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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:

Mario Chalmers, who made three of four 3-pointers in Game 6, is becoming the Miami Heat's version of Lakers championship era Derek Fisher. Disruptive defense, spot up shooting ... and, of course, flopping. Chalmers has even mastered Fisher's ability to draw fouls by driving headlong into traffic and tossing the ball toward the basket.

Last night, he drew an offensive foul (video) on a moving screen from Roy Hibbert with Fisher's typical flair for the dramatic.

Working the play-by-play, ESPN's Mike Breen points out that the referee on the scene got the call right, but Jeff Van Gundy was still annoyed by Chalmers' act and suggested a flopping rule similar to the NHL's restriction on "Embellishment":

Breen: Well, Hibbert was clearly moving. You can say that he flopped, but that’s a foul.

Jeff Van Gundy: You see that’s where my flop rule will come into play. If you flop, even if you were fouled -- which he was -- you’re not gettin’ it!

Maybe Chalmers would "get it" in Jeff Van Gundy's world, but his theatrical reaction and the discussion it sparked was enough for him to get our Flop of the Night.

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

Early in the second quarter of Game 6 between the Pacers and Heat, Miami's Dwyane Wade drove left, took a little contact, missed a layup and fell to the ground.

Foul.

When Wade stepped to free throw line, the yellow-wearing Pacers faithful in Bankers Life Fieldhouse invented a new cheer. It took them a few tries to get it right, but eventually it was clear, even on YouTube the next day.

"He's a flopper!" Clap clap, clap-clap-clap. "He's a flopper!" Clap clap, clap-clap-clap.

Flopping has been a major topic of this playoff series since before these two teams even took the court, when Indiana Coach Frank Vogel publicly warned the referees that the Heat players have a tendency to embellish or even invent contact.

ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy reacted quickly to the chant on the national TV broadcast:

“This," he declared, "is the first time I’ve ever heard an NBA arena chant 'He’s a flopper.' ... We are making progress, America! Let’s eradicate the flop."

"You really have started a movement," replied Mike Breen.

Van Gundy elaborates on his anti-flop platform in an interview with 98.7 ESPN New York (as transcribed by SportsRadioInterviews.com):

I would like to see a two-pronged attack to the excessive flopping that is overtaking the NBA. One as you said if an official can see the flow of the real game that a flop occurred than the foul that brought about the flop is negated and the flopper is assessed a technical foul.

I think the league office, they have a lot of people working for them, go back through every game and any exaggerated contact that is a flop during a game you start accumulating technical fouls. You accumulate points that will eventually lead to suspensions.

You’re not looking for the ones that are minor. You are looking for the ones where a guy is definitively trying to trick an official because to me tricking an official is not an NBA play and I think it’s gone where teams have one guy who would flop to now where our stars are doing the flopping and that’s not good for basketball.

Van Gundy has been railing against flops for years, and the reaction in Indiana showed that this season fans across the league are catching on in a big way.

The NBA has created a new competition committee to consider rule changes. The first meeting is in June, and there are hints -- from David Stern's public comments, to arena-wide chants in Indianapolis -- that stopping the flop will be on the agenda.

Game 6 between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers (ESPN, 8 ET) will feature several key storylines to watch, including how the Heat replace a suspended Udonis Haslem. Miami will be without one of its best mid-range shooters, as Haslem has made seven mid-range jump shots (outside paint, inside 3-point territory) this series, trailing only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Haslem has also been a spark off the Heat's bench in the last three games, scoring double figures in each of the last two. In three games Haslem has come off the bench this postseason, Miami averages 25.7 bench points. In seven games Haslem started, the Heat have gotten only 16.1 points from their bench.

With Dexter Pittman also suspended, the best option for the Heat is likely Ronny Turiaf, as his +13 this series is the highest among the Heat's available big men for Game 6. In this series, Turiaf has played only 65 minutes in five games. However, when he's been on the court, the Heat have outscored the Pacers by 13 points. Miami has also limited Indiana to just 33 percent shooting when he's playing. Also available in the frontcourt are Joel Anthony (+7) and Juwan Howard (+5).

Overall, the Heat appear to be in good position to advance. In NBA history, teams that have held a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 85.9 percent of the time, including 4-0 in the First Round this postseason. In addition, the Pacers have never come back to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-2 (according to Elias they are 0-8 all-time).

James has been a prime reason why the Heat can close out the series tonight. He has recorded at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in back-to-back postseason games, and if he matches those numbers in Game 6, he will become the first player in NBA history to do so in three consecutive postseason games.

History says James will have another strong performance tonight. According to Elias, James has scored at least 20 points in each of the last 11 potential playoff series-clinching games on the road, the second-longest current streak of any player in the league, behind only Kobe Bryant (19).

Meanwhile, Danny Granger (sprained ankle) has said that he will start Game 6. His play will be crucial, as he has been much better at home this series than on the road (averaging over nine points more at home).

What's more, the combination of himself, Paul George, Roy Hibbert, George Hill and David West have outscored opponents by 75 points when on the court together, the highest of any five-man lineup on any team this postseason.

A key for Indiana will be on the boards. The Pacers have outrebounded the Heat 102-76 in their wins in Games 2 and 3, but have lost the battle on the boards in their losses in Games 4 and 5 (outrebounded 96-73). When Hibbert is on the court, the Pacers are +15 rebounding, but with him off are -19.

• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: The Celtics are not expected to have Avery Bradley for the rest of the season because of a left shoulder injury. A source close to Bradley told the Globe that the percentile is in the "high 90s" that Bradley will be shut down and will perhaps need surgery. The source said that it's "highly likely" Bradley's left shoulder would pop out again -- it has popped out twice in the series against the Philadelphia 76ers -- and playing further would put him at risk of "serious structural damage." Bradley has missed the past two games with soreness in both shoulders, and the team's brass along with Bradley's representatives appear close to deciding to sit him for the remainder of the playoffs. Celtics coach Doc Rivers called Bradley's injury "day to day" but said he was not sure when he would return.
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: So the teams will reconvene on Saturday at the Garden to conclude the series in a Game 7. But if that’s going to be anything like what we witnessed in Game 6, you kind of wish they’d have just settled it on penalty kicks last night. All the talk of how the Celtics will match up in the next round has been replaced by the club’s mortal fear that its season could be over on Saturday. And it almost certainly will be if they don’t find it in them to move the ball better. Key stat comparison: Rajon Rondo came into Game 6 averaging 14.6 assists in the series, but last night the Celts had 14 as a team. The Bostonians couldn’t hit the ocean from the end of the pier for most of the night, shooting a whopping 33.3 percent. And this was particularly problematic because they took 55 outside shots and just 23 in the paint. ... It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but anyone -- beyond Sixers types understandably happy to survive another day -- finding pulchritude here needs to visit an optometrist forthwith.
• John N. Mitchell of The Philadelphia Inquirer: The Sixers have looked for Evan Turner to go to the glass and grab rebounds, start the fastbreak whenever the opportunity presents itself, and score more, something that coach Doug Collins has implored him to do. But one of his more pressing assignments going into Wednesday's win-or-go-home Game 6 victory over visiting Boston was to play a major role in helping to slow mercurial point guard Rajon Rondo. Not an easy task in this series, which has seen Rondo, on top of averaging 14.4 points and 14.6 assists through five games, mostly control the tempo in just about every contest. A huge part of Turner's Game 6 responsibility was to spread his 6-7 frame for long stretches of the game and - along with Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams at times - impede Rondo's progress wherever he went on the floor. Mission accomplished. Rondo was pedestrian at best, finishing with nine points on 4-for-14 shooting. His nine assists marked the first time this series he has not finished with at least 13, which goes back to Boston for Game 7 on Saturday. Collins gave assistant coach Michael Curry a lot of the credit for formulating the defense that finally stopped perhaps the best pure point guard in the league.
• Linda Robertson of The Miami Herald: NBA commissioner David Stern had no choice but to punish Haslem and Pittman. They were lucky it wasn’t worse. Pittman’s foul, which sent Stephenson to the X-ray room, was arguably as malicious as Metta World Peace’s elbow to the head of James Harden, who sustained a concussion. World Peace was suspended seven games. Stern doesn’t want to see the NBA sink to the level of the NFL, where the bounty scandal and the concussion issue have cast football in a mean, inhumane light. Nor can Stern allow the NBA playoffs to devolve into the mayhem that hurt the early part of the NHL playoffs. The NHL didn’t react quickly, but it did react correctly by ordering a 25-game suspension of Phoenix enforcer Raffi Torres for going after the head of Chicago’s Marian Hossa. There is no place for goons in sports today, not when the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster and able to inflict long-lasting damage. Haslem wasn’t trying to injure Hansbrough, but he took his payback role too seriously. ... If anything, the bruising nature of this series has dispelled the notion of Miami as the glamour team. This is a team Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning can be proud of. Instead it was Pacers president Larry Bird bemoaning, “I can’t believe my team went soft. S-O-F-T.” There will be nothing soft about Game 6. But keep it clean.
• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: For all of those counting out Indiana, my question is this: What have you been watching all year? This team has been tough-minded and resilient all season. It has had some bad performances, but the bad basketball hasn’t lingered. Pacers coach Frank Vogel said the other day, “They haven’t seen our best game.” Tonight, with the season on the line, the Heat will get the Pacers’ best game, even if it means Granger plays on one leg. ... The big problem for the Pacers is, they finally have the Heat’s attention. Maybe it was some of the pre-series talk. Maybe it was Stephenson’s foolish “choke” gesture. Probably it was the fact the Pacers were going toe-to-toe with them and pushing the Heat to the brink of utter desperation. Now the Pacers are in that spot. ... If these teams played with gloves, they would have dropped them already. But this shouldn’t be about evening the score on the stitches scoreboard. It should be about evening the score in this series, and making Miami sweat a seventh game in a series that deserves a seventh game.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: The Western Conference finals are sure to bring about comparisons between a pair of super subs: Oklahoma City’s James Harden and the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili. Both are left-handed. Both have NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards on their mantles. Both play with a herky-jerky style that can be murder to defend. Harden, however, is the one with The Beard. “Mine doesn’t get that good,” Ginobili said. “I’ve tried.” One other key difference between the two: only Harden will enter Game 1 on Sunday with soaring confidence. Ginobili is coming off his second straight poor-shooting series, going 17 for 42 in the second-round sweep of the Los Angeles Clippers. That included a 6-for-21 showing from 3-point range that dropped his playoff percentage to 25.7 percent (9 of 35). Asked after practice Wednesday to gauge his confidence level in his jump shot, Ginobili said: “Not the best it’s been.” ... For the second time in this postseason, Ginobili is hopeful the start of a new series will change his luck. “This is a whole new story, a new series, and we don’t care about what happened against Utah or the Clippers,” Ginobili said. “Hopefully, I start off on the right foot."
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Kevin Durant on Wednesday shared his feelings on the violence that overshadowed Monday night's Game 5 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. “Anytime violence is involved it's unfortunate,” Durant said of the shooting that left eight people wounded. “But the only thing I can do is pray for the victims and hopefully everything gets resolved.” Russell Westbrook was finishing postgame interviews when word spread of the shooting but said just before the announcement was made that the Thunder Alley watch party would end that he'd be disappointed to see it go. “It's crazy how many people were outside and how many people come and support,” Westbrook said. “So I think they'll be a little disappointed. So hopefully they don't cut it off.” Forward Serge Ibaka said he was amazed at the size of the crowd outside when he saw live footage of the gathering flash on the Jumbotron during the game. “I appreciate the fans and their support because it's something amazing. I've never seen it in my life,” Ibaka said.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: ESPN reported Wednesday night that Shaquille O'Neal will meet with Orlando Magic officials next week to discuss the team's vacant general manager job. ... The notion of O'Neal as the Magic's general manager seems absurd at first blush, second blush and third blush. He played his first four NBA seasons for the Magic, leading the team to the 1995 Finals, but he left the franchise via free agency in 1996. One of the first tasks for the new Magic general manager will be to try to convince Dwight Howard to remain with the team for the long term. That could be difficult. SheridanHoops.com, citing an anonymous source, has reported that Howard wants a trade. O'Neal's relationship with Howard has deteriorated in recent years. O'Neal has hurled barbs and veiled insults in Howard's direction in recent years. And O'Neal has said he thinks Howard should remain with the Magic.
• Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee: Restaurateur Patrick Mulvaney got a shock a few weeks ago when he contacted a client, the Sacramento Kings, to discuss last-minute details for a banquet at his midtown eatery. A Kings executive told him they were canceling the lunch at Mulvaney's Building & Loan. They had just seen Mulvaney's signature on a letter from 21 Sacramento businessmen to the NBA urging it to push the Kings owners to sell. Mulvaney's name also appeared on a separate list of businessmen attending the press event where the letter was signed. But Mulvaney says he wasn't at the event and had not signed the letter. His signature was forged. The man who organized the April 12 letter signing was Greg Hayes, a local business consultant and member of Mayor Kevin Johnson's Think Big Sacramento arena task force. Hayes admitted when contacted by the Bee last week that five of the signatures were not signed by the people whose names are listed. Hayes declined to say who put their names on the letter. ... A spokesman for the Kings, Eric Rose, declined to comment on the private investigator, but characterized Hayes' letter as part of "relentless unwarranted attacks" on the Kings ownership since the arena deal fell through several weeks ago. ... Restaurateur Mulvaney, a proponent of a downtown arena, said the Kings ultimately set up another lunch at his restaurant after Hayes' apology, and after Mulvaney talked with Gavin Maloof. "My relationship with the Kings is still solid," he said. "I don't have any right to tell someone else how to run their business."

In retrospect, the referees lost control of the game early in the second quarter. Tyler Hansbrough fouled the daylights out of Dwyane Wade. Some would point out he "made a play on the ball," as if first hitting the Spalding mitigated a karate chop to the face of the mid-air guy. In slow motion ... wow. With a menacing scowl, Hansbrough met the Heat star in the sky. The fouling begins not with the right hand but with the left -- a forearm to the base of the neck that would have been a hard foul all by itself. Then the right arm windmilled through the ball, Wade's arms, and -- changing paths now, evidently to ensure maximum effect -- veered directly to Wade's eye and temple. Both, of course, are part of an athlete's head, which scientists are increasingly sure can sustain permanent brain damage from seemingly minor impacts like this.

Wade fell to the court, and stayed face down for a while.

Hansbrough slapped a cool low-five with his teammate Lou Amundson -- mission accomplished.

What mission could that have been? What page were they on together, exactly? A clue came from the post-game comments from the franchise's most respected voice. After that game, physical to the point that the fun plays have almost all been forgotten, Pacers president Larry Bird declared how disgusted he was with how "soft" his team had been. Could it be taken any other way than Bird was ordering up more of the same, and harder, in Game 6 -- just like he once did as a Celtic player, precipitating Kevin McHale's clotheslining of Kurt Rambis?

Game 5 had plenty more in store. In real time, commentator Steve Kerr mused about a Flagrant 2 for Hansbrough, which would have resulted in his ejection. It seemed a bit harsh at the time, but in retrospect, it would have been brilliant. In failing to eject Hansbrough, the referees whiffed on their last chance to control the game, took a pass on fulfilling the NBA's mission to prevent the spread of violence and set a precedent that would encourage one dangerous foul after another, all game long.

Moments later, Hansbrough had the ball and room to roll. The only thing between him and the hoop was ... Udonis Haslem -- Wade's avenging angel since they were rookies together.

Uh-oh.

Hansbrough slowed. Instead of a power dunk, now he was thinking jumper. Haslem swung two arms right through Hansbrough's shooting arm and -- oops! -- caught a whole bunch of face. Hansbrough's head ricocheted. In slow motion he looked like a crash test dummy at the moment of impact. (If you're a mom or a dad or somebody who loves Tyler Hansbrough you'd hate to watch it.)

That hardly ended it. Before the final horn, one had no choice but to wonder if the Heat had held a team meeting about the value of hitting people in the face. David West would be bitter about Shane Battier's knocking him down. West would bash LeBron James on the top of the head with an elbow. Mario Chalmers would snuff out a Paul George drive with a play to the face much like Haslem's, only without Haslem's force. The most violent play of the bunch would come in garbage time, when Heat reserve Dexter Pittman presented his high-speed forearm to the neck of a sprinting Lance Stephenson, which was reminiscent of the ugliest play of last year's playoffs: Andrew Bynum's assault on J.J. Barea.

Despite a rare playoff game filled with beautiful fast-break moments, the story of the NBA would transform, thanks to all those hard playoff fouls, to a story of violence as the league office in New York decides how many players to suspend for Game 6.

And none of it had to happen.

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The NBA has it exactly right: The game is better when it's not violent.

There are business reasons for that: Although some fans will tell you they're thrilled by the no-extra-charge sprinkling of mixed martial arts, by and large the league operates with the fear of riling a finicky general sports audience that is terrified of the spectacle of these players -- predominantly black -- behaving violently. In baseball and hockey it's "boys will be boys" but in this sport it's treated like the end of civilization as we know it when they start taking swings. Harsh penalties have essentially eliminated not only bench-clearing brawls but also punches and even most blatant elbows. There's a reason the Wests and Haslems have learned to attack using the elbow of a straight arm.

There are also basketball reasons to police rough play more in this sport than others. This sport is at its best when the action is free-flowing. Both of those hard fouls were designed in part to keep the Wades and Hansbroughs of the world from finishing at the rim with power dunks. But, of course, those power dunks are exactly what the league and its fans rightly want. That is the sport at its best. Two guys knocking each other in the noggin -- you can get that from all kinds of dumber, less skilled, less athletic games.

This is the sport where people fly to the hoop, and the vast majority of "hard playoff fouls" are designed to scare players from even trying to take off.

It's like using a jet fighter as a battering ram. Nothing dumber.

Old-timers tell fish tales of a game that was both vastly better and far more violent years ago. But the video reveals the truth: Through the NBA's "glory days" players had almost no muscle, didn't run nearly as fast or jump as high, didn't take defense anywhere near as seriously and endured precious little contact. Not to mention, the scores in those days were through the roof compared to today, precisely because so very many of those offensive players were entirely unmolested by defense. The most famous hard foul of yesteryear, Kevin McHale's clotheslining of Kurt Rambis, was such a big deal because it was such a massive departure from the norm. A few years ago Jason Kidd threw Jannero Pargo the court every bit as hard, and nobody remembers it because players go down that hard all the time.

Nowadays bigger, stronger bodies collide play after play, at elevations off the court few could imagine three decades ago. The forces in play are vastly greater, the knowledge of brain damage that much more acute. The league does far more than ever to prevent the escalation of violence, because it has to and should.

That is why referees are lectured again and again about keeping control of games, and dealing harshly with the kinds of fouls that might lead to escalation. This is why the work of Game 5's referees, Derrick Stafford, Greg Willard and Jason Phillips, is being second-guessed by the league as we speak.

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Of all the dumb moments of Game 5 -- and there were several, including Danny Granger injuring his own ankle while trying to put a hard foul on James (the second time he twisted his ankle, when he had to leave the game for good) and Mike Miller playing an extended period with a Nike on one foot and a sock on the other -- none was dumber than the referees' huddle moments after Hansbrough's foul.

Everyone at home with or without a DVR, every fan in the seats and the people at league offices in New York all had replay of the video to watch. And they did. Miami fans who reacted mildly in real time saw it on the arena's big screen and were suddenly livid. It was a lot worse in replay, which made Hansbrough's intentions clear as something beyond blocking a shot.

The poor referees were just about the only people in the world who could not see it again, and they were the only people in the world who got to decide Hansbrough's penalty.

In retrospect, a Flagrant 2 would have been the right call, for two reasons. The first is, we now know with the unfair benefit of hindsight, that it would have prevented several more blows to the head. The second, though, is that thanks to the oddities of NBA rules, that call would would have triggered a video review, finally putting the referees on an equal information footing with Joe and Jane Fan in the tenth row.

Some say the league does not want to have everything decided by video. But they are deciding it that way right now, today, in New York, where league officials are watching nothing but video. From the rules:

League will review every flagrant, called or not. The League Office will consider the following factors (as well as any other relevant facts and circumstances) in determining whether to classify a foul as Flagrant “1” or Flagrant “2”, to reclassify a flagrant foul, or to impose a fine and/or suspension on the player involved: how hard the foul was; the outcome of the foul (e.g., whether it led to an altercation); and the level of the injury sustained by the player who was fouled.

It is great that the league is using video to get to the bottom of these things. It's the best available tool for investigating flagrant fouls, flopping, and a hundred other kinds of calls.

But why so slow? Here the NBA is losing a battle with the information age. On these tough-to-get-right-in-real-time calls, the league is fooled nightly, and everybody knows it.

Meanwhile, whole wars are being fought, missiles fired, bombs dropped, combat teams deployed based on real-time decisions, based on video beamed around the world. Barack Obama oversees Navy Seals by television, and gets Osama bin Laden as a result.

The NBA is no war, at least it's not supposed to be, but the same kinds of information can be processed just as fast. Which means where there used to be three options there are now four:

1. Get things blatantly wrong now and again and deal with the fact there will be a certain error rate.
2. Stop games almost constantly to review video, making the game a horrible TV product just as TV replaces tickets as the biggest revenue source.
3. Review video in New York and hand down punishments a day or two after the game.
4. Review video in real time.

No. 4 is, to me, obviously where the league is headed. There can't be blatant mistakes every night -- not the way people consume the game now. They can't make us wait while referees watch. And waiting for the real people to review the tape ... how could that possibly take so long? It's a few seconds of video. It's impossible to watch for more than a minute or two. Make up your mind and move on.

Here's my HoopIdea: The reviews in New York must happen instantly, mid-game, so that a player can be ejected or not while it still matters, and can still prevent a game from getting out of hand. Alternately, and better: Have a fourth, video-enabled referee on the sidelines, reviewing everything all the time. That referee would have started reviewing on video the moment the play was whistled dead, and could have easily had a good, lasting decision in the interim before Wade stepped to the line. That referee could also quickly and permanently solve flopping, traveling, out of bounds and so much more.

It's not how things used to be done, but it didn't used to be that every fan had better information than the referees. It's where this is headed, and it'll make a better game, one where it will make little sense for players to try to fool the referees with hard fouls, flops or anything else.

• Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Alternate alliterative slogan now fitting for this Heat-Pacers playoff series: No blood, no bling. It’s getting nasty in here. The team that gets through this second-round series — and that’s looking unmistakably like Miami now after Tuesday night’s 115-83 home rout — will have the scars and bruises to prove it. They handed out stickers made to look like Band-Aids to fans arriving at Tuesday night’s Game 5 in honor of Udonis Haslem needing nine stitches above his right eye from a flying Pacers elbow in the previous game. Before long, Dwyane Wade would himself need a Band-Aid, and not a pretend one, bleeding from above his right eye after a flagrant foul by Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough. (Payback was swift with Haslem’s ensuing flagrant foul to Hansbrough’s face — an obvious retaliation that might have gotten him ejected from the game by a less tolerant set of referees.) OK, all of the above is true. But don’t get the idea the narrative of this Heat team and postseason has changed and that Miami suddenly is a blue-collar bunch embodied by Band-Aids and rebounds and role players rising. As much as Miami as a franchise likes to embrace a defense-first identity personified by a guy like Haslem, whom coach Erik Spoelstra incessantly calls a “warrior,” this team’s championship hopes don’t live in the trenches. Miami’s hopes live way up in the air, where the stars are, where the high-flying LeBron James and Wade are doing their acrobatics and their dunks and all the other stuff that fill highlight reels and that made Tuesday’s home crowd swoon and roar. And they just did it again.
• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: This series isn't over. The Pacers still get to come home, and while a Game 7 in Miami is a daunting task, winning there is not impossible. But this didn't look good. It didn't feel good. For the first time in this series, there was a faint whiff of surrender in the heated Miami air. As tough and as strong as the Pacers have been, pushing it to at least a six- and maybe a seven-game series, they looked for the first time like they were just happy to be here. At the very least, they allowed themselves to be reduced to passengers along for the Miami Heat's wild ride. Did you know that Vogel is a magician? He's made a seven-footer, Roy Hibbert, disappear. And his players haven't helped, repeatedly failing to find ways to get the ball inside to the big man, who has one of the biggest mismatches in the series. And now, it gets worse. Or might get worse. Danny Granger twisted his ankle when James got under him on a three-point try, and Granger's availability in Game 6 is questionable. This is a deep team, but without Granger, the series is a no-hoper.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird doesn’t do a lot of interviews. He prefers to stay in the background and let his players get the attention. But when Bird talks, you listen. That was the case about two hours after the Pacers suffered the worst playoff loss in franchise history – 115-83 – in Game 5 against the Miami Heat. “I can’t believe my team went soft,” Bird said on the phone. “S-O-F-T. I’m disappointed. I never thought it would happen.” When asked to elaborate on those comments, an obviously frustrated Bird said, “That’s all I have to say.” Those are the strongest words I’ve ever heard Bird say about his team – good or bad – in my seven-plus years of covering the Pacers. ... Bird has spoken. Now we’ll see if his players respond to being publicly embarrassed – on the court and by their president – or if they’ll curl up in the fetal position in Game 6 on Thursday. If they do, the Pacers can go ahead and start their summer vacation now to avoid another embarrassing loss.
• Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Every stop along the way in the playoffs, every new situation, every game this group of 76ers team had never faced before - all of these new experiences are things Doug Collins has cherished for his team as it has maneuvered in the current postseason. Regardless of the individual result, it's all good for the future, according to the coach, even if the present remains an unfinished work. Now, after all that fresh exposure, the Sixers face a challenge they have seen before ... a potential elimination game. It arrives in the 12th game of the postseason, later than most expected, but it arrives nonetheless, in the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night when the Boston Celtics look to close out an Eastern Conference semifinal series that has brought out the best and worst in both teams. Last season, the Sixers lost their first three playoff games to the Miami Heat, staved off elimination once and then fell in Game 5 of that opening-round series. Not being swept was a small consolation perhaps, but there was no sense that surviving the one elimination game was because of nothing much more than a brief attention lapse by the Heat. This time around, however, much more is at stake. If the Sixers are able to hold serve at home and force a Game 7, they will have a real chance to advance to the conference finals for the first time in 11 years and just the second time since 1985. That would be a heady accomplishment for a team that limped to the end of the regular season, barely qualified for the playoffs, and looked like an easy out.
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: Logic would seem to dictate that the Celtics will take full note of their injury issues and launch a surgical strike that ends the series tonight. The need to get rest and rehab — even an extra day or two — is clear, and a good effort would keep the Celts from an extra game that could further strain their health. But logic has taken a severe beating from the Celtics of late. It appeared the Celtics would keep their act in order and take out the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 after winning three straight in the opening round. When they raced out to an 11-3 lead in Atlanta, it seemed the C’s could put the hosts out of their misery with a few good defensive stands in a row. But the visitors seemed surprised when the Hawks came out of a timeout and played as if they were trying to avoid an embarrassment that would be sitting on the Celtics bench by the end of the night. The last two games against Philadelphia have come down to one team gathering some energy in the third quarter and flustering the other. But when you consider the Celtics’ talent and experience, they should be expected to keep their heads in such situations. How confident are you that they will? Exactly.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: In a sense, this series sets up as a battle between the league’s old guard against its next wave. The Spurs are a grizzled four-time champion eager for one more shot at the crown during the Tim Duncan era. The Thunder are a young and hungry challenger impatient to assume the throne now. In order for the up-and-coming Thunder to take the next step, they must first overcome a savvy, veteran team that has successfully navigated this road before. ... As much as the Spurs believe they have their hands full with Oklahoma City, the Thunder are equally wary of the surging Spurs, who are riding a franchise-best 18-game winning streak. ... If there is a secret to handling OKC, the Spurs seem to hold the key. Over the past three seasons, since the Thunder became playoff regulars in 2009-10, the Spurs have gone 8-2 against them. That includes a 107-96 affair in Oklahoma City’s last trip to the AT&T Center on Feb. 4, when Tony Parker erupted for a season-high 42 points at Westbrook’s expense. ... With Durant, the 23-year-old former collegiate player of the year at Texas, locked up until 2016 and the 23-year-old Westbrook under contract until 2017, an NBA Finals appearance seems only a matter of time for the Thunder. The Spurs’ goal, starting Sunday: Delay Oklahoma City’s much-anticipated coronation for at least another year.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: The series could be decided by Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker. That's how significant of a matchup this is. But don't expect Westbrook and Parker to cancel out each other. Both are much too good and far too dominant for that. Neither will be able to defend the other. So the key will be which player can consistently make others better while contributing in other areas. Because the Spurs' offense is much more pass-oriented than the Thunder's, it seems Parker will have the advantage in that department and Westbrook will have his work cut out for him. Westbrook will have to be locked in while defending Parker in the pick-and-roll and try to limit Parker's penetration. If Parker can blow by Westbrook it will break down the Thunder's entire defense and lead to layups and open 3-pointers. So Westbrook needs to focus on defense first and offense second. He doesn't have to be great. He just has to be solid.
• Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News: No disrespect to the Thunder, World Peace pointed out. They took advantage of the Lakers' mistakes late in Games 2 and 4 and won the series. "They seized it, they grabbed it and hung on to it." World Peace said. Nevertheless, World Peace could not ignore the part about the Lakers' mistakes and how they opened the door for the Thunder to take advantage. "We underachieved. The best team in the NBA lost in five. The best team in the NBA should be up 3-2 and playing tomorrow," World Peace said. The way World Peace sees it, one of the problems the Lakers faced was their reliance on Kobe Bryant late in games, especially some of the younger guys who haven't played on the big stage before. As a result, some guys may have deferred too much to Bryant rather than having confidence in themselves. His advice to them is simple. "Guys have to trust themselves more. Sometimes guys rely on Kobe too much," World Peace said. "Mitch (Kupchak) brought you here. Mitch also assembled teams that won championships. He knows what he's doing and he brought you here for a reason because you're good. So believe in yourself."
• Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle: I'm not saying the Warriors won't draw in San Francisco. This is an astonishingly fine location, and the sheer novelty would pack the joint for a couple of years. But say the next five seasons bring a playoff drought, the type we've endured forever. There's no chance that S.F. arena would sell out. It's a different crowd, a different vibe, lacking that pure Oakland soul. Not that such concerns bother Lacob or Guber. They're onto something big here, and you can't blame them. These guys aren't Skyline High graduates, or veterans of the Rick Barry-Bernard King-Chris Mullin days. They don't remember Sonny Parker, Purvis Short or the smell of marijuana on an arena ramp in the anything-goes 1970s. These are Hollywood guys, essentially (and literally, in Guber's case). They're out to put the Warriors on a plane of sophistication with Chicago, New York, Boston and Philly. I wouldn't bet against them, either. And I don't think Stern would take the time to visit San Francisco, delivering a few cursory remarks on the podium, if he didn't think this would fly.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: Be honest: Does this sound like a man who is confident that his franchise player is going to sign an extension in Orlando? Which is why Martins and the soon-to-be-named new general manager must get an answer from Dwight by the draft. The Magic must begin the process of planning for the future — with Dwight or without him. This is best thing for everybody involved — the Magic organization, Magic fans and Dwight, himself. If he wants to stay, then call a mega-news conference before the draft, make the big announcement, sign the extension and become a civic hero once again. If he wants to leave, make it as quick and painless as possible, say goodbye and leave. This fiasco has been going on for far too long. Fans are disenchanted, teammates are in limbo, the organization is in disarray. The draft is more than a month away. It's time to make a decision and move forward. Haven't there already been enough hurt feelings, divided allegiances and lost jobs?

You might be able to beat the Miami Heat at home once, but forget about doing it twice in a row.

In the regular season, they lost five home games. They not only won each of their next home contests, they did it in blowout fashion. The wins came by an average of 19.4 points. That included a 35-point win over the Indiana Pacers in January, two days after losing at home to the Atlanta Hawks.

That trend continued on Tuesday, albeit in a one-game playoff sample. Their 32-point win against the Pacers made them 6-0 in their next home game after a home loss with an average victory of 21.5 points.

The 32-point loss is also the worst loss in Pacers playoff history.

The path to victory in this game was their blistering shooting -- a playoff franchise-record 61.4 percent from the field. Their 115 points is tied for the second-most in franchise playoff history and the 32-point win is third-largest in franchise playoff history.

But it was the work inside from the Heat's star duo that continued the Heat's tone from last game.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade outscored the Pacers inside five feet for the second straight game. James made all six of his attempts from this range in Game 5 and Wade went 3-for-5. The Pacers scored 16 points inside five feet in Game 5, their fewest this postseason.

Overall, James and Wade (58 points) outscored the entire Pacers starting lineup (45 points).

James' 30-point game was the 45th of his postseason career. That's as many as Dirk Nowitzki has and trails only Kobe Bryant's 85 among active players.

It also helped that Shane Battier scored more points in the first seven minutes of the game than he had over the first four games of this series combined.

The other boost came from transition scoring as the Heat scored a postseason-high 29 transition points. They are 6-0 this postseason when scoring at least 14 transition points. In each of the Heat’s three losses this postseason, they were outscored in transition.

Starting center Roy Hibbert has been in foul trouble in both games that the Indiana Pacers have lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
In the second half of Game 1, Hibbert sat for 11 minutes, 25 seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters, which is one reason the Heat outscored the Pacers by 14 points on field goals less than five feet from the basket in the second half.

Overall in Game 1, the Heat outscored the Pacers, 40-22, inside of five feet from the hoop.

In Game 4, the Pacers were minus-8 with Hibbert off the court, and minus-5 in rebound differential. With Hibbert on the bench from the 5:03 left in the third quarter until 6:11 left in the fourth, the Heat made seven field goals -- including six within 12 feet of the basket (three each by Dwyane Wade and LeBron James).

Even without an inside scorer, the Heat have attacked the basket when Hibbert has been out of the game.

During the regular season, the Heat shot 62.3 percent on field goals less than 5 feet from the basket, which ranked fourth in the NBA (league average was 59.5).

With Hibbert on the floor, Miami’s field goal percentage inside of 5 feet drops to 51.7; however, with Hibbert on the bench, that percentage shoots up to 64.6. What’s more, the Heat attempt more than 42 percent of their shots inside of 5 feet when Hibbert is off the court, compared to less than 30 percent when Hibbert is playing.

• 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.

• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: The Thunder is moving on to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season after closing out the Los Angeles Lakers 106-90 in Game 5 on Monday night. And in the clincher, it was Westbrook and fellow All-Star teammate Kevin Durant who carried the Thunder. Westbrook scored a team-high 28 points, while Durant chipped in 25. None, however, were bigger than the three by Westbrook that caused that passionate celebration. The play started with Westbrook intercepting a Ramon Sessions pass to Kobe Bryant at the top of the key. As Westbrook raced the other way, Sessions intentionally fouled Westbrook, wrapping him up in an attempt to prevent a shot attempt. But Westbrook powered through the contact and banked in 15-foot runner, sparking pandemonium inside The Peake. “That was an amazing play,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “Obviously, there was a lot of luck to that. But he put himself in that position to get a little lucky there.” Luck or not, it was a message-sending shot. It confirmed, once and for all, that the Lakers indeed can not guard the Thunder. It showed, once again, that this team, in this round, would not be stopped.
• Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: What happened here on a strange and sad Monday night felt like the end of an era. Kobe Bryant's window to win a sixth championship in Los Angeles may have officially shut, and who knows whether he will want to stick around to spend his final years pressing his nose against the glass? In the two seasons since they won the fifth championship of the Kobe era, the Lakers have lost their famed head coach, their celebrated locker room leader, and the powerful influence of their aging owner. Now they have been dragged to the curb of two consecutive postseasons like bags of old clothes, this time in a 106-90 loss to Oklahoma City that gave the Thunder a 4-1 series victory in the second round. What now? The Lakers flew home late Monday night with the raucous boos from the Chesapeake Energy Arena fans ringing in their ears while their future looked silent and brooding. Combine this loss with the four-game sweep by Dallas in last year's second round, and this is a team that has gone 9-13 in the last two postseasons. Combine Monday's four-rebound game from Andrew Bynum with his inconsistent playoffs and turbulent regular season, and this is a team whose brightest young star is a dim bulb. When Coach Mike Brown was asked late Monday where the Lakers go from here, he shook his head.
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: Monday night in Game 5 against the Sixers, when the Celtics offense needed a boost after Philadelphia dominated the first half and threatened to take control of this stunningly competitive series, Brandon Bass produced one of the best quarters in Celtics playoff history, proving relentless and unstoppable during a critical stretch. His 18 points in the third quarter (and 27 overall) helped the Celtics fight off a valiant 76ers team, his outburst the primary reason why Boston cruised to a 101-85 victory at TD Garden. Bass ruled the paint in the third quarter, and the Celtics depended greatly on his production as they shook off a lethargic first half, finally gaining a semblance of momentum in the series after the Game 4 debacle. “To be honest with you, I wasn’t really frustrated,’’ Bass said about missing all but three seconds of the fourth quarter of Game 4. “I trust Doc and his coaching ability. For me, I just stay ready, and a night like tonight I was able to help.’’ The Celtics needed an athletic boost that was apparent from the tip. Kevin Garnett was forcing jumpers, trying in vain to get into a rhythm. Paul Pierce was again timid against the defense of Andre Iguodala. Ray Allen is obviously slowed by his sore right ankle and is shooting just 27 percent from the 3-point line in the series.
• Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: It wasn't youth that played the biggest role in the 76ers' not putting the hammer down on the Boston Celtics and coming back to Philly with a 3-2 series lead. And it wasn't the wise, old vets in the green and white just tapping into their playoff experience, either. What did the Sixers in, what allowed Boston to take a 101-85 victory and a 3-2 lead out of TD Garden on Monday night, was simply bad and, at times, stupid basketball by the visitors. The youth excuse can be thrown out there, but when passes are thrown with minimum velocity and with all the precision of a North Korean test missile and a player such as Brandon Bass torches you for 18 points in the most important quarter of the season, while you're turning the ball over six times, that's just bad, bad basketball. And after 11 playoff games this year, on top of the five last year, youth really can't be a crutch anymore.
• Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald: Shane Battier, the Heat’s new starting power forward, is giving up 30 to 35 pounds to the man he’s guarding, David West. The Heat’s starting center, Ronny Turiaf, is four inches shorter than Indiana’s 7-2 Roy Hibbert, and the Heat’s backup center, 6-9 Joel Anthony, is five inches shorter. Then there’s Udonis Haslem, who was draining clutch jumpers Sunday while playing with nine stitches and an irritating bandage hanging above a bloody cut over his right eye. Such is the demanding and difficult predicament that most of the Heat’s power forwards and centers have faced in this playoff series in the absence of Chris Bosh. And it’s a plight that will continue indefinitely, with Bosh continuing to do rehab on his abdominal strain. ... Tuesday’s critical Game 5 at AmericanAirlines Arena will hinge, in good measure, on whether LeBron James and Dwyane Wade can approach their extraordinary efforts of Game 4. But the outcome also will rest, in part, on the work of the Heat’s patchwork crew of power rotation players — a group that left an imprint on Sunday’s critical win.
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: The Pacers find themselves in a best-of-three series against championship-minded Miami, with two of the potential three remaining games set for South Florida. It doesn't matter that nobody outside the Pacers organization thought they had a chance against the Heat. The Pacers must put everything on the table so that there's no second-guessing any decisions that are made. Vogel found himself thinking twice about leaving Hibbert and West on the bench with four fouls each in the fourth quarter of Game 4. If the Pacers eventually come up short, it needs to be with their best low-post players on the court, even if it means they eventually foul out. As Vogel found out Sunday, they will do more good on the court than on the bench.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: It was already after 1 a.m. San Antonio time Monday when Tim Duncan at last made his way out of the locker room at the Staples Center and began the long, slow walk down the tunnel toward the Spurs’ bus. It was then, at the end of a short series but a long day, that Duncan finally permitted himself a smile. “It feels a lot like some of the championship teams,” Duncan said after the Spurs administered their second consecutive sweep of this postseason, this one to the Los Angeles Clippers. “In saying that, we haven’t done anything yet. We’ve won two rounds. That’s it.” The Spurs are headed back to the Western Conference finals now, a place that used to be a routine stopover for Duncan en route to his summer home in the NBA Finals. His return has been a long time coming. This will be Duncan’s first trip to the pro version of the Final Four since 2008, and for a while it looked like that would be the last of his Hall of Fame-bound career. ... Players get older. Dynasties fade. New contenders emerge. It is the circle of life. And yet there Duncan was early Monday morning, walking out of the Staples Center and toward another conference final four years after his last, wrapped in an old familiar feeling. “We haven’t done anything yet,” Duncan repeated, as if to remind himself. Between now and the end of June, Duncan hopes to make at least eight more triumphant walks like it, step by step toward the NBA mountaintop.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: It's now up to you, Dwight Howard. Not anybody else. You got what you wanted. The Magic fired Coach Stan Van Gundy on Monday. They parted ways with general manager Otis Smith. You are now the de facto coach and general manager of the team. You are calling the shots now. The flagging franchise is in your hands. You can either heal it and bring it back to life by signing a contract extension or you can squash it by abandoning it to go play for Jay-Z's team in New York. What's it going to be, Dwight? ... Let's not forget, it was just a couple of months ago when Dwight decided to put off free agency for a year and professed his love and loyalty for Orlando. Remember what he said at that news conference? He said, "I'm very loyal and I've put loyalty above anything else. … I've got everything I've wanted right here in Orlando. All of that other stuff will come. But the first thing we have to do is win a championship. Right now we have a great opportunity to do that.'' Now we find out if Dwight is ready to live up to those words and show as much loyalty to the Magic as they've shown to him. They drafted him No. 1 out of high school when many of the experts said they should have drafted Emeka Okafor. They helped him develop into the most dominant center in the league. They have the second-highest payroll in the NBA and have spent gobs of money — sometimes foolishly — to try to surround him with the talent to win a championship. And now they have parted ways with the best coach in franchise history to try to keep him happy. It's now up to you, Dwight. Not anybody else. So when are you coming home from Los Angeles to sign that extension?

• Jeff Green was nearly the victim of a deadly sneaker avalanche.
• James Jones would be embarrassed if he missed a 3-pointer by as much as he missed this dunk.
• Philadunkia's Tom Sunnergren on the ageless Kevin Garnett: "The careers of professional athletes end, as a general rule, about the way Hemingway described going bankrupt: slowly, then all at once. An injury — say a knee sprain that happens in a February 2009 game in Utah — occurs, never fully heals, becomes a chronic, lingering source of discomfort, then, as the player fights through it, adjusts, maybe unconsciously to mitigate the pain, a host of other maladies spring from the adjustment: calf strains, tendonitis of various stripe, back pain. Bio-mechanical breakdown ensues. Eventually, they’re a shell of themselves. A copy of a copy; like that Michael Keaton movie, but even harder to watch. A season later they’re on a golf course. Kevin Garnett, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, is not on a golf course right now.
• Mike D'Antoni, from his interview with SI's Jack McCallum: "Could you use the word 'resign?' It hurts when I even hear the word 'quit.'"
• Lovely visuals illustrating that Kevin Durant has surpassed Kobe Bryant as a crunch time player.
• Neil Paine (Insider) points out that even if Kobe Bryant outplays Kevin Durant, Durant's supporting cast has the advantage: "Bynum and Gasol have been good in their own right during the postseason, but neither can give Bryant the kind of secondary scoring punch that Westbrook brings to Durant and the Thunder. Then there's Harden, not only the game's best sixth man, but one of its top players, period. During the regular season, he took on a similar possession load as Gasol and Bynum and was far more offensively efficient, averaging a staggering 1.254 points on possessions he was involved in ending. In the playoffs, he has ramped up his usage while still maintaining a sky-high efficiency, one of the big reasons the Thunder have the NBA's No. 1-ranked offense during the postseason. That's why the numbers are so clear-cut. Whether you're a PER proponent (Westbrook/Harden 22.1, Bynum/Gasol 21.6) a Win Shares per 48 Minutes guy (Westbrook/Harden .193, Bynum/Gasol .173) or an Adjusted Plus/Minus guy (Westbrook/Harden plus-2.6, Bynum/Gasol plus-1.8), all the advanced stats say the Westbrook/Harden combination is a better and more productive duo than Bynum and Gasol."
• Gonzaga's Robert Sacre, a legitimate 7-footer with good hands and decent athleticism, says all the right things at the Nets 2012 Draft combine.
• An inspiring bench is a beautiful thing.
• Is Andrew Bynum's best season ever tied to his revamped running form? Ethan Sherwood Strauss, writing on The Classical, investigates:" When I asked Lakers trainer Garry Vitti about the foot strike change, he explained that although this had indeed taken place, the evolution of Bynum’s movement 'was much deeper.' Vitti elaborated, 'Because of his gluteus medius weakness he had is known as a trendelenburg gait where his glute med couldn’t stabilize his pelvis … with increased strength of his glute he was able to control his pelvis better which translated to him being able to get his body over his forefoot which would allow him to propel himself more efficiently.'”
• Daily Thunder's Randy Renner with a statistical nugget that is as much a condemnation of the Lakers' passive defense as OKC's steady offense: "The Thunder has produced a turnover turnaround in the playoffs. During the regular season OKC led the league by averaging 16.3 givebacks a game. In the playoffs that number is down to 10.5 and that’s the best in the league. During this series with the Lakers the number is even better as the Thunder has averaged just 8.3 turnovers a game."
• USA Basketball releases its roster for the 2012 Select Team, which is sort of the Dream Team junior varsity.
• What was Roy Hibbert thinking?
• Brett Koremenos digs into Evan Turner's struggles for HoopSpeak. You have to wonder: If Turner wasn't a top 2 pick, would this be the case: "Currently, Turner’s 9.97 playoff PER ranks 114th amongst players who’ve seen a postseason minute. 114th. That’s out of 155 players who have seen the court in the postseason. This would be fine if he were one of the human victory cigars at the end of the bench, but Turner is playing 34.3 minutes per game in the postseason."
• It's funny what matchups end up being consequential in the playoffs. For instance, the Celtics are really having trouble with the Lavoy Allen-Thaddeus Young front court combo.
• Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol can combine to create some beautiful basketball, but this year they've drifted apart on the court.
• Without Chris Bosh, the origami paper-thin Miami Heat are proving that the "Big Three" model is dangerous, right? Not so, writes Heat Index's Tom Haberstroh: "Of course, the San Antonio Spurs offer a compelling counterargument. They actually have more of their payroll wrapped up in their trio than the Heat, but they seem to be doing just fine. Interestingly enough, the Spurs have taken the opposite approach to surrounding their Big Three: find younger diamonds in the rough and develop them in their system. While the Heat went wild for veterans on the wrong side of 30 years old, the Spurs plucked Gary Neal, Kawhi Leonard, DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter and Danny Green. The Spurs might not have gone the safe route with veterans, but their players have higher ceilings and a greater chance to provide more bang for the buck."

• Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: Let me take you back to May 7, 1989, the day Chicago's Michael Jordan lifted skyward for The Shot over Cleveland's Craig Ehlo, the shot that catapulted his career into the next stratosphere. After the game, Cleveland center Brad Daugherty sat in the Cavs' funereal locker room and shook his head. All he could say was this: "We got beat by greatness." Today, it can be said again after the Miami Heat's 101-93 Game 4 victory over the Indiana Pacers, a game that tied this heated Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece. They got beat by greatness. What else can you say? How else do you deconstruct a game the Miami Heat absolutely had to win, lest they spend the next few months contemplating coach Erik Spoelstra's future and the possible dissolution of the Big Three? LeBron James: 40 points, 18 rebounds (six offensive) and nine assists. Dwyane Wade: After a tepid first half, he finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Sometimes, there's not much an opponent can do.
• Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: It might have been a lesson that we saw being delivered in that third quarter Sunday, or it might have been simply a reminder. Either way, it was this: Do not doubt the resolve and power of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Just don’t. Trust it instead. Trust it because they have earned your faith. Mostly, trust it because it is all you have. This time it was enough. Astoundingly, stunningly so. James and Wade combined to put on an epic show Sunday, especially in that third quarter that changed everything — everything — and it is why all of the panic and gloom that had been enveloping the Heat went into sudden remission in the 101-93 Miami victory that leveled this second-round NBA playoff series at two games apiece. All at once the Earth has regained its axis and the Heat appears back in control, with two of the three remaining scheduled games back in Miami starting with Tuesday’s Game 5. All-is-hell turns to all-is-well, or close enough for Heat fans.
• Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: It appeared Sunday the Clippers would extend the Spurs. Blake Griffin needed stitches, and Chris Paul seemed to sew up the rest. The Spurs trailed by five with about five minutes left. Then, with Tim Duncan’s knee holding up, he made two free throws. Found Manu Ginobili on a cut. Tossed in a driving hook over Griffin. Found Tony Parker on a cut. And blocked Paul. What happened? “Perseverance,” Duncan said afterward. “We stuck with it. We kept moving the ball and believing what we were doing.” Parker acted the way Elliott did in 1999. Asked what the sweep meant, he said, “Doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t accomplish anything.” But what about the 18-game winning streak? “Don’t think about that,” he said. He’s right. The last team to sweep the first two playoff series, the Orlando Magic in 2010, didn’t win the title. Still, the Spurs needed to face some playoff tension, because there will be some in the conference finals. Duncan said that. “It was great to have a close game like this,” Duncan said. “Good for our young guys.” But it might have been better for the old guy. Duncan will get a few days off, and nothing will be more appreciative than his knee.
• Vincent Bonsignore of the the Los Angeles Daily News: The loss to the Spurs will sting, but shouldn't linger. And once they realize the gap separating themselves from the elite teams in the NBA requires some tinkering but not a complete overhaul, they will be better-positioned to make decisions that will help close that gap. First and foremost, they need to bring Del Negro back for another year. The decision rests in the hands of general manager Neil Olshey and owner Donald Sterling. The Clippers hold an option on him for next season and they should honor it. It became blasé to knock Del Negro this year. His lack of experience and his rocky two-year stint in Chicago prior to taking over the Clippers made him an easy target for critics who questioned everything from his rotation to his ability to make adjustments and develop young players. But this much we do know: His team played hard for him throughout, and that should mean something. It could have given up against Memphis after the injuries to Paul and Griffin and after losing Game 6 at home to force a long trip back to Memphis and a hostile environment in Game 7. Del Negro had his team up for that challenge, and the Clippers defied odds to beat the Grizzlies on their floor and advance to the semifinals. That stands for something, and it should get Del Negro at least one more season to coach this team under normal circumstances and with a more stable roster.
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: All postseason, Oklahoma City has closed out games in grand fashion. The Lakers, in Game 4, simply became the latest victim of the Thunder and its ability to storm back from a fourth-quarter deficit and secure a win. That trait, not Westbrook's explosiveness or Kevin Durant's daggers or James Harden's surgeon-like precision in the pick-and-roll, has been the most impressive thing about the Thunder's playoff run thus far. Oklahoma City is now all grown up. The final five minutes of nearly every Thunder game this postseason has proved as much. Gone are the days when the Thunder would wind up on the wrong end of a blown lead. Now, it's the Thunder that is snatching victories from the jaws of defeat. Four of the Thunder's seven playoff wins have come by three points or less. Another victory was decided by just six points. Of those five wins, the Thunder trailed by 13 points in the fourth quarter of two games, by seven in the fourth period of two others and by one with a minute remaining in the other. The Thunder was the road team in both victories in which it trailed by 13 in the fourth quarter.
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: Pau Gasol believes he's hungry for more titles. If he really was, his baseline level of focus would be higher instead of only spiking high. At a time in his career when Bryant needs more help and not less, this mix of talent has gone sour. Not toxic, mind you, but sour. It's why the Lakers frittered away Games 2 and 4 to Oklahoma City. They don't quite have that old confidence that they deserve to win and will make the key plays that demonstrate to the world how they deserve to win. Consider the recent years besides 2009 and '10, when the Lakers won it all: In 2008, they blew a 24-point lead in the NBA Finals' worst meltdown ever in Game 4, giving the Celtics a sudden 3-1 advantage. In 2011, their Game 1 implosion at home against Dallas erased a 16-point third-quarter lead and a seven-point lead in the final minutes, with Gasol faltering badly down the stretch and the last chance being a missed Bryant 3-pointer bearing an uncanny resemblance to the one Bryant missed near the end Saturday night. Championship teams find a way to win because they aren't afraid to lose. And in that regard, the sweet-hearted, good-intending Gasol is unfortunately the Lakers' No. 1 problem.
• Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Boston played a great first quarter and a good-enough second quarter to hold a 46-31 lead at halftime, and the Celtics must have thought their work for the evening was complete. That is not what teams do when they respect their opponent or anticipate that something other than ordinary effort will be necessary to finish the job. ... They were surprised, because they didn't think the Sixers had it in them to keep fighting on a night they had shot a ridiculous 23 percent from the field in the first half. That's terrible even by the Sixers' shooting standards, which are pretty low on a good day. And, of course, they were wrong to think it was over. But that is what happens to teams that have been champions before. They think the crown is still up there and lesser teams will bow to its glory, or they think there is some carryover effect to having survived these games before. The Sixers are not going to be champions this year and perhaps not any time soon, but they are a dangerous team to underestimate. Assuming they will quit on a game is usually a particular mistake. ... In the back of their minds, maybe even in the front, they figure that they'll still win the series, and that taking real control of it Friday night wasn't worth the effort the Sixers were requiring them to make. The Celts might be right. They probably will still win the series. What is less true than it was before Friday night, however, is that they still deserve to win it.
• Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: Doug Collins has put it delicately, at least compared to how he wants Kevin Garnett defended. The Philadelphia 76ers coach wants his big men to disrupt Garnett’s timing. Sometimes that has meant trapping the Celtics center, but more often that goal has been met by prodding Lavoy Allen and Spencer Hawes to push Garnett farther out, to make it uncomfortable when he gets the ball. Success has only been limited, but on Friday night in the Celtics’ Game 4 loss, when Garnett nearly had as many turnovers (seven) as points (nine) and only took 12 shots, the ploy paid a huge dividend. Asked yesterday about Allen, though, Garnett was typically unseeing. “It doesn’t matter. All of their big guys are playing physical and bumping,” Garnett said. “You go through side picks and it’s physical. I can’t tell one guy from the next. Spencer Hawes is being just as physical as the young kids. It’s all the same. They’re very aggressive.” But tonight in Game 5, the Celtics can’t afford to have the generous Garnett — the one spreading the wealth — passing nearly as often. The Celtics are 1-3 this postseason when Garnett takes 12 shots or fewer, and 5-1 when he takes 13 or more. Shots are just as important as touches, though according to coach Doc Rivers, an acceptable amount of offense is running through Garnett’s hands.

There have been more than 3,000 postseason games in NBA history, but only once has a player scored 40 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and recorded 9 assists in a game. At least until Sunday.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us LeBron James joined Elgin Baylor as the only players in postseason history to register 40 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists in a game as the Miami Heat evened their series with the Indiana Pacers at two games apiece. Baylor posted his 40-18-9 game in a Los Angeles Lakers win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the 1961 Western Division Semifinals.

Betweens points scored and assists, James had a role in 62 of the Heat’s 101 points Sunday. That’s the highest such percentage (61.4) for James in any game this season.

But Miami’s performance was far from a one-man show, as Dwyane Wade scored 30 points one game after being held to five points on two-for-13 shooting. James and Wade became just the fifth set of teammates to have a 40-point game and 30-point game in a road playoff win in the last 20 years.

After trailing by eight at halftime, James and Wade combined to outscore the Pacers 43-39 over the final two quarters. And after much was made of the Pacers rebounding edge in Game 3, it’s worth noting that James and Wade also had more rebounds than Indiana in the second half in Game 4 (19-18).

The Heat’s big two were dominant at the rim, outscoring the entire Pacers team on shots inside of five feet (32-26). Wade made six of his seven shots inside five feet after attempting a season-low one shot from that distance in Game 3.

Indiana’s eight-point lead through two quarters was the largest blown halftime lead for the Pacers this season. They fell to 15-1 when leading by eight or more entering the second half in 2011-12.

The two teams will meet in the all-important Game 5 Tuesday night in Miami. In NBA history, teams to win Game 5 of a series tied at two go on to win the series 83 percent of the time.