Chris Paul was a no-show again in the fourth quarter as the Clippers fell down 3-0 to the Spurs.

Chris Paul has been a complete non-factor in the Clippers second round series with the Spurs.  He went missing again today as the Clippers blew a 33-11 lead to lose 96-86.

Paul went 5-for-17 and still dished out 11 assists.  He got guys involved and and made some good plays, but he faded away when all he had to do was ride a 20-point lead. I had envisioned Paul as a true leader who wouldn’t let his team collapse like that.

CP3 carried the Clippers to victory in the fourth quarter all season and has long been one of the most clutch players in the NBA.  He’s been suffering from a strained hip flexor injury and has been invisible ever since in the fourth quarter.  His two fourth quarter buckets today were the first time he has made a basket in the fourth quarter in the last six games. I don’t know how bad he is hurt or if the Spurs defense is just that good.

Blake Griffin came up huge with 28 Pts, 16 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl, 3 Blk.  Play like that from the 23-year-old power forward and the Clippers should win with CP3 on the floor.  The CP3 that laced them up today isn’t the same guy that shined in the most crucial moments of big games all season.

Credit must go to the Spurs for being completely flawless so far this postseason.  They are a perfect 7-0 and Pop continues to prove he is by far the best coach in the NBA.  The Spurs have gone to the formula of being a potent offensive team and it’s working like a charm.  I personally was proven wrong because I put too much stock into their first round exit last season.  I thought it would be the end of an era.

It wasn’t.  The Spurs are arguably the best team in basketball right now and are just the model of team work and beautiful passing.  Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are playing at a championship level. 19 Pts, 13 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Blk for Duncan today and he continues to be a vintage version of himself.

Kevin Garnett is playing as dominant of basketball as he ever has during the most crucial time of year. If that continues then Philly doesn't stand a chance.

Kevin Garnett also known as the Big Ticket has returned to dominant for that everyone has grown used to in the last 16 years.  KG has been as good as he has ever been in his career over the last eight playoff games.

Garnett is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds this postseason and has gotten even better this series against the 76ers.  In game one he came with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks.. the Celtics won.  Game two his scoring was held to 15 and the Celtics lost and then game three in Philly he exploded again for 27 points and 13 rebounds.

KG has been the main reason why the Celtics are thinking about one last championship run before the team breaks up.  He is the guy you don’t want to play against because of his physical, sometimes called dirty play.  He’s a true competitor that won’t let his team go down without a fight to the death.

Philly grabbed the momentum in the series with a game two win in Boston, but the Celtics stole homecourt advantage right back by pouncing on them in game two of their building.  If Garnett brings the same level of dominance to the game tonight, then the Celtics will be up 3-1.

Boston is too hard to stop when all three big guns are firing at the same time.  Rondo, Pierce, and Garnett complete a 3-headed monster that’s capable of getting buckets anytime down the court and placing the clamps on a defender.  Doc Rivers has his team playing hard-nosed basketball and it all revolves around their hall-of-fame power forward who is writing a new chapter in his career, one of veteran dominance.

Check the back of the milk carton for Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, both were missing in action last night as their teams took beatings.

Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul were virtual no-shows last night as both of their teams were beaten without much resistance to the Pacers and Spurs.

Wade played the worst game of his entire NBA career and looked to be pouting and uninterested for the majority of the game.  He shot 2-for-13 for five points and five turnovers and left LeBron James on an island all by himself as the Pacers took a 2-1 series lead.  Wade made terrible passes, took bad shots, played lackadaisical defense, and got into a shouting match with Coach Spoelstra.

The Clippers only chance at challenging the untouched Spurs was a huge outing from their superstar point guard, Paul.  CP3 didn’t answer the bell in San Antonio last night going for 10 points, five assists, and eight turnovers.  Instead he let Tony Parker have his way and rack up 22 points.

Miami is in danger of underachieving in a large way this season with a second round loss to the Pacers, but this time the blame won’t be James’ fault.  The finger will be pointed squarely at Wade with Bosh out.  James and Wade should be enough firepower to bring home wins, especially this early in the playoffs.  Bosh or not they shouldn’t be getting blown out in Indiana.  Wade’s jumper isn’t falling and he doesn’t look like the same player as in the regular season.  He missed a game winning layup in game two and then didn’t show up yesterday.

Lob City is just up against the juggernaut known as the Spurs.  They are the better team with the better coach and the Clippers are banged up and left for dead after their seven-game first round series with Memphis.  Coach Pop has the Spurs playing like a well-oiled machine and little is standing in their way of going to the Western Conference Finals.

The only hope for both Miami and Los Angeles is that their superstar guards can come out of the shell that they crawled in last game and play like everybody knows that they can.  Wade didn’t get a championship for nothing and Paul isn’t considered one of, if not the, best point guard in basketball.  They looked like a sad story last night, but the great ones always bounce back and we will see if these two are that.

It's gut-check time for Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in Indianapolis against a confident Pacers team. The big two must also find just a little bit a help from the roleplayers.

The tables have turned in the series as the Indiana Pacers took game two to steal home-court advantage and leave the Heat searching for answers in game-3 in Indy.

Pacers used size, depth, and teamwork to their advantage last game in Miami and it took a missed layup from Dwyane Wade and two bricked free throws by LeBron James in the final moments to seal up the victory.

The entire Heat team outside of James and Wade combined for 23 points last game.  No player outside of the big two had over five points.  I know I have said that James and Wade shouldn’t need any help to win, well they need role players who wont hurt the team when they are playing.

Mario Chalmers is the main guy who has to step his game up in the absence of Chris Bosh.  He shot a dismal 2-for-10 and missed the 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.   He has to score some points from the point guard position or the Heat must turn to Norris Cole, who was 2-for-2 in 17 minutes of game two.

Mike Miller, James Jones, Rony Turiaf, Udonis Haslem, an Shane Battier have to provide something by the way of buckets and toughness.

James and Wade shot 18-for-44 and need to be much more efficient in shooting the basketball.  Miami shot 34% as a team and only scored 74 points.

The crowd will be hostile in Indianapolis and the Heat have a tall task ahead of them.  James has come out and said that playing the ‘four’ in place of Bosh is taxing because of the physicality and has also said that the long minutes in the playoffs aren’t the same as playing long minutes in the regular season.  These are baffling statements because they sound like excuses.  Never before has a league MVP brought these things up in the middle of a series.  They are all true, but not wise for him to use as a scapegoat for Miami losing games.  Probably just taken out of context, but a guy that big sounds soft talking about he can’t play the power forward position.

I believe that the Heat will win this series without Bosh.  The bench, while not good, can certainly play much better than they did last game in Miami.  Wade can play better, James can play better.  That being said it’s going to be a tough matchup in Indy over the next two games because of the home crowd and the fact that the Pacers have some confidence now.  David West has been the man and Roy Hibbert needs to get more involved.  West and Granger shot only 10-for-27 last game in the win so Miami isn’t the only team suffering shooting woes in these low scoring affairs.

We all know James and Wade are great players, but a 3-time MVP and a perennial all-star with a ring should be able to survive a second round series with the Pacers, but will they?  That’s the million dollar question. Either way the momentum of this series is going to swing in a huge way tonight.

Does Kobe Bryant have the answers on how to slow down the Thunder? We'll see if the aging legend can play chess against young superstars.

Los Angeles Lakers must show up to Oklahoma City ready to play tonight if they want to have any remote chance of winning the series.  After a 29-point blowout in game-1, it’s more important that they battle tonight than win in game-2.

Lakers hopes at this point are to make this a long series and somehow wear the Thunder down throughout.  Even if they lose tonight and fall 0-2, they  have a great home court advantage in the Staples Center.  If they can make it a hard fought game tonight that isn’t decided until the end then they can tip the series momentum a little before the it goes back to L.A.

Oklahoma City looks like they are the best team in basketball right now with the Spurs and Heat having arguments.  Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were unstoppable in the first game of the series and the role players played brilliantly.  If they play like that and jump shots are going in then all bets are off and these guys aren’t going to be beat.  There will be a championship parade in Oklahoma City of all places.  Lakers and Kobe Bryant have to play chess in this one and send a statement tonight that the Lakers are going to give them a long, brutal, fatiguing series against the young guns.

Lakers record is 2-17 when dropping the first two games of a series so that doesn’t support my theory.  However I just believe that the Lakers aren’t going to win tonight, but that they can still make it a series if they don’t let OKC win by double-figures.  Westbrook can’t shoot 10-for-15 or it’s game over again quickly, the Lakers have to get physical with these guys and eat them up in the paint.

Andrew Bynum is the player who could be dominant in this series for L.A., but they have to feed him the ball much more.  Kobe Bryant has to be an efficient scorer and dump the ball inside.  Mike Brown tried Bryant on Westbrook and that can’t happen again because he clearly doesn’t have young enough legs to keep up on defense and still be a weapon on offense.  Westbrook flat out embarrassed Bryant’s usually solid defense and that can’t happen again.  It’s time for Ramon Sessions to give it a go on guarding No. 0.

Oklahoma City is too good and the Lakers don’t stand much of a chance, but I can’t count out Bryant and the Lakers experience in long playoff series.  A message must be sent tonight because another 30-point blowout and the Thunder might come into the Staples and broom the Lakers which would result in mass hysteria in the Laker organization and some people will surely be losing their jobs.

LeBron James has to be the guy who gets points in the final moments games. The MVP showed lack of a killer instinct for the first time in this year's edition of the playoffs in a game-2 loss to the Pacers.

The age-old debate of LeBron James’ fourth quarter failures has reared its head for the first time in the ’12 playoffs as the Heat dropped one at home to Indiana.

Most will credit Chris Bosh being out with injury as the reason why, but the Heat had more than enough to win  if James and even more so Dwyane Wade could buy a jumper down the stretch of the game.  Wade went 8-for-22 on the game and missed the crucial ones that a star player must put in at home in the playoffs at the very end of the game.  Flash missed easy shots and Bosh wouldn’t have changed that.

James didn’t do anything wrong by kicking the ball out, but as the league’s Most Valuable Player you have to create points when you have a chance to put your team up one in the last minute of the game.  He made a good pass, but how many times am I going to hear people talk about Wade has realized it’s LeBron’s team and took the role of Robin.  No he hasn’t because if he had then he wouldn’t be shooting 22 times when he is clearly off.

James shot 10-for-22 and needed to shoot 35 times in my opinion.  With a big piece of the offense out, the biggest physical specimen the league has ever seen has to takeover.  Credit that to the Pacers stingy defense.  Paul George had an amazing block on unsuspecting James and they did an excellent job on him all game long.

These are the times when you want to see a scorers mentality from James down the stretch because that is what would truly make him the undisputed best player in the world.  The reason he gets crushed so hard when things like this happen is because he is so great that any flaw stands out and lack of killer instincts under the most extreme pressure is real.

He can’t be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world until he proves that he can get a chip and he wont get one unless he has the killer instinct to get buckets in the final seconds of games.  He’s the best player on the planet, but if he doesn’t win it this year I think Kevin Durant is going to.  Then you have a real argument of what type of player you would rather have.  Durant is more Jordan and LeBron is more Magic.  Either way I think this season is a defining moment for taking the career of both players to the next level of greatness.

TP9 vs CP3 starts tonight in San Antonio and should make for an exciting battle of elite true point guards.

Tonight the Spurs and Clippers play game one in San Antonio which means it’s the start of a war between point guards Chris Paul and Tony Parker, two of the best in the world.

Parker averaged 18.3 points per game on the season while dishing out 7.7 assists.  In the Spurs sweep of the Jazz he averaged 21 points and 6.5 assists.  He is having a season that has completely revived his career and reaffirmed the fact that he is a championship caliber leader and amazing playmaker.  The edge that he has over Paul is the experience and coach Pop at his disposal rather than Vinny Del Negro.  When you are talking about rings, Parker has quarterbacked the Spurs to the hardware three times and won the finals MVP in ’07.

Paul can stake a claim at being the best point guard in the world today, especially with Derrick Rose down and out with a torn up knee.  Paul is the Clippers closer and main scoring threat, but does everything on the court well.  He’s capable of a triple double at any time, is a brilliant passer, and is a true competitor with a passion for the game that runs deep.

CP3 averaged 20 points, 9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds for the season and has carried that over to the playoffs averaging 20 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game.  He flat out embarrasses good point guards as his daily routine and showed all his heart in leading the Clippers through a game seven win in Memphis.

This is about to be an exciting matchup of maybe the two best true point guards in the league going head to head for what I believe will be a long series.  The Spurs are extremely good and the definite favorites, but I don’t see Paul and the Clippers going out easy even though they are all banged up hurt.  It will be interesting to see who can get the upper edge as both point guards are used to controlling the tempo and taking what they want out there.

Russell Westbrook's outfit game may be on life support, but his hoop game is alive and well. He's taken the Thunder to the next level this season.

Russell Westbrook looked unstoppable against the Lakers scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-for-15 from the field. He cleaned the glass for seven rebounds, handed out nine assists and turned it over one time in 27 minutes.

He’s averaging 24.2 points per game, 5.2 assists, and 4.4 rebounds in five playoff games so far this post-season and in my mind has improved into a championship caliber player from last season.

Westbrook is too explosive for Kobe Bryant or Ramon Sessions to guard and when that jumper is going in then forget about it.  If he is shooting 10-for-15 from the field every game then the Thunder are the best team in basketball.  Kevin Durant combined with Westbrook has an argument for being the most dangerous duo in the league with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Last season Westbrook took all the media heat for jacking up shots and neglecting that Durant was on the floor in crucial situations.  There were also some questions about his temper and valid or not you just felt sorry for the young guy for catching heat.  He has clearly matured and grown in the last year and just looks so much more poised out there being a flat out scoring machine, but making the right basketball play also.  He provides so much firepower for a second scorer that I am starting to question if the Thunder can be stopped.  Especially with the level of play that James Harden gives combined with extremely solid role players.

Any comparisons to Stephon Marbury went out the door this season.  He hasn’t been selfish and he signed a big four-year-extension in late January to stay in Oklahoma City.  I really believe this is the year that these guys get to the finals.

Lakers, Spurs, Clippers are all good teams but the two killers in Oklahoma City give the Thunder firepower that nobody else has.  The role players around them are a strength because they know their job and they do it while a team like the Heat you have seen the other guys be weaknesses.  I’m not ready to say Thunder are going to win the finals just yet, but I have them there and the way Westbrook has elevated his game is the reason why. The only question is if he can continue this greatness the rest of the way and not get inconsistent

Chris Bosh is out indefinitely with an abdomen injury which means it's time for Flash and the King to show why they are considered two of the top players in the world.

Miami Heat finally caught the Eastern Conference playoff injury bug as Chris Bosh is out indefinitely with an abdominal strain suffered in the game-1 win over Indiana.

Bulls lost their MVP Derrick Rose which crippled them into getting beat by the 8-seed.  Knicks Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis to blown knee’s and Amare Stoudemire wasn’t right after sticking his hand through fire extinguisher glass.  Paul Pierce has been battling a knee injury and playing gimpy for Boston.  Josh Smith missed games in the first round series due to injury and it seemed for a while that Miami was the only team in the East completely healthy.

This is a big blow to Miami as Bosh was putting down 15 points and 7 rebounds per game in the playoffs and the Heat are 4-5 without him on the season.  However, they should thank the basketball gods that it wasn’t LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.  I still believe the Heat have the firepower in Batman and Robin to take care of the Pacers and win the East. I hate to look ahead, but it’s going to be tough to deal with Boston without Bosh, but James is a superstar phenom.  James is playing at a very high level and we’ve seen this before, but it feels like his time and he looks unstoppable out there.  There haven’t been two as dominate perimeter players on the same team since Mike and Scottie.

Pacers fans will rejoice, but it’s still hard to see Indy coming away with a series win in this one even without Bosh.  Heat will turn to Rony Turiaf, Udonis Haslem, and Joel Anthony to take up the low post spots while Bosh is out.  They will certainly miss the jump shooting ability of Bosh around the free throw line, but all that the injury means is that Flash and the King are going to have to take their game to another level to win.

If they are really two of the top-5 players in basketball then they should be able to take the Heat to the finals with or without Bosh.  Miami still will play lock-down defense and that’s a big part of the reason why they are so good.  It’s not just their ability to score points and with Bosh out, that defense is still going to be stingy and rock solid at leaving the opponent in the low 80′s.

Clippers survive a brutal game-7 road contest to advance and take on the Spurs in the second round. They will need the same kind of bench production as today to stand a chance in Texas.

I was waiting all game to see the game-7 fourth quarter heroics of Chris Paul, but it was the Clippers bench who pushed L.A. over the top of the Grizzlies in the slugfest that ended Memphis’ season.

Chris Paul did his thing with 19 points, nine rebounds, and four assists and the bench provided the knockout punch.

Kenyon Martin had a huge game off the bench with 11 points and 10 rebounds including 5-for-7 from the field and blocked two shots.  This guy never fails to bring the energy and has a smooth jumper that was on display when nobody else for either team could throw up anything besides a brick.  Martin was the main difference-maker at the most crucial time for his team and the 34-year-old looked relaxed and ready when everyone else had the jitters.

The bench’s backcourt of Nick Young and Eric Bledsoe came up big as well.  Young, yes the same guy who played half the season for the awful Wizards, nailed 2-for-3 from downtown and hit for 13 points while Bledsoe went for eight points and three assists in the second half.  Mo Williams also hit on 4-for-9, adding nine crucial points.

Reggie Evans attempted zero shots, but pulled down nine big rebounds.  Only five played off the bench for the Clippers and all made the impact necessary to come away with a rare game-7 road win.

The defense that they put on the Memphis bench was lock-down.  Grizzlies reserves went a combined 4-for-18 from the field including 1-for-11 from supposed offensive spark O.J. Mayo.  Mayo is a free-agent and his return was in doubt before, but now I would be shocked if he ever plays in a Memphis jersey again.

Clippers move on to take on the San Antonio Spurs and I think L.A. can provide enough to make it another long and tough series, but they will have to find more offense or the 1-seed in the West will send them on vacation.