles in terms of national and international cachet. East Coast bias isn’t real to the media-steeped L.A. sports market. In the Bay, fans can bristle over how their teams miss out on national coverage. It’s a big market with a big chip on its shoulder. Oh, you just discovered Curry? He’s been great for a while! And we have EXCELLENT food and wine out here! L.A. stinks!

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"We live in a country that allows you to be whoever you want to be. As a Christian man, I serve a God that allows you free will to be whoever you want to be. As a Christian man, I have beliefs of what's right and what's wrong. That being said, I know Jason Collins. I know his family. And certainly [I'm] praying for them at this time."

This was such a tense moment at Warriors practice. A local reporter asked noted Christian Jackson for his thoughts on Jason Collins coming out. As Jackson started, nobody really knew where this quote was headed.

The words are vague and, frankly, cryptic. Most around the sports world were congratulating Collins, rolling out the welcome mat. Whatever Jackson was saying was at odds with that. But his words also weren’t specifically hateful or rejecting. He later spoke well of both Collins and his family.

What is this prayer about then? Salvation? Happiness? Protection?

In that same news conference, Jackson spoke of praying during every national anthem.

My take? Jackson probably should have gone a different direction with his comments, but I also believe he was processing right in front of us. Jackson didn’t give any indication of having known of Collins’ sexual orientation, despite his friendly relationship with Jason and his family. By all appearances, the news was fresh to him.

Perhaps this is how tolerance happens. Those who wrongly think they live a world apart from gay people suddenly find that they already know and quite like a gay person. The once myopic are forced to grapple, forced to process. It’s easy to not see the humanity in someone you initially view as an “other.” But if you already see the humanity in a person before he declares himself to hail from an “other” category? It’s too late; you’ve already bonded with that person. You already know better than to dismiss his personhood. That kind of wake-up call can broaden perspectives and bring people together.

All of this might have absolutely nothing to do with Jackson. Again, he was vague. But the uncomfortable moment made me aware of how people around the NBA were processing and incorporating what they just learned about their brave friend Jason Collins.

Also worth noting on this tricky subject: While players the league over have spoken on the record about Collins coming out, as far as I'm aware that's not true of a single Warrior.

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"In my opinion, they're the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game."

Remember how I said that Jackson is a swaggering braggart? He made these comments about Curry and Klay Thompson. Based on 3-point shooting, he has an excellent case. He likes to pump his guys up, perhaps hoping that they adopt his optimistic paradigm. It’s easier to become a star if you think it possible first.

Talk like this rubs some people the wrong way, but I love it. Most coaches are so afraid to say anything good about their players. It’s refreshing to see someone skirt the line of hyperbole in the other direction.

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"That's stupid. ... I'm doing it for fun."
Jackson was asked why he kept submitting paperwork listing Carl Landry as a starter against the Nuggets when Harrison Barnes was actually the starting power forward.

He dismissed the notion it was superstition. The coach just thought it amusing to repeatedly deliver an inaccurate lineup card.

While I don’t find the joke hilarious, I do believe in the value of stepping back from playoff game terror and chuckling at its absurd quirks. The great coaches occasionally exhibit some detached whimsy. Think Gregg Popovich intentionally fouling Shaq after tipoff or Phil Jackson smiling on the bench for reasons unknown. Mark Jackson’s coaching equivalent to playing with his food could be a good sign. I also believe he was just messing with George Karl to glean a slight advantage.

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“Can I be honest with ya? I’m jealous. I wish I could put on a uniform the way you ballin'.”

You could regard this, from TNT's Inside Trax timeout microphone, as Jackson trying to convey that his players should appreciate and seize the moment.

But something in his tone makes me believe the comments are more nostalgic, less practical. From what I’ve heard from players-turned-coaches, there is no high that matches going out on a court and actually shaping the game with your hands. I wonder if Jackson was just thinking aloud as he contemplated life on the bench. I wonder if Jackson actually does feel a pang of jealousy or if he's experiencing a miniature midlife crisis on account of no longer being able to share in this unique experience.

The statement could be less about missing the past than appreciating the present, though. So many players from the Jordan era condescend to the modern NBA. "It was so much tougher then!" is the refrain. Jackson talks up his era on occasion. But in this moment, he's telling his modern team what a privilege it would be to play with it. Jackson has reverence for the past, but not so much that he's degrading what happens now, in front of his eyes. It's easy to roll your eyes at his "greatest shooting backcourt" comments, but such bold declarations might show the Warriors coach to be hyper-present and quite respectful of the talent he presides over. If so, that's pretty cool.

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“Can I stop again to tell you I love you? Outstanding.”

“Love” can be a dirty word in the machismo-steeped culture of pro sports. But bless him, Jackson is too emotional to use any other word.

I have no clue how the Warriors take this, but it’s notable that most coaches never say anything like this. Because “their business” is a business. “Love” does not belong in a business, just as Jackson’s religious statements might not belong in corporate America.

But sports are strange because, to be a business, people must believe these teams are far more than that. Executives, players, coaches, everybody involved have to emotionally invest in something other than profit, even if profit is also a motivation. And in this gray zone of life called “sports,” this nexus of tribalism, feeling, glory and money, Jackson lives loudly.

The Golden State Warriors host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals (10:30 ET on ESPN). San Antonio took a 3-2 series lead thanks to an 18-point win in Game 5 on Tuesday.

In order overcome the 3-2 series deficit, the Warriors hope Stephen Curry can return to the form that made him one of the toughest players to guard on the perimeter in the NBA.

Curry had a strong start to his first postseason, averaging 27 points on nearly 48 percent shooting in his first seven games. However, he’s cooled off in his last four games, averaging just 17 points on 35 percent shooting from the field.

Curry’s recent decline in production may be attributed to his workload. Since the start of the season, Curry has played 3,439 total minutes in the regular season and playoffs combined, second only to Kevin Durant’s 3,603 minutes played.

Many of those minutes, particularly against the Spurs, have been spent moving with and without the ball to create open looks. Curry has run 14.7 miles in live action in the first five games of the series according to SportVU video tracking.

This despite injuring his left ankle in Game 3 and battling through a sore right ankle that he sprained in Game 2 in the first round against the Nuggets.

Perhaps due to those injuries, Curry has moved progressively less in each game of the Spurs series. This after running nearly four miles in Game 1’s double-overtime loss, a game in which he played a career-high 58 minutes.

The less-active Curry hasn’t been as effective on offense, especially on Tuesday. Curry traveled a series-low 2.4 miles in that Game 5 loss, a game in which he recorded his postseason-low of nine points on just 4-for-14 shooting from the field.

Curry’s recent struggles have also been due to his inability to create open looks off the dribble. In Game 1, Curry scored 42 of his 44 points off the dribble on 18-for-34 shooting.

In the last four games combined, Curry has scored just 45 points off the dribble and has struggled with his shot, connecting on just 35 percent (17-49) of such field goal attempts.

Curry, who made an NBA single-season record 272 three-pointers during the regular season, used the pick and roll to be effective from long range to start the postseason.

In his first seven games, Curry averaged 1.03 points per play and shot 50 percent (9-18) on three-point field goal attempts as the pick and roll ball handler.

In four games since, Curry is averaging just 0.69 points per play and shooting 31 percent (4-13) from downtown in that play type while turning the ball over more than twice as often.

• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Two years ago, Zach Randolph nearly carried the Grizzlies to the Western Conference finals but came up a little short. The Grizzlies’ power forward wasn’t strong enough to contribute to a long postseason run last season because of his challenging recovery from a knee injury. But Wednesday night, a healthy Randolph forcefully put his imprint all over the Grizzlies’ 88-84 Game 5 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Griz won the Western Conference semifinals, 4-1, on the strength of Randolph’s 28 points and 14 rebounds in the closeout game. He helped punch the Grizzlies’ ticket to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. “Zach was huge the whole game,” Griz coach Lionel Hollins said. “He came out snorting and grunting. He carried us offensively.” In expressing his desire to win a championship, Randolph emphasized there’s still work to be done. Clearly, though, one of the league’s most feared bullies in the paint is back on the block. Also, grit-and-grind basketball will now play for a trip to the NBA Finals. “This just tells you that when you keep a core together and you stick with them, good things can happen,” Randolph said.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Shame it had to end like this. You can only wonder what would have been had Russell Westbrook been healthy. Instead, the inevitable finally happened tonight. All things considered, this was a great season. Nothing to be ashamed about. Division champs. Sixty wins. Best record in the conference. The best regular season in the OKC era even after James Harden was traded five days beforehand. A second round appearance even after Westbrook went down two games into the first round. “We had a really good season,” said Kevin Durant. More Durant: “It’s tough to swallow now, but I’m sure we’re going to look back on this down the line and really appreciate this tough time.” No need to panic. No need for big changes or major shakeups. Though it might not feel like it right now, this team doesn’t need it. All it needs is a healthy right knee. Get that back and the Thunder is back in business. Back to dominance. Back to being a championship contender. Back to having a bright future. In the meantime, we learned a lot about this group without Westbrook. We learned that Reggie Jackson is ready to break out, possibly as a Most Improved and Sixth Man candidate next year. We learned that Durant does need help and that Westbrook is indeed the best fit for him. We learned that Kevin Martin doesn’t fit, that Scott Brooks can and will bench Kendrick Perkins, that the Thunder’s system is serviceable for the regular season but shaky come the postseason and thatSerge Ibaka has many more strides left to take. … It was fun while it lasted, Derek Fisher. I wonder what the Thunder will do with him next year. His contract is up and the Thunder will have open roster spots. He proved he still has value, both on and off the court. … There’s no edge to this team. OKC is either going to out-athlete you or outscore you. But next year’s team needs some nasty. I’m looking at you, Ronny Turiaf. Find a way, Sam Presti, to lure Reggie Evans from Brooklyn. Rebounds and toughness. The Thunder’s got to have it.
• Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Welcome back, Dwyane Wade. Your timing was impeccable. The chatter entering Wednesday night’s playoff game here centered on the thick elastic wrap on Wade’s right knee and the pain barking underneath it. Could Dwyane be his old, spectacular self? Or was he simply too hurt? The answers were inconclusive much of the night, but emphatic when they absolutely mattered. “I had a good couple minutes,” he said, smiling. Wade did, and that is largely why Miami beat the Chicago Bulls 94-91 Wednesday night to win this second-round series 4 games to 1 and jack the downtown bayside arena into fiesta mode. The result sent depleted Chicago into its offseason after a noble effort, and sends Miami on to the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals after a dramatically earned comeback. The Heat is now halfway to a repeat championship. It’s the easy half that’s in the books now. It’s what remains that will find the vintage Wade — healthy or playing like it — in ever greater demand. There is a country music lyric: “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good, once, as I ever was.” That was D-Wade, late Wednesday. That might be Wade all this postseason, budgeting his energy and physical strength, waiting to strike, striking in bursts. Wednesday he would finish with 18 points, but the six of those he delivered last recalled a Wade unencumbered by knee-wraps or doubts.
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: Derrick Rose might not be planning much this summer. Whether the Bulls point guard likes it or not, the organization wants more say in what his offseason will consist of. “There will be a plan with him [this offseason],’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We have an offseason program that he’s going to have to go through. It will be mostly the same, but we’ll be adding a few things to it.’’ With good reason. The Bulls watched their season come to an end in a 94-91 Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday. It was the second time in three years that the Heat have put the Bulls on ice. The chasing is getting old. And chasing the defending champs with Rose sitting out the season with his surgically-repaired anterior cruciate ligament? The results weren’t so hot. This summer has to be about getting Rose at full strength physically and mentally if the Bulls want to put an end to their futility against LeBron James’ team. … It’s an even bigger issue when a team limps into a playoff series as the Bulls did. Rose? Out. Luol Deng? Out after complications from a spinal tap. Kirk Hinrich? Never recovered from a bruised left calf suffered in the first-round win over the Brooklyn Nets. … Trailing be three with the ball on the final possession, Nate Robinson and Jimmy Butler missed game-tying three-point attempts, ending a drama-filled season. The attention quickly turned to Rose, and rightfully so. … And now the right thing will be doing whatever the team asks of him this summer.
• Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: Cruising through the web in the aftermath of Game 5, one angle stood out above the others: A short passage at Grantland illustrating just how well the George Hill/Kawhi Leonard swap has worked out for both franchises. Neither are stars, but they’re playing key roles on what will almost certainly be two of the last four teams standing in the 2012-13 season. Leonard has established himself as one of the game’s brightest young prospects with the Spurs, while Hill is running the point with a steady, sometimes spectacular hand for his hometown Pacers. Such was the case on Tuesday, when Hill erupted for 26 points as Indiana took a 3-1 series lead over the New York Knicks. Not long after Leonard scored 17 on only eight shots while applying such withering defense on Golden State’s Klay Thompson that he could not find the space to launch a single 3-point attempt. So many NBA trades are made to free up cap space, or unload a disgruntled star for pennies on the dollar. In this instance, both teams saw assets that could fill glaring needs — in Indiana’s case a starting point guard who had been groomed by the game’s best coach, and in San Antonio’s a much-need infusion of youth and athleticism on the wing. Had the Pacers kept Leonard, or if they’d even drafted him at all with the 15th pick in 2011 without the Spurs’ directive, he’d be overkill behind All-Star small forward Paul George. It would have duplicated the situation Hill faced in San Antonio, where his growth and role were always going to be stunted by the presence of Tony Parker.
• Monte Poole of The Oakland Tribune: The Warriors approach the possibility of postseason elimination amid heated dialogue about their offense. What's wrong with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson? Where is the torrid shooting that made them a popular storyline throughout the playoffs? The more substantive factor for the Warriors, though, has to do with defense. If they don't play it exceedingly well against San Antonio on Thursday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors will walk out of Oracle Arena and directly into the offseason. Defense is the element of the game most consistently discussed by Mark Jackson. On Wednesday, a day after a 109-91 loss in Game 5, the coach once again leaned on the subject. Asked about the suddenly chilly jump shots rolling off the fingers of Steph and Klay, Jackson jumped atop an old soapbox built on the sturdy pillars of league history. … "They shot 72 percent in the first quarter, scored 37 points," he said of the Spurs. "That has nothing to do with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry shooting the basketball." As someone who spent 17 years as an NBA player and nearly a decade as a close observer, Jackson realizes defense is crucial to postseason success. Understanding his team and the NBA, the coach expressed a tedious truth: Jump shots do not win championships and rarely get a team close to one. … Listening to several Warriors on Wednesday, it was clear Jackson's message was heard. Andrew Bogut, Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry all cited defensive shortcomings as the primary factor in losing Game 5. Their heads are in the right place. They seem to understand jump shots can be pleasing to the eye, but that defense determines how far a team goes during the postseason grind. Endurance, after all, requires full grasp of the basics as taught by lessons of the past.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The lack of respect is still there for the Indiana Pacers. They have beaten up, bullied and shut down the New York Knicks for most of the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals. But the credit has yet to show up for the Pacers. The talk of the series has centered on how the Knicks are missing shots, Iman Shumpert’s knee and who is and isn’t playing team basketball. The Pacers can put everybody (outside of the New York market, at least) out of their misery of hearing about those issues Thursday. The Pacers, up 3-1 in the series, can advance to their first Eastern Conference finals since 2004 with a victory. … There’s no better place for the Pacers to get the recognition they deserve than to do it in the Mecca — Madison Square Garden, known as the world’s most famous arena, where the stars sit courtside and the crowd will be so loud fans can’t hear the person next to them. “It’s going to be 10 times harder, it being in New York,” Pacers swingman Paul George said. “We know how well they play at home, so it’s going to take a great effort, so we’ll see where we’re at.” These aren’t the same Pacers who hoped they could win on the road. They know they can win on the road.
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: The Knicks won 54 games this season on the strength of their offense and were at their most dominant when the ball was moving, the floor was spaced, and Anthony and Smith were alternating good shots with smart passes. That identity has been lost, and Woodson has failed to do anything to restore it. Instead, Woodson went the opposite direction in Game 4 on Tuesday. He abandoned the small lineup that gave the Knicks their edge. He started Kenyon Martin, a defensive-minded enforcer, in a failed attempt to counter the Pacers’ size. He benched Prigioni, whose passing skills had been critical to the Knicks’ offensive rhythm for two months. (Prigioni has the best plus-minus rating of any Knicks starter in the playoffs.) Though the Knicks quickly fell behind by double digits, Woodson stuck with the big lineup for most of the night, thoroughly revamping his rotation in the 90th game of the season. … Woodson has indisputably been a net positive for the Knicks, corralling a locker room of volatile characters and disparate talents and presiding over the franchise’s best season in more than a decade. His failures in this series threaten to overshadow it all. On Wednesday, Woodson abruptly canceled his weekly radio spot with ESPN’s New York affiliate — a first this season. If the Knicks falter again Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, there will be no escaping the backlash. “Blame it on me,” Woodson said. As if the city needs any encouragement.
• Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: The Kings are staying in Sacramento. Can we say that again? The Kings are staying in Sacramento. In what would have been considered a major upset only four months ago, the NBA board of governors looked hard at Seattle but did a double-take when evaluating Sacramento. Come again? The league's owners remembered almost three decades of good times – of sellout streaks and international appeal and impassioned crowds even when the team was terrible. They listened to members of the relocation committee and, yes, to their stubborn, respected, retiring commissioner. And, ultimately, they envisioned a revived franchise with impressive new owners, a state-of-the-art arena and an invigorated fan base. "This was not an anti-Seattle vote," Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday. "This was a pro-Sacramento vote." It's true. It happened. Lightning struck, thunder rolled in, and tornado warnings were issued throughout the city known as Big D. But all that happened later in the evening. In the afternoon, while rain pelted the hotel where the owners convened to determine the Kings' future, the Sacramento entourage pitched a near-perfect storm of a presentation.
• Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times: At the end of the fight, the old, vindictive NBA commissioner couldn't announce the winner without first needling the city he was about to make a loser again. At the end of a polarizing relocation issue that he once described as "wrenching," the man who always measures his words couldn't resist one smug remark directed at Seattle. At the end of another heartbreaking NBA result, David Stern taunted us. "This is going to be short for me," he told reporters in Dallas on Wednesday. "I have a game to get to in Oklahoma City." Ouch. It was a sucker punch followed by a gut punch. First, Stern reminded Seattle that its team is now in Oklahoma City. Then, he announced the NBA was rejecting the city's bid to get a team back. … For the past four months, we have been Stern's pawn. Now, we're back to being his punch line. No more. Let's not play this game anymore. The next time Seattle plays with the NBA, it has to be a fair game that the city is capable of winning. For certain, that means it has to be a game that Stern isn't overseeing, which will require waiting until Adam Silver takes over in February to engage in talks again. The Stern/Seattle relationship is too toxic to bother mending, and if there was any doubt about The Commish's grudge-holding ways, his opening remarks made his Seattle disdain clear. The league turned down an epic Seattle offer in order to do the right thing — and since when did the NBA start caring about doing the right thing? Seattle's failed bid doesn't just affect Sacramento. It gives a clear path for every incumbent NBA city to keep its team. Heck, the past two NBA relocation situations, both involving Seattle, provide a road map of what to do and what not to do.

The Memphis Grizzlies took out the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to advance to their first Western Conference Finals in franchise history.

Kevin Durant scored 21 points, his 37th straight playoff game with more than 20 points (the 4th-longest such streak in NBA history), but it wasn’t enough. Durant shot 23.8 percent from the field (5-21), the 3rd-worst field-goal percentage in his postseason career.

Durant is a combined 4-22 on field-goal attempts with nine points in the fourth quarter and overtime of the last three games.

Tayshaun Prince guarded Durant on 67 percent of his field-goal attempts the last two games of the series, after sharing a near 50-50 split the first three games. Durant was unable to score inside the paint the last two games, scoring a total of 10 points after averaging 12.0 paint points during the first three games of the series.

Bulls Eliminated by LeBron Once Again

The Miami Heat advanced to their third straight Eastern Conference Finals, but they didn’t make it easy. The Heat blew an 18-point lead in the first half and then overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half en route to eliminating the Chicago Bulls in five games.

The Bulls have been eliminated by a LeBron James team in three of the last four postseasons.

The Heat lost Game 1 of a playoff series for the third time in the “Big 3” era, and they responded by winning the next four games all three times. They’re now 6-0 in Game 5s when leading a series 3-1 in the “Big 3” era.

Despite blowing the 18-point lead, the Heat’s comeback should be no surprise, as the last time the Heat lost a playoff game in which they led by 18 or more points was Game 6 of the 2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks. They have now won 28 straight playoff games since then in which they've led by at least 18 points.

A LeBron James team has never lost a playoff game in which they've led by at least 18 points. LeBron's teams are now 30-0 in his postseason career when leading by at least 18 points.

The Heat scored only nine points when driving to the basket in the first half of Game 5, their low in a half this series. The Heat increased their production on drives in the second half, scoring 24 points. LeBron James was the catalyst for Miami, driving 15 times in the second half (four drives in first half).

The Heat only had a losing regular-season record against two teams this season: the Knicks (1-3) and Pacers (1-2). They'll play one of those two teams in the Eastern Conference Finals.