The Thunder closed as four-point favorites in Game 4 and could have easily won and not covered Monday night. However, the Mavs not only came all the way back from 15 points down with under five minutes to go by ending regulation on a 17-2 run but also went on to win outright in OT, 112-105. Last night’s game saw a 19-4 run by the Bulls, followed by a 29-9 spurt for the Heat and then another 18-7 run by the Bulls, all... Read more

The Mavs have won at least 50 games in 11 straight seasons but have no titles and only one trip to the NBA finals to show for it. Worse yet, the Mavs lost that 2006 appearance against the Heat, after taking a 2-0 lead in games. The Mavericks led the Heat 89-76 with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 3 in that series as well, but Miami came back to win the game 98-96 and take the series with four straight wins... Read more

The Bulls did a good job against LBJ and Wade last night, holding that pair to a combined 12-of-30 (40 percent) from the floor. However, Chicago could not do anything with the third member of Miami’s “Big 3,” Chris Bosh. Bosh did miss his first three shots but then connected on 13 of his final 15, on the way to a 34-point night. LBJ finished with 22 points, six rebounds and 10 assists while Wade added 17 points, nine... Read more

Miami’s “Big 3” accounted for 83 points in its Game 4 win at Boston and when the Heat closed out the Celtics back in Miami in Game 5, the “Big 3” accounted for 81 points. Bosh, LBJ and Wade accounted for a total of just 63 points in Game 1 vs Chicago, as the Bulls routed the Heat 103-82. Miami's “Big 3” again scored 63 points in Game 2 last night but so many other things were different. First off, it was LBJ and Bosh... Read more

The Memphis/Oklahoma City series was the only one of this postseason’s first two rounds (12) to go the distance. The Thunder won that game 105-90, as home teams moved to 86-21 in Game 7s all-time in NBA playoff history ( 58-14 since the ABA/NBA merger in 1976-77). The Thunder had a quick turnaround, as they opened the Western Conference finals against the Mavs last night, who hadn’t played since ‘sweeping’ the Lakers... Read more

The second round of the this year’s NBA postseason closed Sunday afternoon with Oklahoma City beating Memphis 105-90 in the first two round’s lone Game 7. Home teams ended the first two rounds 46-19 SU (.707) with home dogs going 7-6-1 and after a very slow start in the first round, home favorites are now 24-25-2. That made all home teams 31-31-3 ATS after 65 games. Under bettors went 26-17 (60.5 percent) in the first... Read more

Oklahoma City led Memphis 54-44 at the half in Game 6 last Friday night but got ‘run over’ 28-14 in the third quarter, as the Grizz tied the series at three-all with a 95-83 win. Randolph rebounded from his worst game of the postseason in Game 5 with 30 points and 13 rebounds while Mayo added 16 from the backcourt, in his first start of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Durant, this year’s top playoff scorer, made just 3-of-14... Read more

The Hawks surprised many by taking their first round series from the Magic in six games. They then shocked almost all, by beating the Bulls in Chicago 103-95 in the first game of their semifinal series. However, the Hawks were able to win just one game after that (100-88 in Game 4). The final ‘dagger’ came last night, as the Bulls won convincingly in Atlanta, 93-73. The Hawks connected on just 36.5 percent of their shots... Read more

LBJ’s season was ended last year by the Celtics, as his Cavs lost embarrassingly at home in Game 5 by a score of 120-88 and then went meekly in Game 6 with a 94-85 loss. Amid much fanfare, King James “took his talents to South Beach” over the summer, joining Chris Bosh (a Toronto refugee) and Dwayne Wade (already in the Miami fold) to create the team to beat (and hate) for the 2010-11 season. The Heat won Game 4 of this... Read more

The Bulls led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter but actually trailed 70-69 early in the fourth last night, before a 9-0 run allowed them to take control. Chicago would outscore Atlanta 26-15 in the quarter and win, 95-83. As I pointed out in Tuesday’s journal, of the previous 159 series tied at two-all in NBA playoff history, the Game 5 winner has gone on to win just under 84 percent of those best-of-seven... Read more