ESPN NBA

• Trailer for a very cool-looking documentary on New York City pick-up basketball. Kenny Anderson, Fly Williams, God Shammgod, Homicide, Kenny Smith, Smush Parker, Headache, Julius Erving, Pee Wee Kirkland and others. What you might already be thinking.
• A very rough scene, including multiple shootings, in Oklahoma City after the Thunder win. Royce Young of Daily Thunder: "There were an estimated 10,000 people outside the arena Monday watching the game in Thunder Alley. It’s a question now as to if Thunder Alley will continue after this incident."
• John Hollinger (Insider) on JaVale McGee: "Turns out he's not just a punch line. McGee showed more development in two months in Denver than he had in four years in Washington, particularly on the offensive end where he showed some refinement with a sweeping hook shot. McGee still takes ridiculous chances on blocking shots he has no hope of reaching and leaves his feet constantly on the defensive end. On the other hand, he went for 21-14 against an elite frontcourt to key a close playoff road win, rejected a phenomenal 22 shots in 181 minutes, and had three 14-rebound efforts in seven games. In other words, while he's still something of a project, he's a productive project. Which makes him one of the league's most interesting names in restricted free agency. We know he's an athletic freak who probably has the highest leaping reach in basketball, so if he can just get halfway decent on the mental aspects he'll be a star. That tantalizing possibility, as the first round made clear, may cost Denver a lot more now that he's shown signs of possibly achieving it."
• Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register on the Lakers' season: "All the meanings could be seen in the final game: The Lakers were too slow, failed to defend consistently, had virtually no bench help, didn't get a team game from Bryant, couldn't depend fully on Bynum and had to accept excuses afterward from Gasol about what a tough year it was. 'He always wants me to be aggressive,' Gasol said of Bryant, 'but it's been tough for me. I've been in a facilitating role most of the year, pretty much the third option most of the year.' Then one of the last things Gasol said for the season was simply this: 'A lot going on this year.' Yes, more than enough to keep the Lakers from making that leap they've made look so seamless before ... from talented players to championship team. 'We just weren't doing it together,' Bynum said."
• This is turning into another one of those years ... if the NBA is rigged to favor big markets, they are terrible at rigging things. Out: New York, both Los Angeles teams, Chicago. In: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Boston (bear with me), Philadelphia (likely not for long) and Miami.
• Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor on KFAN, when asked about the "one and done" rule that allows players to join the NBA after one year of college or equivalent: "My wife writes the checks. And she would not like to write a check if I told you what I thought about the whole thing. Because the NBA would calling up ... and saying to send a check."
• Idea from a Blazer fan's active imagination. How about hiring both Van Gundys in Portland, to take over jobs as coach and GM as they see fit? Would eliminate trust issues, dramatically improve the defense and create one hell of a sitcom.
• The owner of the Warriors and mayor of San Francisco making very strong comments, loaded with certainty, about the Warriors moving to San Francisco.
• Kevin Garnett has some thoughts about Philadelphia fans.
• Heat superstars wonder aloud what Danny Granger is up to with his tough talk, which is probably a decent sign Granger's tactics have been effective.
• Is Shaquille O'Neal in position to make fun of Metta World Peace for having too many names?
• Time lapse video of Staples Center's busy weekend, with a thumpin' rock beat.
• Kevin McHale gets a C+ for his coaching.
• Holy Italian league playoff buzzer beaters.
• A while ago, I got very excited about Ian Levy's pretty charts showing team's offensive plays and how often they use them. Now he has them for all 30 teams. There is a lot to glean from them. But also ... the lines of the charts, like clouds in the sky, luck into recognizable shapes at times. Can't help but notice that the chart of the Lakers' offense looks like a dead bird. The Heat's looks like a little singing cartoon dude. The Thunder's is a fighter jet. The Hawks (work with me on this) resembles the head of a Great Dane.
• Russell Westbrook had four turnovers in the whole series.

Sometimes being an NBA official is tough. But this time, referee Michael Smith had a gimme.

About five feet in front of him, the Celtics' Kevin Garnett delivered an offensive foul combination platter to Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala: One part moving pick, another part flying elbow.

Now that's a foul.

Replays only made things clearer. Later, even Charles Oakley -- a high priest of physical play -- would take to Twitter to chastise anyone who'd question the call.

Smith did the obvious thing: He blew his whistle.

And that surprised the hell out of everybody.

---

Broadcasters could scarcely hide their astonishment. It was a matter of seconds before the Boston crowd was apoplectic, chanting in unison a word that begins "bull" and ends unprintable. Even back in the TV studio, where the mood was less partisan, there was little support for Smith's call, which was said to have been to the letter of the law, but not the spirit.

The reason? The game was on the line.

The Celtics were trailing by three with 10 seconds left. With Smith's whistle, the Celtics went from living on the prayer of a tying 3 to doomed.

It was one of the more obviously correct calls imaginable. But it befuddled so many because there's an idea out there that referees ought not decide games.

Even Iguodala was surprised. Garnett hit him so hard the Sixer said his ribcage still hurt a day later. Iguodala said on the NBA Today podcast that when he heard the whistle, in that pressure-packed moment, he assumed it had nothing to do with the blow he had suffered, saying he "actually thought the whistle was for something else."

Which is amazing, if you think about it. Iguodala knows the rules, and he knows Garnett broke them. He also knew Smith was standing right there.

But Iguodala also knows this: "In that situation, they always say you can't have a call determine the game."

The NBA would insist playcalls are the same all game long. And the NBA is a decade into going to some trouble -- inspired, sources say, by a private and public campaign by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban -- to make it that way.

But it's a stretch to say that's what's happening on the court. Players certainly believe they have more leeway late in games, and there's evidence referees swallow whistles. For instance, the 2011 book "Scorecasting" found offensive fouls are 40 percent less likely to be called in overtime, compared to the first 48 minutes -- a trend that would explain the broad surprise at Smith's call.

---

In 2008, the NBA's independent investigator Lawrence Pedowitz published his report on refereeing in the wake of the Tim Donaghy scandal.

He included a section on "old" vs. "new" refereeing styles:

In an effort to improve both actual and perceived referee performance, the NBA, during the past six years, has tried to move toward a clearly articulated refereeing philosophy that adheres strictly to a literal and consistent interpretation of the rules. Previously, referees were inclined to employ an approach that allowed for more discretion. That approach -- which was also aimed at getting calls right -- varied somewhat with the circumstances of the game.

The approach has been described to us as the “art of refereeing” or “game management,” and has aspects of common sense, a desire not to interrupt the flow of the game (thereby showcasing the talent of the players), and rough justice.

Then Pedowitz listed examples gleaned from his interviews with every official, including:

Referees might avoid calling a foul on a play with significant contact at the end of a close game, consistent with the view that players rather than referees should determine a game’s outcome.

We all get what this means -- referees want to tread carefully, to have light impact. But even that is not real. When there's a hard foul late in a close game, referees don't really have an option of not deciding the game. They can essentially call it by the book and decide the game for the fouled team, or call something less and decide it for the other team. (The band Rush knows all about this: "If you choose not to decide you still have made the choice.")

For instance, referees decided for the Sixers and Celtics in getting those teams out of the first round.

---

If any two teams know the power of the old way of refereeing, where referees issue only small punishments late, it's these Sixers and these Celtics. Both teams won their first-round series with some old-fashioned crunch time referee timidity.

On video, Spencer Hawes' foul of Omer Asik at the end of the Sixers' series-clinching Game 6 was inseparable from all kinds of plays that have been whistled flagrant. It took a massive amount of force to keep the massive, open and full-speed Asik from even attempting a shot. Hawes put everything he had into yanking Asik sideways from the base of his neck, throwing him to the ground with no hope of scoring.

But even though referees were there with a great view of everything, only a regular foul was called. The city of Chicago isn't the only place people believe that decision wasn't rooted in the rulebook -- which would support the flagrant -- but in the reality that there were seven seconds left in a game the Bulls led by one. A flagrant would have given the Bulls the lead, free throws and the ball. A flagrant would have "decided the game," or darned close.

Letting players decide the game has a dark counterpart in these situations, too: A less violent foul would not have worked. That close to the hoop, with an offensive player that open, any normal foul would have let Asik win the game by finishing at the rim, putting the Bulls up three with a free throw still to shoot. This oddity of NBA rules, and their enforcement, forced Hawes to make his attack a particularly violent one.

It's odd that breaking the rules by fouling ever helps a team win. It's nuts that there are cases like this where throwing the opponent wildly off balance is the only way to win.

Of course you know what happened. It worked beautifully. Hawes' foul was, arguably, the play of the Sixers' season. Asik couldn't get a decent shot off. He missed both free throws. The Bulls didn't get the ball back, because no flagrant was called. Iguodala got the rebound, drove hard to the hoop, was fouled by Asik and won the game for the Sixers at the line.

But the story doesn't end there.

The Sixers retreated to their locker room to savor the win and gather their belongings for a trip to the second round. On the locker room television, the Hawks and Celtics were fighting for the right to face the Sixers next.

The Celtics were up two points with 3.1 seconds left -- the Hawks were inbounding under their own hoop, praying to tie the game. In Philadelphia, Hawes was watching.

Two things happened. First Celtic Marquis Daniels held Hawk Al Horford, rather blatantly. It's to referee Bill Kennedy's credit that he called anything. But replays show the hold happened before the ball had been inbounded, and the NBA would later admit the call came late. This was a particular point of emphasis from the league to the referees a few years ago. When the foul occurs before the ball is inbounded, as this clearly did, the correct call is one free throw for the Hawks, and then the ball out of bounds again. That would have been a huge help to the Hawks' chances, in a game they really lost by one point (before an intentional foul). Instead it was ruled the foul was after the ball had been inbounded, giving the Hawks no relief at all: Once again they got the ball out of bounds.

Whether Kennedy didn't see the sequence of events, or didn't want to have too big an impact, is unknown.

But what is known is that he had a front-row seat for the next play. The bigger, stronger Horford caught the ball by the hoop, and Daniels was faced with the same no-brainer of a choice Hawes had. He was beat, with no way of winning by following the rulebook, or making a basketball play.

So Daniels grabbed Horford around the shoulders and hurled him earthbound. The Hawes foul looked more like a flagrant than this one, but it was certainly not a play on the ball. Kennedy called a regular foul. Horford missed one of two free throws and the Celtics advanced to meet the Sixers.

Credit both Daniels and Hawes with great, game-saving plays that are in the interest of their teams -- but not their league.

---

There is only one alternative to referees deciding games. Iguodala: "That means anything goes."

That's what Garnett, Hawes and Daniels were all counting on.

Otherwise, why would Garnett -- one of the NBA's most respected veterans, a champion and a professional who knows all the little particulars of winning -- put his team in jeopardy with such a reckless play, right in front of a referee, in such a moment?

It's not like he tripped. He took a calculated risk even though, as he'd later admit, he had been warned in the same game about such plays.

Imagine the outrage if, say, JaVale McGee had done the same thing in the second quarter. A chorus of pundits would sing of his ignorance. But this was Garnett, and it's clear he wasn't being dumb at all. He was being brilliant. He was playing with the assumption Smith simply would not doom the Celtics with his whistle, which gave him a special way to get his teammate Paul Pierce wide open for a game-tying 3.

Garnett is not being called a fool. Instead, the referee is being questioned.

Garnett was playing very well under the old way of refereeing. But the new way is better. Way better, in fact, because it rewards the best basketball plays, as opposed to hardest fouls.

EIGHT THINGS TO WATCH IN THE SECOND ROUND



1. LeBron’s Post Game

I think LeBron James learned from the Finals last year against Dallas that he needs to find a way to get inside and not just settle. He likes to drive, but a lot of it has to do with him having a halfway post-up game now. He gets the ball on that right block, closer to the basket and he’s able to post up and make a decision to either find a shooter or make a play himself.

The three times we played Miami, that’s one thing I noticed about LeBron. He’s making a consistent effort now to get the ball in the post. He’s such a good ball handler, almost like a point guard, that it’s tough to have him in the post all the time. He definitely added that to his game.

2. The Bosh-less Heat go small

When Miami features LeBron at the four, I think it can cause a lot of problems. It’s going to force Indiana to change the way they play defense and possibly take David West or Roy Hibbert out of the mix for long periods of time. It’s going to force David West into a huge role and we’ll see how big he can play.

On offense, Indiana likes to play inside-out with those two guys, but if Miami takes that away with a small lineup, forcing the Pacers to play on the perimeter, Indiana will play right into their hands. The way Miami rotates to shooters on defense is second to none. They trap the ball really hard on the pick and roll. LeBron, D-Wade and Mario Chalmers are very athletic guys. You could see it against the Knicks, guys like Steve Novak really didn’t have chance to shoot the ball even when it was rotating. They always had someone closing out to him and making him drive or pass.

3. Philly’s Backcourt

The Sixers guard the ball really well and their on-ball defense makes a difference. They did a good job in the first round of switching between Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner and giving the Bulls different looks. They made Chicago run a lot of sets instead of individuals taking over the game. That will be useful against Rajon Rondo, because he sets everything up for the Celtics. But they’ll be able to impact his decision-making by playing tight on the ball.

Both players are solid offensively as well. Turner is coming around really well. He’s turned into the player that they expected when they drafted him. Jrue is a very capable scorer, but he’s still able to control the game and run the team. He can shoot from the perimeter, but he also has a game where he can drive and make plays. What I like most about him is he’s very under control in his decision-making. He’s still young, but I think he has an advanced ability to make the decisions a point guard needs to make, whether it’s shoot the ball, pass or attack the basket. Playing against Rondo will be a great matchup. They’re both good on-ball defenders. I think they’ll both find ways to impact the game.

4. KG’s Renaissance

Kevin Garnett has really turned his game up this postseason. Offensively, he’s been able to get down in the post and they can get him the ball in a spot where he can make his turnaround jump shot. He’s also been great picking and popping off screens. He’s playing a full offensive game. Defensively, he just brings that intensity on every play. He took it to Josh Smith in the first round, took him out of his spots. He’s a smart defender so he knows where his man is going to get it and what he wants to do with it.

I think he can have the same impact against Philly. He has the size to impact Elton Brand in the post. Brand is a really a good player, but I don’t think he’s as athletic or versatile as Josh Smith, so I think it’s going to be easier for KG to have that defensive impact. Offensively, his ability to move around the floor and hit shots will be important. He can go inside against the younger guys like Thaddeus Young and just shoot that turnaround jump shot. Or if it’s Brand he can pull him out and hit some in the mid-range.

5. Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin

The matchup of power forwards in the Spurs vs. Clippers series pits two very different players against each other. Tim Duncan has always been a great offensive player. He has a patient game and as a defender it freezes you up. When he gets the ball, you really don’t know what he’s going to do with it. For one or two seconds he’s just looking at the basket and you don’t know what he’s thinking or what’s going to come. That’s why when he goes for that up-fake, guys go for it, because you have to guard against everything with him.

Tim has a great feel for the game around the basket and plays great with his back to the basket. He can turnaround and hit you with that bank shot, he can drive and he’s developed that jump shot to the point where it’s consistent. On the other end, he’s just a smart defender. He can guard guys in the post because he knows how to position himself and how to throw guys off their game.

Blake Griffin plays at a high level. On the offensive end, he finds his way in there. It’s not always pretty, but he’s finding opportunities to score. As soon as he gets the ball he’s trying to drive and he uses his quickness to drive past guys. He’s been doing well at that, but he’s still not a dominant power forward at this stage of his career. He can get out in transition or use the pick and roll and get to the basket, jump high and get the ball up. That’s what’s effective for him.

Going against Tim Duncan will be tough for Blake. Duncan is going to expose Blake’s weakness, which is jump shooting, whenever he can. Duncan will force him to take jump shots. And when Blake does get around him, San Antonio will use help defense to try and minimize his impact at the rim. Boris Diaw might spend a lot of time on Blake too because he’s laterally quicker than Tim at this point and can stay in front of Blake.

6. Pop’s Coverage on Paul

The Clippers go as far as Chris Paul can take them. Offensively they rely heavily on Paul coming off screens and making play. They have other guys who can score, but that’s their go-to. He can come off a screen and make a play for himself or for Caron Butler on the outside or DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin with a lob. Containing Chris will be the number on priority for San Antonio.

Defending the screen isn’t Parker’s strongest suit, but he’s a good enough defender that he’ll find a way to compete and do his best. San Antonio’s system won’t leave him on an island. Coach Gregg Popovich and his assistants will work up a coverage from their defense to limit Paul, make him go left instead of right, trap the pick and roll, or whatever they have to do. It has to be team defense that stops Chris Paul.

7. Westbrook Breaking Out

Russell Westbrook has been more aggressive this season and the Thunder have played well with him controlling the game. In the past, the I remember Russell tended to be passive. But now I just see him being aggressive and trying to score for the whole game.

He’s developed into a better shooter, but I think his bread and butter is driving to the basket. He’s physical and explosive in his drive. He’s one of the best players in the league at getting to the rim. The only guys that are better in my opinion are Derrick Rose, LeBron James and D-Wade. Russell is on that level and he should use that ability whenever he has the opportunity. He has the physical advantage over any point guard. Sessions is a bigger point guard, but he’s nowhere near as athletic and explosive as Russell. He has a clear advantage there.

8. The Kobe Show

If there’s one team that can matchup well with the Lakers bigs this postseason it’s the Thunder. OKC also plays more of a team defense. They execute their coverages very well. It’s one thing to say “we’re going to trap the pick and roll” but it’s another to go out and do it. They have a mobile big like Serge Ibaka who can go out and do it. Kendrick Perkins has always been a good defender and Serge has been tremendous this year. I think they’ll be able to guard Bynum and Gasol.

Once you take that away from the Lakers it’s all about Kobe Bryant. Kobe has been great this postseason. What he’s doing right now, at his age, it’s amazing. You look at the other guys in his class, most of them aren’t playing anymore and none of the guys that are playing are playing at his level. The hardest part about guarding Kobe is how hard he competes. He makes so many tough shots and he just keeps at it. Even when you have him missing five or six shots, he’s coming back with another one. He’s not as explosive and athletic as he used to be, but he’s a smarter player and he knows how and when to take his shot. You can play the perfect defense and he’ll still make the shot more than any player that I’ve seen since I’ve been around basketball. That’s Kobe for you right there.

Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is spending his offseason in Los Angeles rehabbing from surgery, watching the NBA on TV, and helping me learn the proper French pronunciation of his name.

All three are works in progress -- especially the last one.

For the record, he's fine with your calling him "Luke Richard," with the total American pronunciation of both. But ohhhh, no, that's not good enough for me. I'm going for the real thing out of respect.

And mangling it.

But he has agreed to come on many times through the playoffs, so I'll keep practicing.

He crowns the NBA's defensive player of last night, admits to flopping, describes good hard playoff fouls, talks about how to stop James Harden, picks winners in Lakers vs. Nuggets, Heat vs. Pacers, Sixers vs. Celtics and much more.

And then we're joined by David Thorpe, who shares Lakers vs. Nuggets insight (he picked Denver before the series began, is he sticking with that?) before we argue about whether or not last night's games would have been better with more timeouts.

The NBA Today with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and David Thorpe.

• Ron Borges of the Boston Herald: In sports you often don’t know when a game is being decided. While some things are obvious it is most often the little things that separate those going on from those going home. A critical but mostly unnoticed case in point came with 9:29 remaining and the Celtics leading 71-65. Atlanta’s Josh Smith got into a silly beef about whether or not he could enter the game and was hit with a technical that cost the Hawks a point. Seconds later he had his shot blocked. While he was gesticulating toward his shoulder and refusing to run up the floor, the Celtics fled the scene. Had he trailed the play he might well have knocked the ball loose because his teammates stopped the Celts charge, but Smith was nowhere to be found. Instead of getting into the game defensively, Smith was pleading his case down court, even though no one was listening. ... Smith’s selfishness cost his team three points when it seemed unimportant, which only goes to show you never know when the game will be won or lost. You only know it will be, and it often happens when you don’t even realize it just did. At this level, every play counts. You may not make them all and you may have your own mental lapses and when you do you’ll lose, too, as happened in Game 5 when Rajon Rondo [stats] failed to bring the ball up the middle of the floor with seconds left and ended up trapped on the sideline with nowhere to go but where the Hawks went last night: home. But when it counted, the aging Celtics knew how to win and so they move on to play the 76ers tomorrow night while the Hawks move on to play golf. “We’re playing like this is it,” Pierce said of the fierceness of the Celtics’ approach in the twilight of the New Big Three’s time together. “This could be our last chance together so we’re going to give it one last run and see what happens.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Kevin Garnett on Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr.’s comments: “First off, I want to say ‘Thank you’ to their owner for giving me some extra gas tonight. My only advice to him is next time he opens his mouth, actually know what he’s talking about, Xs and Os versus checkbooks and bottom lines. . . . We’re not dirty. We’re firm, we’re aggressive. We’re not dirty. You have to understand the word ‘dirty’ in this game is very defined. Going under guys, trying to hurt guys, ill intent–is not they way we play basketball. ... We play with a lot of passion, play with force. It’s the playoffs but I’m not trying to hurt anybody, nor has my teammates. I just found that comment to be a little rude and a little out of hand and I wanted to address it. Just because you got a bunch of money don’t mean you can open your mouth.”
• John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: I DON'T KNOW WHETHER two free throws can change a legacy, but for one night, at least, Andre Iguodala was finally what Philadelphia had begged him to be - the leading man, the guy who made the plays that carried the team to victory. It hasn't been too much to ask. After all, he is the Sixer with the biggest contract, the one who has been sold as the face of the franchise. Now, let's be real, because sinking two free throws with 2.2 seconds left isn't exactly like draining a long jumper the buzzer to win. That's the realm of the Michael Jordans, Larry Birds and Kobe Bryants. Still given Iguodala's star-crossed history as a Sixer, Philadelphia will gladly take what he delivered Thursday night. And make no mistake, because by sinking those two free throws against the Chicago Bulls, Iguodala, the other A.I., the man who could not be king, sealed the most significant victory this organization has had since the Allen Iverson-led Sixers blew out the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Conference finals. No, these Sixers did not advance to the NBA Finals, but their 79-78 victory over the Chicago Bulls did advance the franchise to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2003. ... This is the fifth time he has gone to the playoffs with the Sixers. This is the first time he will play more than six games. "Iguodala has gone through a lot here," Collins said. "I told him, 'Nobody deserves this moment more than you did.' "
• Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune: The ending of Game 6 was as frustrating and painful as this series had been, so it's just as well. This Bulls team was going nowhere. Not like this, anyway. So, now what? Rose needs to get healthy. Duh. It can’t come soon enough. But one convincing argument this series made was the Bulls’ lack of a reliable second scorer. Wait, isn’t this how last season ended? You can hope the Bulls amnesty Boozer and make Taj Gibson the starter. I doubt it will happen, but a man can dream. Injured or not, Gibson was a stud when the Bulls needed one. He turned Game 5 before suffering that gruesome-looking ankle injury and had a similar impact on Game 6 with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Hamilton showed a bit of what the Bulls needed -- what the Bulls will need more of going forward -- but the Bulls have to look at that position. He gave the Bulls 19 points and 8 rebounds in Game 6, but Hamilton hasn’t shown he can stay healthy or play consistently. And please, address backup point guard, because that’s now a starting position without Rose to start next season. Yeah, next season. It’s here.
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: The braggadocio echoed. Just minutes before Thursday's tipoff of Game 6 at the Pepsi Center, the rapping voice of The Notorious B.I.G. was heard over the loudspeaker. The song? "Goin' Back To Cali." This opening-round playoff series was supposed to be over Tuesday night. But, after the Nuggets won in Los Angeles in Game 5, they came out with a rapper's swagger in the first quarter of Thursday's Game 6. And now, they're indeed goin' back to Cali for Game 7 with the Lakers, after Denver's 113-96, wire-to-wire victory Thursday night. "I planned to play that as the last song," said Cassidy Bednark, also known as D.J. Bedz, the Nuggets in-house D.J. "Then, I got slipped a note that said, 'Big Al Harrington wants to hear "Goin' Back To Cali." ' Obviously, it was meant to be." Game 7, Denver's first since 1994, will be Saturday night at the Staples Center. Denver trailed 3-1 and now has a chance to pull out a historic victory against the No. 3-seeded Lakers. Before Thursday's game, on the locker room dry-erase board, the first thing written was: "Hit first — hit hard. We must be the physical team." Hit first? Hit hard? The Nuggets came out like Mike Tyson in his heyday. Ty Lawson, 3! Danilo Gallinari, 3! Lawson, layup! Lawson, 3 again! And then, when Kenneth Faried unleashed a two-handed slam, Denver was up 13-0 before the Lakers knew what hit them.
• Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: The Lakers were toast from the start, after Kobe Bryant came down with a stomach ailment that weakened him and after Andrew Bynum missed three early point-blank shots in a matter of seconds Thursday night at Pepsi Center. Now the question is: Do the Lakers have what it takes to win Game 7 on Saturday night at Staples Center? They sure didn't have it during a dispiriting 113-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series. "No way I thought what happened tonight was going to happen," Denver coach George Karl said after the Nuggets scored the game's first 13 points, led by as many as 28 in the second half and tied the best-of-7 series at 3-all. The Lakers' inability to match the Nuggets' energy cost them dearly again. Bynum went up for a layup in the opening moments and Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov blocked it. Bynum grabbed the ball and tried again and point guard Ty Lawson blocked it. Bynum rebounded again and then missed a hook shot. The sequence offered a tidy summary on what followed.
• Geoff Calkins of The Commercial-Appeal: Give Blake Griffin credit. He came up with a pretty good line. Leaving the hallway media scrum after Game 5, he compared the Grizzlies-Clippers series to "The Hunger Games." ... Beating the No. 1 seed as a No. 8 seed was harder. Making the playoffs after devastating injuries to Randolph and Gay was harder, too. The Grizzlies keep saying they're tough-minded. We'll see how tough-minded tonight. The contest at Staples awaits them. The lurid people of Los Angeles will be assembling soon. The DJ is ready to offer more helpful cheering instructions. The backup columnist is poised to call us "dumb" or "hicks." It's not a pretty picture, I realize. But you can take comfort in this: I actually read the book and saw "The Hunger Games" movie. Turns out, the kids from the small market win.
• Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: In the eyes of Kenyon Martin, it is pretty simple for the Clippers. "We've got to go home and win," Martin said. "It ain't a two-game series for us. It's a one-game series."

The Philadelphia 76ers became the fifth 8-seed to win their opening playoff series, dispatching the injury-riddled Chicago Bulls in six games Thursday night.

The fact that the Bulls were without reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose for most of the series likely matters little to Philadelphia fans celebrating their first postseason series win since beating the New Orleans Hornets in the 1st Round of the 2003 Eastern Conference playoffs.

The 76ers advanced to the Conference Semis despite shooting under 40 percent in three of their four wins against the Bulls, including a field goal percentage of 39.7 (29-73) Thursday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Philadelphia is the first team to win three games in a series despite shooting under 40 percent from the field since the Indiana Pacers did it against the New York Knicks in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals and just the fifth such team in the Shot-Clock era.

The 76ers also struggled on the boards, and were outrebounded by 23 Thursday night (56-33). According to Basketball Reference, a team was outrebounded by 23 or more in a postseason game 24 times from 1986-2011 and only once did that team win, when the Washington Bullets beat the 76ers 95-94 in Game 1 of the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Prior to Thursday, no team in postseason history has won a game when shooting under 40 percent and being outrebounded by 23 or more, according to Elias.

Philadelphia got a big break when C.J. Watson, who made 80.8 percent of his free throws in the regular season, dished to Omer Asik on the Bulls second-to-last possession. Asik missed both of his foul shots after he was fouled by Spencer Hawes, befitting a player who ranked last in free throw shooting (45.6 percent) among the 175 players to attempt at least 100 free throws in the regular season.

When Andre Iguodala got his turn from the line moments later, he converted both of his attempts despite entering Thursday having made a team-low 45.0 percent of his free throw attempts in crunch time (score within 5 points in the final 5 minutes).

Philadelphia’s streak of eight straight seasons without a playoff series win, tied with 1969-76 for the longest such streak in franchise history, comes to an end, as does their string of five straight losses in playoff series.

In the Conference Semis, the 76ers will attempt to become just the second 8-seed to win a pair of playoff series. The 1999 Knicks advanced the NBA Finals before falling to the Spurs in five games.

• Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post: The Indiana Pacers are coming this way, for a second-round series that starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The Heat will try to reverse a trend that, during the season, went the wrong way. Over the course of four games against Indiana, Miami played four very different variations of coach Erik Spoelstra's squad. The Heat shot worse and scored fewer points in each successive game of the matchup, while each time allowing more. The 118-83 win on Jan. 4 was the Heat at its best, even without Dwyane Wade; LeBron James scored 33 with 13 assists, and the Pacers shot 34.8 percent. The 105-90 win on Feb. 14 was the Heat at its most resilient, romping out to a 35-point lead on the third night of a back-to-back-to-back. The 93-91 overtime win on March 10 was the Heat at its most cohesive, with James and Wade taking turns making critical plays. And the 105-90 loss on March 26 was the Heat at its weariest and sloppiest, as Indiana capitalized on a letdown – after Miami's loss to Oklahoma City – and six James turnovers to pull away in the third quarter. Now Miami will encounter a Pacers team that has gained confidence and experience from its first series victory as a group, even if that victory came at the expense of a depleted Magic team. Indiana will also be a relatively rested team, having finished its first-round work a day earlier than Miami, and having routinely spread minutes throughout a 10-man rotation. "This next series will feel like it's played in a cage, rather than a basketball court," Spoelstra said.
• Neil Best of Newsday: In a season that defied logic, notably when a young guard named Jeremy Lin came from nowhere to revive the team, it made sense for a bench-warming guard who turns 34 Sunday to outscore everyone in the first 12 minutes, from Melo to Stat, from LeBron to D-Wade. All of which, much like Linsanity, was fun while it lasted, but didn't last for long. Then another season-long theme kicked in, and kicked the Knicks out of the playoffs: They simply were not quite good enough to be as good as they had hoped to be. That realization had sunk in long ago, but now that there are no more games after last night's 106-94 clunker, the Knicks are free to admit it and to talk out loud about what needs to happen next. "I think we have to have a better mindset going into the season,'' Amar'e Stoudemire said. "We definitely have to have a consistent season. This season has been up and down, coaching changes and so on and so forth.'' Said Tyson Chandler : "We need to have a nice flow in which everyone touches the ball. We've got to make sure we get other guys involved.'' Hmm. There is a lot to chew over in those comments, seeing as how they address two much-discussed issues: The Knicks' lack of a consistent roster and the propensity of their biggest star, Carmelo Anthony , to dominate the offense.
• Ron Higgins of The Commercial-Appeal: The Grizzlies should be ecstatic that they won game five on Wednesday in FedExForum, 92-80, to stave off elimination and advance to a game six on Friday in Los Angeles trailing 3-2. But here's the problem. A Clippers' team, even with point guard Chris Paul being "held" to 19 points, with Blake Griffin sustaining a sprained knee in the fourth quarter, with the team shooting 37.1 percent from the field and getting outscored 48-26 in the paint, cut the Griz lead to six with 55.7 seconds left. A Memphis team that scored 57 points in the first half, thanks to rediscovering that center Marc Gasol and forward Zach Randolph can score with enough touches, had just 35 points in the second half. Gasol and Randolph scored 23 points and 19 points respectively, but in the second half they combined for just nine points on 0-for-7 shooting after going a combined 14-of-18 from the field in the first half. When asked why the disparity between halves, why didn't the inside duo touch the ball as much the second half, Griz coach Lionel Hollins pointed to the fact Gasol and Randolph didn't make a second-half basket. That's an off-the-cuff answer with no meat to it. ... The Grizzlies' biggest concern for game six is getting some sort of outside shooting. Once the Clippers cut off the passing lanes to Gasol and Randolph, the Grizzlies didn't get enough offense elsewhere to win comfortably. Rudy Gay made some huge plays in the final minute, including an impossible drive with 19.2 seconds left to give the Griz an 88-79 lead. But his offense was stagnant most of the game. If the Griz want to get to a game seven on Sunday in FedExForum, that has to change.
• Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: The Clippers know they're going back to Los Angeles for Game 6 in their first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies. They just don't know how healthy their two best players will be Friday evening. Blake Griffin injured his left knee and Chris Paul strained his right hip flexor in the Clippers' 92-80 loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday at the FedEx Forum. Both Griffin and Paul returned to the game but looked visibly uncomfortable. Griffin's injury occurred when he drove the lane on Marc Gasol, drawing a foul before landing awkwardly on his left leg, which flexed backward. The Clippers called the injury a hyperflexed knee before diagnosing it as a sprain. Paul, who missed the final game of the regular season, was noticeably bothered by the injury. Griffin will have an MRI today in Los Angeles. "The pain scares you most," he said. "It's not because it hurts; it's because you don't know why." Griffin said the knee stiffened on the court after he returned, but the pain felt different than the left patella fracture that kept him out his rookie season. Paul vowed to be on the court Friday for Game 6. "I'll be ready," he said, adding that both he and Griffin are "tough guys."
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The AJC’s D. Orlando Ledbetter was at the event and reported the following Hawks-related highlights from Michael Gearon Jr.'s speech. On media coverage of Hawks’ playoff series against the Celtics. “Did you see what Al Horford did last night? The timeline for recovery for his injury is another three months. He’s not even supposed to be playing and Josh [Smith] should not be playing. Zaza [Pachulia] can’t stand up, but if we can get past this round there is a chance that we can get him back. So this is a team that is overcoming adversity. I wish . . . some of the national media or even some of the local media, more the paper than the TV guys, recognize how hard these guys are playing based on how injured they are. On top of all that, we don’t get any calls, which I know everybody always hears. But I’ll give you a stat. Last night, we are playing this old physical team. They are old. I know what happens when you play basketball, old guys foul. [Kevin] Garnett is the dirtiest guy in the league. We are playing Boston last night and they had two fouls the whole first half. We had five times that and we’re athletic.”
• Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News: With Johnson starting in the backcourt instead of the 6-foot-4 Kirk Hinrich, the Celtics faced a matchup dilemma long feared when the 6-foot-1 Rajon Rondo and 6-foot-2 Avery Bradley were first paired as Boston’s starting guards. The result in Game 5 was Bradley, who has been playing with a sore left shoulder, logging just 18 minutes as Celtics coach Doc Rivers was forced to rely heavily on the bigger Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus in the backcourt. The problem Rivers is faced with when making moves in this type of chess match is that the board looked best if Boston could have kept it just like it was. The Celtics have been strongest with Bass and Bradley on the floor alongside Paul Pierce, Garnett and Rondo. It was when Rivers made Bass the starting power forward and moved Garnett to center that the team began its turnaround from a 15-17 record heading into the All-Star break. The Celtics are 23-10 this season, including the playoffs, with Bradley in the starting lineup, and were just 19-19 when he wasn’t. But if playoff series are about adjustments, Drew made one that worked for Game 5, and Rivers and his staff had to think long and hard about how they intended to counter it during yesterday’s day off. The Celtics are still in command of the series with the chance to end it on their home court tonight. But the Hawks changed the complexion of it on Tuesday night by presenting Boston with a big problem that doesn’t look like it is going to go away easily.
• Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post: Less than 24 hours after his team's odds-defying win over the Lakers, Nuggets coach George Karl was still smiling. But he also was ready to move on. Karl has been here before, and as the coach in these NBA playoffs with the second-most postseason victories (78), he understands the Nuggets have plenty of work left to do. So Wednesday morning he went about the business of reeling in any players who had the look of letting euphoria take over and cause too much satisfaction. "We've got to worry about just controlling our happiness," Karl said, sitting in a conference room at the team hotel before flying to Denver. "The real serious games are coming up (tonight), and if we're fortunate to figure out how to win that game, then we get an opportunity to play an incredible seventh game." According to center JaVale McGee, Tuesday's 102-99 victory, which cut the Nuggets' series deficit to 3-2, was already a distant memory. "That game is forgotten," said McGee.
• Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: Closing time: the sequel. The Lakers got it all wrong in Game 5 on Tuesday at Staples Center, which is why they must play a Game 6 tonight in Denver as they make a second attempt to close out the Nuggets in their Western Conference quarterfinal series. Since they are still ahead 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, they have a margin for error. It's a small consolation, however. The Lakers' frustration was evident after they stormed back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter only to fall short in the closing seconds, tumbling 102-99 to the Nuggets and setting up match point No. 2 tonight. Game 7, if necessary, would be Saturday at Staples Center, but the Lakers weren't thinking about a winner-take-all game after squandering their first try at eliminating the Nuggets and advancing to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round. ... For openers, the Lakers need to shoot better than the 33.3 percent (15 of 45) they shot during the first half of Game 5, when they didn't take advantage of the Nuggets' 41.3 percent shooting (19 of 46) and trailed 49-43. What's more, the Lakers must ditch their customary languid style of play in favor of a more frenetic approach to Game 6. The Nuggets have won twice in this series just by outhustling the Lakers to rebounds and loose balls.
• John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: Each time you fail; the task seems to grow more difficult. A team that had jumped to a 3-1 lead does not want there to be a Game 7. If the Sixers think winning a close-out game is tough, they have no concept of what it would be like to face a re-energized Bulls team on the road in an elimination game. "I don't like the word desperation," Collins said when asked if that was his team's attitude going into Game 6. "Sometimes guys when they think desperate get out of their nature. I want there to be a real sense of focus about what we have to do. We have to meet their challenge . . . They imposed their will [in Game 5]. We hung around but they imposed their will, our guys know that. Collins has talked all season about how he wanted to "manage the extremes" of the highs and lows of his young team. Inherent in that is the understanding that players learn from experiences and use that to move forward. We find out Thursday night how much this squad learned from Tuesday.
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune They have been called soft, overpaid and busts. They have heard criticism from countless corners outside the Bulls' locker room. By tuning such noise out, what Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer have done serves as a microcosm of this Bulls' season. Both players have overcome adversity not just to persevere but succeed. "One thing about Carlos: He doesn't let that stuff bother him. He shrugs it off," Taj Gibson said. "That's what I admire about him. It falls off his shoulder and he gets ready for the next game. And he's the same every game. He's solid. He never worries about the negative. He's always consistent." A repeat of Tuesday night's performance would serve the Bulls well in Thursday's must-win Game 6, as their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals shifts back to Philadelphia.

• J.A. Adande telling a great Kobe Bryant story.
• Al Horford played 41 minutes in just his second game since returning from shoulder surgery. In that time he grabbed 11 rebounds, made a game-saving defensive play on Rajon Rondo and, according to John Hollinger, really lubricated the sputtering Hawks offense: "The telltale sign: Open corner 3-pointers. They'd been as rare as chowder in these parts, but Atlanta got several Tuesday night and converted 7-of-16 from distance. Marvin Williams, instated as a starter to guard Boston's Paul Pierce, made three of them, tripling his total from the first four games."
• I love this: The Nuggets are using a laptop in the huddle at the end of games to help predict what plays the Lakers might run. Don't be surprised if in a few years, each assistant has a iPad-like tablet, instead of a clipboard, in hand.
• Kobe Bryant's sweaty, game-worn mask garnered $67,100 in a charity auction.
• Kevin Durant's top 10 plays, which remind you that he's a very under-appreciated dunker.
• Facebook's massive IPO might help bring a new arena to Seattle.
• Basketball Value with a data on how every five-man lineup has fared thus far in the postseason.
• It turns out the Dream Team did lose a game -- to a squad of collegiate players lead by Bobby Hurley and Chris Webber. That footage will be a part of a Dream Team documentary coming to NBA TV.
• The Celtics are still up 3-2 against the Hawks, but Brian Robb of Celtics Hub is worried about Paul Pierce. The hobbled vet didn't attempt a single free throw in Game 5.
• No reason for Jeremy Lin to play if that knee isn't 100 percent.
• This story (Insider) is about LeBron James's historic season and how it compares to Michael Jordan's best years. But I can't help noticing this other bit: The numbers say no great player turned it up in the playoffs like Hakeem Olajuwon.
• The Bulls needed some bailout shooting from Luol Deng to survive Game 5. On By the Horns, Matt McHale isn't exactly thrilled: "Deng’s threes were also a red flag. The Bulls needed all three of them in the fourth quarter. Lu repeatedly beating the buzzer with contested threes isn’t something the team can count on consistently, especially not on the road in Philadelphia on Thursday. When Philly’s defense turns up the pressure in the fourth quarter, the Bulls cannot seem to generate good looks. Or even average looks. You can check out the shot chart. Philly’s D is either forcing long jumpers or intimidating the Bulls at the rim. In the fourth quarter last night, Chicago went 1-for-6 in the paint."
• The Lakers want to exploit their advantage in the post, but the Nuggets are making it awfully crowded down on the low block. Forum Blue and Gold's Darius Soriano has sage advice: "The Lakers need to move the ball more, cut and screen more, and then look for quick duck ins from their big men where they can catch the ball on the move or sliding into position where they’re more of a threat to score. By incorporating more ball and player movement before post entries are made, it should also afford the Lakers that extra beat of time they need to make a quick move to try and get a basket. Cross screens can also be utilized both in “horns” actions and in more simple sets that don’t involve the double high post look to begin a possession."
• Apparently, playing defense in the playoffs requires some blatant shoving.
• Aaron McGuire, writing about the Spurs on 48 Minutes of Hell: "The Spurs have managed to win six games this season while shooting 40 percent or lower from the floor (meaning that we shot less than or equal to 40 percent in 11.1 percent of our wins). Last season, despite their insane record, the Spurs won only once while shooting that poorly from the floor. This isn’t a matter of luck. The Spurs’ defense this season has played significantly better than last season’s, and while they certainly had their periods of lesser performance akin to last season, the Spurs we’re watching in this year’s playoffs are currently playing better defense than anyone in the Western Conference."
• Shawn Kemp (on stage!) will bring you some beef, but only if you'll have it with mustard.
• If it was his last game with the Magic, Jameer Nelson went out with a bang.
• It's not your fault if you don't know how good the Indiana Pacers are. Jonathan Auping writes on 8 Points 9 Seconds: "The Indiana Pacers played a grand total of one game on national television this season. (Side note: I do not consider NBA TV to qualify as national TV. I am talking about games played on ABC, ESPN or TNT. There’s something about having either Kenny and Charles or Magic and Wilbon talking about your first-half performance that feels like validation). The only chance that the country had to watch the Pacers was a 111-94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on ESPN back on March 14. The Charlotte Bobcats had exactly as many nationally televised games as the Pacers."

The Clippers are winning a reputation as some of the league's most consistent and spectacular floppers, which might lead you to suspect they're gaining some kind of unfair referee advantage over their first-round opponents, the Memphis Grizzlies.

But if that's so, there are other factors in play, too.

Take a look at which teams are shooting the most free throws -- per possession -- in the playoffs as of today:

1. Memphis Grizzlies
2. Miami Heat
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Philadelphia 76ers
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Utah Jazz
7. Oklahoma City Thunder
8. New York Knicks
9. San Antonio Spurs
10. Denver Nuggets
11. Indiana Pacers
12. Los Angeles Lakers
13. Boston Celtics
14. Orlando Magic
15. Chicago Bulls
16. Atlanta Hawks

In other words, yes the Clippers are high on the list, but the Grizzlies lead the league in getting to the line so far.

Meanwhile, the other team that has been accused of getting all the calls -- at least by Danilo Gallinari -- is the other L.A. team. In fact, the Lakers trail all but four playoff teams, including Gallinari's Nuggets, when it comes to shooting freebies.

Statistical support provided by NBA.com.

HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below:

Ronnie Brewer is a phenomenal defender with quick feet and a strong enough upper body to control the likes of Dwyane Wade. But he wins this flop of the night (click for video) by allowing Evan Turner to knock him to the ground without much contact at all.

From the reverse angle, you can see Brewer is using a maneuver we'll call "The Bruce Bowen." As he sees Turner reverse course, Brewer leaves his defensive stance and slides his hips forward in anticipation of the spin move, shifting his balance so that when Turner bumps him, it's enough force to send Brewer to the deck.

Brewer moves his feet admirably, but also plays for the fall against a player who is clearly not out of control. The well-timed, theatrical arm swinging is key, too, because it communicates Brewer's victimhood to the referee.

It's a savvy move, and earns a foul call from official Leon Wood, who doesn't have a great angle on the play.

Appropriately, Greg Anthony has a conflicted reaction, in one breath saying, "Ronnie Brewer sold that play there on the spin. I don't know if he's going to get an Oscar, but good job of acting there." And in the next, calling it "great defense."

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

JaVale McGee and the power of suggestion

It was undeniably the most important game of JaVale McGee's young career, and among his very finest performances. 21 points on 12 shots, many of which were jaw-dropping rim attacks. 14 rebounds. Two blocks, both in the fourth quarter ... including sending back a Pau Gasol dunk with less than two minutes left. As McGee stood on the court, post-game, doing a hero's interview with TNT's Craig Sager, Sager noted that McGee was rightly holding the game ball. As the conversation wound up, Sager advised McGee -- a wonderful player with a reputation as a kook -- to hang onto that ball. The camera lingered on McGee as he thanked Sager and made his way along the edge of the largely empty post-game Staples Center stands and into the tunnel. The last thing McGee did before disappearing from view? He heaved that game ball, baseball-style, into the great beyond of the arena.

Good thing Sager didn't say "hang onto those shorts."

The Celtics, Heat and reputations

In a great article about the prowess of Rajon Rondo, it was pointed out that the Celtics are incredibly efficient in crunch time, especially as compared to the Heat.

I cringed as I read it.

The Celtics have created a huge bundle of great late-game plays, and run some of the league's most beautiful sets. But our eyes deceive us on these things all the time, and though people hate to hear it, the numbers almost never support the persistent idea that the Heat are terrible at much of anything.

Sure enough, as it happened the Celtics closed a game last night with some of the poorest execution imaginable.

Which, it turns out, is not as out of character as you might think. NBA.com's new stats site, tells us, essentially that the Heat crush the Celtics by every relevant measure late in games. In games either team was tied or trailing closely with 3 minutes left, the Celtics finished this season with a 5-11 record, which is not good by any measure, even compared to the Heat, who were 9-8. The Heat had the league's fifth most efficient offense, with the second-best true shooting percentage late in those games. The Celtics, meanwhile, had the 26th most efficient offense, with the 27th best true shooting percentage.

And as it happened, with the game on the line against the Hawks, Boston's big opportunity ended with the opposite of efficient execution. Rondo went on a dribble-odyssey to nowhere, capped by a too-late desperation pass that was tipped and sailed out of bounds at the final horn.

None of that proves anything, other than that every team, even the veteran Celtics, has miscues late. So why do the Heat seem to have no clue? Just maybe people make a bit bigger of a fuss out of the Heat's flaws, not because they are more common, but because they fit a certain narrative.

Kobe Bryant and hotness

Speaking of certain narratives, Kobe Bryant hit four straight late 3s to turn a blowout into a squeaker, which had the broadcasters and everybody else saying the words "on fire" again and again. And four 3s ... that is a "wow" moment. I wonder how many players have ever done that, let alone late in a close playoff game.

But we also see what we want. Nobody, for instance, described JaVale McGee or Andre Miller as "on fire" in this game, because they take easier shots, I guess, and because that's not what we expect from them.

The truth, however, is that Miller and McGee finished the period a game-changing, scorching eight of 11 from the floor in the fourth quarter. Bryant's fourth included that stretch of four big makes, but in keeping with the bigger odds -- he's a pretty average 3-point shooter, and nobody is very good shooting with hands in their faces -- he ended the game with three straight misses. His final fourth quarter tally was five makes, seven misses, and still, somehow, a monopoly on claims of a hot hand.

Pick one: Andre Miller or Ty Lawson

The Nuggets have a problem. Arguably their best player is Ty Lawson. But so many of their other good players, especially the freakish athletes -- McGee, Kenneth Faried, Corey Brewer -- get so much out of playing with Andre "lob" Miller. There is simply no way McGee could have had his great Game 5 without Miller looking for him. George Karl has been playing Lawson and Miller late in games, but that seems to be more of a concession to the team's pecking order -- both "deserve" to play -- rather than the best possible lineup. Without the ball, neither is terribly useful. On late defensive possessions, although it happens Miller was guarding Bryant for his key late miss, it's a cinch to make the case that either or both should sit for defensive standouts Arron Afflalo or Brewer. Not to mention the magnificent Faried sat for the entire final period.

Short rotations

In the playoffs coaches shorten their benches. Play your best players. And for all I know it's right. But watching players like Andrew Bynum and Spencer Hawes, it's undeniable to me that fatigue plays a role in the playoffs. You sure you don't want Jordan Hill in there a bit more? Is it a lock that Nikola Vucevic would be of no use?

There are spells of the game when it seems anyone who had had a cup of coffee in the last 24 hours would do better than those exhausted players -- players who are blatantly excellent when not so tired.

And then consider players like the Bulls' Ronnie Brewer, who played 13, 13 and zero minutes in the first three games of the playoffs. A year ago, he got consideration as an all-NBA defender. But he was the odd man out as the Bulls shortened the rotation for the playoffs. In Game 5 he finally got some meaningful time, 29 minutes, and was blatantly fantastic, bringing precisely the kind of high-energy toughness the Bulls have been lacking since injuries to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

And as it happens, Brewer's in a crew of three Bulls bench players, along with Taj Gibson and Kyle Korver, who are the only Bulls with positive plus/minus numbers in the playoffs. Even on the most injured playoff team, all three have seen their minutes drop compared to the regular season.

Statistical support provided by NBA.com.

• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: Give Bird and his front office credit. Give Frank Vogel, who needs to have the third year of his contract guaranteed (and now) credit. And give these players credit for turning themselves into the type of team -- emphasis on team -- that this city and region can embrace without hesitation. With a bit more than a minute left in the Pacers' 105-87 series-clincher over the Orlando Magic, the chant went up from Area 55: "Beat the Heat! Beat the Heat!'' Then the rest of the crowd joined in. "There have been a lot of nights when it's been kind of silent in here,'' Roy Hibbert said with a smile. "But not tonight. Not this series. I think we're giving fans something to be proud of. We didn't do this the easy way. It took time. But Larry Bird and (general manager) David Morway drafted well. We got D(avid) West. We got George Hill, Leandro (Barbosa) and Lou (Amundson) for almost nothing. We didn't do this by signing a couple of superstars.'' ... What's next? The Pacers are taking their talents to South Beach.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: Thank you, Indiana Pacers. Thank you for what you did Tuesday night. Thank you for beating the Magic 105-87 and doing what should have been done long ago. Thank you for putting an end to the suffering of Orlando players, coaches and fans. Thank you for closing the book on this distressing, depressing season. It is over. Finally. Convincingly. Mercifully. Now we wait … wait to see what happens with Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, who said after the game he wants to come back but has no idea if Magic management wants him back. Judging by his body language, I believe Van Gundy has a pretty good idea he will be sacrificed as the Magic desperately try to convince Dwight Howard to sign a long-term extension. ... If Van Gundy were being completely candid, he would admit that there is a part of him that will be ecstatic if he is fired and his Magic tenure is over. He likely feels much like Magic fans feel about this season. Seriously, has there ever been a playoff team where its fans seemed more relieved than bereaved that the season was over? Let's face it, the Magic had no chance in this series — none. The Pacers had the advantage at virtually every position. And that is a clear indictment of a roster that general manager Otis Smith has put together. Even with Dwight, the Magic would have been ousted in the first round by the Pacers, much like they were by the Hawks last year. ... Thank you, Indiana Pacers, for the incredibly humane gesture Tuesday night. Thank you for putting the Magic out of their misery. But the saddest part of all is this. The season may be over, but another Dwightmare is just beginning.
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: But hey, the Hawks won 87-86. They live to play another game. That’s probably more than most saw coming after self-immolation two days earlier in Boston. The Celtics still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. They certainly will be favored to close this out Thursday night. But speculate at your own risk. As for Drew’s lineup decisions, try this: Horford, back from a torn pectoral, finished with a team-high 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Williams made three of six three-point attempts — the rest of the team was 4-for-10. On a night when Smith and Joe Johnson started dreadfully but finished strong, Horford was the difference. Horford was expected to play 15 to 20 minutes. He ended up playing over 41. “I didn’t want to bring him back that early in the fourth, but it was a close game and you could feel the momentum shifting,” Drew said. “He was a superman for us down the stretch.” So was this: After making only 4 of 16 shots to open the game and shooting 35.7 percent in the first half, the Hawks shots 61.3 percent in the second half.
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: Rajon Rondo has had better games than last night. You need only go back two nights to find one. But he actually came within a breath of single-handedly winning Game 5 at Philips Arena. In the final seconds, however, Rondo wasn’t able to pull the Celtics [team stats]’ keister from the fire one last time, and the lasting image of this one will be of the point guard coming up empty. The Hawks inbounded the ball with an 87-86 lead and just 10.9 seconds on the clock, and Rondo intercepted Josh Smith’s pass for Joe Johnson at 9.9. But with no timeouts left, he couldn’t find another moment of magic, or even another shot for the Celtics. Rondo dribbled up the left sideline, guarded by his friend Smith. Kevin Garnett set a pick, and the 6-foot-10 Al Horford switched onto him. Rondo was caught in the corner, and the clock ran out as he tried to get the ball back out to Garnett. Too nothing, too late. “I felt awful that the game ended the way it ended, because I thought Rondo willed us back into the game,” said Doc Rivers, whose team will try again to close out the Hawks in Game 6 tomorrow night at the Garden. “He really did at the end of the third quarter in that little stretch. It kind of gave us life again.” Had the Celtics been able to come up with a final bucket — or had they made one fewer silly mistake earlier — the focus today would have been on Rondo’s nine-second barrage late in the third quarter, nine seconds that nearly clinched the series.
• Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: During a 102-99 victory that saved Denver from NBA playoff elimination, the great Nuggets' experiment in team basketball worked to perfection. Kobe Bryant scored 43 for the Lakers, but Denver stole the show. ... Patience is a virtue in Ujiri's mind. But there's something even a smart Nuggets executive probably can't fully appreciate after fewer than two full years on the job. The fatigue and frustration of the Denver ticket-buying public extends back more than a decade, before the time when first-round playoff exits became the norm to a time when Denver was laughably inept as an NBA franchise. As the Nuggets built a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter, it wasn't funny to comedian Larry David and the beautiful people in the Staples Center who came out looking for a celebration but had to curb their enthusiasm. The crowd booed the home team. The Lakers responded with a furious rally. Bryant and Ramon Sessions both missed field-goal attempts from three-point range that could have tied the score in the final seconds. "Thank God," said Karl, appreciative for the divine intervention. Without superstars on the court, the Nuggets will take help anywhere they can get it.
• Jill Painter of the Los Angeles Daily News: Mike Brown was using his big smile to denounce a popular theory that's going around. It seems ridiculous, the prospect of the Lakers throwing Game 5 on Tuesday to push the series to six games so Metta World Peace could play in Game 1 against Oklahoma City in Western Conference playoffs. Brown's reaction? A smile, followed by laughing. "I thought it was funny," Brown said before Tuesday's game. Actually, Brown would rather get through the series quickly, even though that would mean Metta World Peace has to sit out the first game - serving the final of the seven-game suspension - of the next series. The Thunder is resting after their sweep over Dallas, and the San Antonio Spurs are waiting following their sweep over Utah. More rest would be beneficial for Kobe Bryant, who surely would have fresher legs after a five-game series than seven.
• Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times: The United Center was all abuzz Tuesday night as the weary Bulls fought to remain among the living. It shouldn’t have been easy to watch for anyone, but when the Fan-O-Meter starts encouraging the crowd, Omer Asik dunks and the 76ers can’t hit an open shot on a rim lowered to 5 feet, people have a hard time helping themselves. They cheer. Wildly. Others are still trying to decide between denial and anger in the Derrick Rose grieving process. It’s why watching the Bulls beat the 76ers 77-69 brought on shrugs among those of us who like their basketball to be, you know, good. Yes, there will be a Game 6 in Philadelphia on Thursday and, yes, the 76ers might be feeling just a tad nervous with their 3-2 series lead. But is it asking too much for there to be one high-level basketball game in this playoff series, with two teams showing skill and will? If you can get high off the fumes of any kind of Bulls victory, even one as offensive as Tuesday’s, bless you. You’re a better person than I am. You see hope. I see a team that still has fight, doesn’t have much to fight for and might want to think about taking up pacifism. ‘‘Nobody wants to get eliminated at home,’’ forward Taj Gibson said of the Bulls’ resolve.
• Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Perhaps it was just the last gasp of a team that didn't want to leave the season with a loss on its home floor. Tuesday night's 77-69 win by the Chicago Bulls to avoid elimination by the 76ers could have been nothing more than that. The Sixers better hope so, and they better hope their offense returns from the land of the missing when the series continues Thursday in the Wells Fargo Center. It wasn't as if the Bulls were terrific in narrowing the Sixers' lead to three games to two. They were the same crippled team that lost three straight to the Sixers to get themselves into this predicament. But the Sixers were just awful. They took bad shots, didn't take care of the ball and couldn't match the Bulls' muscle in what became a very physical contest. The only question now is whether the game was a harbinger or merely the final act of defiance by a team that would prefer to end its injury-induced misery somewhere else. Whichever is the case, the series has changed. We find out Thursday night how much.

On a night when four teams could have ended their first-round playoff series, only the Indiana Pacers claimed a spot in the Conference Semifinals.

After losing the series opener, the Pacers dominated the series against the Orlando Magic. In the clinching game, they outscored Orlando 18-0 in fast-break opportunities and 46-22 in the paint. For the series, they held a 69-13 advantage in fast-break points and outscored the Magic by 76 points in the paint.

Darren Collison dished out 23 assists and committed just one turnover during the series. Since individual turnovers were first tracked by Elias in 1978, he is only the fourth player with 20 or more assists and one or fewer turnovers in a playoff game. The others were John Paxson (1990 Bulls), Fat Lever (1988 Nuggets) and Eddie Johnson (1987 Sonics).

Dwight Howard's injury doomed the Magic before the series started. Including the playoffs, Orlando finished 5-12 without their starting center and 33-21 with him in the lineup. This was the fifth time in the last 20 years that a team was missing its leading regular-season scorer in the playoffs – all five teams lost in the first round.

The Boston Celtics had a chance to eliminate the Atlanta Hawks, a team against which they had won nine of 10 previous playoff series. According to Elias, that .900 series winning percentage is the highest for any team against another in NBA history (with a minimum of six series played).

This was the 12th time under Doc Rivers that the Celtics had a chance to close out a series on the road; they have only succeeded twice. They return to the comforts of TD Garden on Thursday, where they are 7-3 under Rivers in potential close out games.

The key for the Hawks on Tuesday was Al Horford. In the 41 minutes that he was on the court, the Hawks outscored the Celtics by 10 points and grabbed eight more rebounds. While he rested, they were outscored by nine.

With a chance to finish their series against the Chicago Bulls, the Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t even match their nickname in the point column. Philadelphia was held under 70 points in a playoff game for the second time since the shot clock was introduced in the 1954-55 season. The franchise low was 68 points against the Magic in the 1999 playoffs.

With the win, the Bulls avoided becoming the first No. 1 seed since the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams in 1984 to win fewer than two games in the playoffs. The four previous top seeds to lose in the first round all won two games before they were eliminated.

The Los Angeles Lakers were looking to win their ninth-straight potential series-clinching game, but lost at home to the Denver Nuggets. It was their first loss in a potential close out game since Game 6 of the 2009 Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. According to Elias, that was the fourth-longest such streak in NBA playoff history. The Lakers also own the longest, 12 straight from June 2000 to May 2004.

Kobe Bryant scored 43 points in the loss, the 84th time in his career that he reached 30 points in a playoff game. The only player with more was Michael Jordan, with 109. It was the 12th time that he reached 40 in the playoffs and first since the 2010 Western Conference finals.