Tag Archives: memphis grizzlies

Can the Clippers Come Back?

16 May

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night, 108-92. This was almost as bad as the Oklahoma City Thunder beating of the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night. The Clippers are looking very beaten up after a 7 game series round 1 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Chris Paul’s hip injury finally caught up with him and was only able to score 6 points. Luckily, Eric Bledsoe was able to hop off the bench and straight into action. Bledshoe scored 23-points for the Clippers. Blake Griffin played for 28 minutes despite his sprained left ankle and scored 15 points.

Even with rest it is hard to see how the Clippers are going to compete with the Spurs. The Spurs haven’t lost a game since April 11th. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 26 points. The Spurs are unstoppable because they truly play as team and don’t just rely on a few superstar players(cough cough Paul and Griffin). In order to have any chance against the Spurs the Clippers are going to have to be controlling turnovers and go for every possible shot.

-M

Clippers Cutting it Close

12 May

I honestly thought the Clippers would be moving on to Round 2. Instead they are moving onto Game 7 against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Clippers lost Game 6, 90-88. Blake Griffin was pushing through a sprained ankle but still managed to score 17 points. Fellow Clippers and MVP Chris Paul pushed through his hip injury and jammed finger to score 11 points.  It looked like the Clippers had it in the bag with a 8 point lead in the 4th. Then the Grizzlies came back and made 10 straight points and took the lead.

The other Gasol Mark Gasol, scored 23 points for the Grizzlies. Working with him was Zach Randolph who scored 18 points and had 16 rebounds. One of the most interesting parts of the game is when the refs called a technical foul for a high-five (you know the technical foul is anything that rubs the refs the wrong way). After Clipper Reggie Evans received a pass from Griffin he got a foul on Quincy Pondexter. It was the Clipper’s chance to tie up the game so naturally Evans gave Griffin a high-five. Apparently this seemed unsportsman like to the ref and he called a technical foul. It was super confusing to everyone how this happened.

 

With the Griffin and Paul being injured it is hard to see the Clippers coming out on top. And if they do move onto Round 2 will they have the energy after playing 7 games in Round 1? Game 7 will be this Sunday at 1:00pm EST.

-M

NBA Playoffs: Clippers Limping Along

10 May

Wednesday night the Los Angeles Clippers took on the Memphis Grizzles for Game 5 of the series. This was the chance for the Clippers to prove once and for all that they deserved to be in the playoffs and they were a team to be reckoned with. That didn’t happen. Instead they lost to the Grizzles, 92-80. More importantly two of their star players were injured in the process. Blake Griffin sprained his left knee after a foul by Marc Gasol, kind of feels like karma for the time Griffin dunked on his brother Pau Gasol’s head. The team savior Chris Paul jammed his finger in the first quarter and hurt his hip in the fourth. If you tuned in for the fourth quarter of this game, it was a disaster for the Clippers. With Paul gone for most of the fourth(until the last 3 minutes) the Clippers looked totally lost. It was funny because when they panned to the crowd no one looked like they were enjoying watching messy basketball.

If Paul and Griffin don’t make a speedy recovery, the Clippers don’t have a chance to make it to round 2. The series is now 3-2, with the Clippers in the lead. Game 6 will happen on Friday back in Los Angeles.

-M

 

NBA Playoffs Update: The Ultimate Rundown

8 May

There have obviously been a lot of games. Here is the basics of what is happening. As you can see I suck at NBA bracketing.

Round 1

San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz (4-0)

This was a relatively easy first round for the Spurs who won all four games against the Jazz. Literally, every game was won by an average of 16 points by the Spurs. In the game Monday night it was an accomplishment for the Jazz to loose by single digits. I have to give the Jazz props for coming from 21 behind to within 4 of the Spurs. The Spurs are an unstoppable force. This would be the Spurs 5th NBA Title and it looks like they just might get it.

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Memphis Grizzlies (3-1, Game 5 Wed. 9:30pm EST)

The Clippers have been a great team this year and now they are really proving it. They are on the verge of their second playoff victory in 36 years. Monday night’s game proved how necessary Chris Paul is to the team. They should call Paul the closer because he came back in overtime to score 8 points and lead the Clippers to victory, 101-97. Also props to Caron Bulter for playing with a broken bone and still scoring 14 points Monday night. At this rate the Clippers will advance past the Grizzles.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets (3-1, Game 5 Tues. 10:30pm EST)

Despite Kobe Bryant still being on the mend from his injury the Lakers have been doing just fine. Shockingly they have survived without Metta World Peace using their bench reserves like Jordan Hill. Ramon Sessions is proving to be a nice trade for the Lakers scoring consecutive 3s to give the Lakers victory on Sunday night. If the Lakers don’t secure a win tonight they will be off to Denver to continue the series.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks (4-0)

The Thunder are getting a nice little vaca while waiting to see who they will play next(the Lakers). The Thunder had no trouble making it past the Mavericks. The bad thing that happened is that they lost Kendrick Perkins to a strained right hip in Game 4. They are really going to need him to be back and better than to help control Andrew Bynum when they take on the Lakers. And it looks like Metta World Peace will be back in time for Game 2 so he can have a little reunion with the Thunder’s James Harden. Let’s hope this time no one gets elbowed in the face.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls (3-1, Game 5 Tues. 9:30pm EST)

I had high hopes for the Bulls in the Playoffs but with the loss of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah there is really is no hope for them. They have tried to come back but can’t beat the problem that they have a weak offense and bad fourth quarters. The 76ers got lucky because if Rose had continued to play they wouldn’t be advancing to round 2.

(more…)

NBA Playoffs: Recap

30 Apr

It was an exciting start to the NBA Playoffs this weekend. I have made a new bracket above. It is super confusing to try to bracket for the playoff since the games take place in series rather than just one game but I did it anyways. Let me know what you think.  Here is a look at what happened this weekend.

Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, 103-91

#Start what you finished, cough cough, we don’t care if you get injured.

This game went as many had expected with the Bulls winning. What wasn’t expected was Derrick Rose’s injury in the last minute. Now people are saying that the Bulls don’t have the same chances in the East. As I wrote before the Bulls have played without Rose before and still managed to win. I think they will continue this trend on Tuesday.

Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, 99-98

#Durant this is why I got the scoring title.

Thunder’s Kevin Durant was the star of this game making a jump shot with 1.5 seconds left in the game that sealed the Thunder’s victory.

Miami Heat, New York Knicks, 100-67

#Lebron James whining will get you everywhere.

This was such a sad game for the Knicks. Heat’s Lebron James scored 32 points but it didn’t stop him from complaining about a foul. I think we all knew the Knicks were going to struggle but hoped it wouldn’t be this much.

Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, 81-77

#Why is everyone so surprised? -Magic

The Magic won despite not having star Dwight Howard who is out due to a back injury. Everyone thought the Pacers would have this in the bag. The Pacers played poorly and handed the game to the Magic.

Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, 99-98

#Clippers have something to prove.

This was an amazing game the Clippers were down by 21 points in the third quarter. Chris Paul managed to rally them back to overtake the Grizzlies. The bummer is that Clipper’s Caron Butler broke his hand during the game and will be out.

(more…)