NBA Playoffs Preview: Games 4-5

The second round of the NBA playoffs was competitively exciting over the weekend.

The Chicago Bulls/Cleveland Cavaliers series saw game 3 and 4 end with game winning 3 point buzzer beaters by Derrick Rose and LeBron James respectively, Paul Pierce joined in on the buzzer beater fun with a game winning 3 of his own, the league best Golden State Warriors and MVP Stephen Curry fell flat for a second time to the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the Houston Rockets a pair of blow outs in games 3 and 4.

Tonight the Washington Wizards, up 2-1 in the series, will face the Atlanta Hawks at home without the help of star point guard John Wall who is out 3-4 games with an injury to the hand. Wall suffered five fractures to his left hand and could miss the entirety of the series. The Wizards take on the Hawks tonight at 7E/6C on TNT.

Following the Wizards/Hawks the Golden State Warriors will try to get their groove back against a Memphis Grizzly team that is playing great playoff basketball right now. Golden state has to manage to get a win tonight in Memphis before returning to California for their next home game. The odds would not be in their favor as teams who lead a serieis 3-1 go on to win a fourth game 86% of the time. The Warriors take on the Grizzlies tonight at 10:30E/9:30C on TNT.

Tomorrow the Chicago Bulls travel to face the Cleveland Caviliers in game 5 of what is the closest series, tied 2-2, in the second round. The Bulls lost a crucial lead on the Cavs who did not play their best basketball to lose by the grace of LeBron Jame’s 3 point buzzer beater with 0.8 seconds left in the game. Many believe the squandered chance to go up 3-1 at home could just possibly cost Derrick Rose and the Bulls the series and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. The Bulls face the Cavs tomorrow night at 7E/6C on TNT.

The Houston Rockets have their backs against the wall down 3-1 in the series against the Los Angeles Clippers. The previous two games have not been pretty for Houston. The Rockets were blown out by 20 or more points in games 3 and 4 and put on a hard to watch strategy of intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan for a total of 34 free throw attempts last night. Jordan set a record for the most attempted free throws in a half during the playoffs. The “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy, named for the popular use of sending Shaquille O’Neal to the free throw line for his notoriously bad free throw percentage, proved futile as the Rockets lost 95-128 and saw Dwight Howard be ejected due to accumulating 6 fouls including 2 technicals. The Houston Rockets face the Los Angeles Clippers at home for their must win game tomorrow night at  9:30E/8:30C on TNT.