NBA Update

As you know, we really enjoyed the First Round series between the Clippers and the Spurs.  We were encouraged that the Clippers' victory showed that Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were ready to take their team to the next level.  And sure enough, the Clippers jumped all over Houston in the Quarter-Finals:

05/04/15:  Houston 101 - 117 Los Angeles
05/06/15:  Houston 115 - 109 Los Angeles
05/08/15:  Los Angeles 124 - 99 Houston
05/10/15:  Los Angeles 128 - 95 Houston

The Clippers lost Game 5 in Houston by a score of 124-103, but that was no big deal because they were almost certain to close out the series in Game 6 at home.  Sure enough, with 12 minutes to go, the Clips were up 92-77, and were well on their way to the Semi-Finals.

In the Fourth Quarter, however, Houston outscored them 40 to 15.

FORTY TO FIFTEEN!

It was just a total, utter, inexplicable collapse.  Houston won the game 119-107, and the series is now tied 3-3 with Game Seven in Houston on May 17.  If the Clippers blow this series in such a painful fashion, all the good work that they did against the Spurs will be forgotten, and guys like Paul and Griffin will be remembered as choke artists.  That may not be fair, but that's how it goes.

The last time we checked in on the Quarter-Finals, all of the favorites were down 2 games to 1.  But now all of the favorites are in very good shape:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
(1) Atlanta 3 - 2 Washington (5)

This has been a great series, which Washington would have won if John Wall had been healthy.  Down two games to one, the Hawks shot the lights out in Game Four to pull out a 106-101 win in D.C.  Wall came back into the line-up in Game Five in a desperate attempt to turn things around -- and almost did so -- but Al Horford (who always destroyed UK while at Florida) got a last minute bucket to lead Atlanta to an 82-81 victory.  Now even if Atlanta loses Game Six in Washington, they should close out the Wiz in Game Seven in Atlanta.

(2) Cleveland 4 - 2 Chicago (3)

Down two games to one, the Cavaliers were looking at overtime in Game Four before LeBron hit a last-second buzzer beater to pull out an 86-84 victory.  The Bulls didn't recover from that, as Cleveland closed them out by scores of 106-101 and 94-73.  I think this is the fourth time in the last six years that LeBron has eliminated Chicago in the playoffs.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
(1) Golden State 3 - 2 Memphis (5)

Down two games to one, Stephen Curry put up 33 points to lead Golden State to a 101-84 win in Memphis.  The Warriors followed up with an easy 98-78 win at home

(2) Houston 3 - 3 Los Angeles (3)

The Clippers should have won this series, but they probably blew it last night.  See the discussion above.  On the other hand, the Clippers really are better than the Rockets, so this may be the rare NBA series where the road team wins Game Seven.