Built Ford Tough

That was about as perfect a quarter you could ask for. Clippers dominated the Spurs in every way possible.

Clippers playing some awesome defense to start. Even the few times where they did have breakdowns (losing sight of their man, overplaying leading to backdoor cut, etc...) they are getting the breaks as the Spur player has missed either the open jumper or an easy shot at the rim. They couldn't ask for a better start to this game after being completely outclassed by the Spurs in the first two games.

Hey, I made a couple of references about how OKC gets every call. I actually probably come off as a huge whiner in OKC game threads as I think I've mentioned it in every OKC playoff game thread I've posted in so far. The Thunder are worse. As much as people like to harp on the Heat when it comes to getting calls, they have LeBron, Wade and to a lesser extent Bosh (although he is not nearly the same attacking the basket as he was with the Raptors) who are all going to the hoop on a frequent basis. LeBron and Wade have entire games where they absolutely live in the paint and are attacking on every single possession. The Thunder aren't like that. Durant is a mid range player first and foremost, Westbrook attacks, but not nearly as much as Wade or James, and Harden has quickly become arguably the best player in the league at exagerating contact or simply making it look like there was contact when there wasn't. Good on him because it clearly works, but he gets more BS calls than James does, that is for sure. I used to love watching the Thunder. I remember we had a roundtable article a few years back where I even said they are my second favourite team, and, at the time, that was true. However, I can't say I enjoy watching them nearly as much as I used to and that is even with them being a better team with the growth of guys like Westbrook, Durant and Harden and it is because of how often they get complete bailout calls.

Lol Ibaka. What an idiot.

Artest makes up for gambling on Durant 30 feet from the basket. That was an awesome strip on Durant after he grabbed the offensive board.

This honestly feels like a game where the refs forgot who they placed their bets on. One minute the Thunder get all the calls, the next the Lakers, then the Thunder again and then the Lakers again.

Good job Kobe. You didn't turn the ball over on that pass. Oh, and then you made a layup on the next possession.

You are watching an Oklahoma City Thunder game. If there are 3 possessions in a row that don't have a whistle, you should be happy.

Perkins has played some excellent defense on Bynum in this game. PS: Nice to see Harden get the shaft on a foul call for once, but man, that was a brutal call.

Did Westbrook just run into his own teammate and get the call? I couldn't tell but that was my first thought.

Fisher guarding Bryant isn't working? No way. Oh, and this just in, you can't breathe on Harden without getting a foul.

Clippers really salvaged that quarter with that 10-2 run to close it out. They really have no business being down by only 8 after how badly they were outplayed in that quarter. Up until the last minute and a half, the Spurs were doing anything they wanted out there, both offensively and defensively, and the Clippers had absolutely no answer for them.

Who is more outmatched, Jordan guarding Duncan or Del Negro coaching against Pop?

Kobe single handedly lost the Lakers this game. Final two minutes: Turnover leading to Durant uncontested dunk Blake pass goes through his fingers Terrible contested fadeaway airball Missed 3

Brutal shot by Kobe. What the hell was that?

Lakers doing everything in their power to blow this game. Open shot for Harden and then two straight turnovers.

Does Artest have the best hands ever? His ability to strip the ball from the offensive player is second to none. Even when he looks completely beaten he manages to get a hand on the ball.

Why are you even trying to use logic with him? It is clear he is just pushing an agenda.

Two straight poor defensive possessions from the Celtics. Give credit to Iguodala and Young for making nice passes to open teammates, but the Celtics' completely lost both Allen and Young under the hoop. Nice drive by Pierce. That is probably the first time in this series I've seen him be able to get by Iguodala so easily.

That is priceless. How the hell is he not cocky, arrogant or whiny? We are talking about the same Brad Marchand, right? I don't deny that Lawrie is a hothead, cocky or arrogant (he is not self-entitled or whiny, though, unless of course one incident defines a player) because he certainly is, but it is laughable to suggest Marchand isn't any of those things you claimed he isn't, other than being self-entitled.

He got fined an undisclosed amount and suspdended for 4 games. They are appealing the suspension.

From the CBA: Don't see how an arbirtator would rule in favour of the NBPA when it is clearly written like that.

Eh, I think he is pretty arrogant, lol. He is my favourite player, but there is no denying he has some cockiness and arrogance to him. He can also be a hot head. These are all major factors why MIlwaukee traded him. Still, he was completely screwed over by Miller. That 3-1 pitch was one of the worst strike calls I've seen and the only reason he called it a strike is because he was heading to first before the ump made the signal. Then Miller was just being spiteful and completely unprofessional by allowing his emotions to factor into the third strike call. To take it even further, 37% of the called strikes against the Jays last night were out of the strike zone. The league average is 21%. I'm not justifying what Lawrie did and he deserves to be suspdended. However, despite that, it is ludicrous to say that he should get 10+ games. Sure, if he legitimately threw his helmet right at the ump I agree he should have the book thrown at him. The fact of the matter is that he did not. He bounced it on the ground and happened to hit Miller. Can you argue he tried to hit him? I guess, but there is no concrete proof that he did it on purpose and, personally, if he did want to hit the ump why would he bounce it and not just throw it directly at him? Sure, I'm bias, but I really don't see how you can argue that he did. Jermaine Dye had a similar incident a few years ago. He got two games for this: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=4537879&c_id=mlb Why exactly should Lawrie get 10+ when Dye got 2 for that? PS: Guess who is the third base umpire in tonight's game against the Yankees? Yup, Bill Miller.

I can understand the rational behind the NBPA's logic since they really didn't have any real say in the matter. If a player is able to retain his Bird rights when traded to another team, couldn't you argue that they should retain them when they are waived and picked up? I certainly agree with the logic since it isn't like they are a free agent choosing to go to another team. They don't have any real control over being waived. However, I have to wonder how much of this is because of the high profile situation. If it wasn't Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks, how big of a deal would this really be? Nobody is making a big deal about JJ Hickson or Chauncey Billups not having Bird rights anymore (although they are mentioned briefly near the bottom of the article). I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but if Lin was picked up by, say, Minnesota (or some other small market team like that) and played the exact same way as he did with the Knicks, would this still be a major issue? It has also been a rule in place basically forever. If you were waived you lose your rights. It has been like this for as long as they've been a part of the CBA, at least as far as I know. It specifically states in the CBA, a CBA that the NBPA signed off on less half a year ago, that when a player is waived they lose their Bird rights. Really though, I can see both sides of the argument and really don't care either way.

Watch the hit again, then. 0:13 he has his back against the boards and sees Doan coming. 0:14 he turns his back when Doan had already committed to the hit. If you want to see a closer up in slower motion, skip to around 40 seconds. 0:44 he has his back to the glass, sees Doan coming. 0:45 he begins to turn and lowers his head. 0:46 Doan makes contact. Keep in mind this wasn't in game speed, and even then it is still only 2 seconds from Lewis turning to Doan hitting him. So, really, watch the video and tell me again that Doan is somehow at fault here. The only thing up for debate is whether he turned on purpose or if it was a natrual reaction. I'm fine with either stance somebody takes on that particular topic, but there is absolutely no debate that he turned at the last second and there was absolutely nothing Doan could've done to avoid the hit.