Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers, Eastern Semis Game 6: Fan Playoff Preview (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 13:14:00 PDT)
The Boston Celtics played with purpose in Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers knowing their season was on the line. While a 2-2 tie in a best of seven series may not seem like pressure, a win puts the team just a game away while a loss puts the team's back against the wall, especially with Game 6 to be played on the road.

Jordan, Bird, Magic and Co. have produced NBA playoffs' most iconic moments (RealClearSports.com)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 22:24:59 PDT)
Jordan, Bird, Magic, Wilt and Co. have produced some of the playoffs' most memorable moments.

Kevin Garnett's passion fuels Celtics' Game 5 win over Sixers
(Mon, 21 May 2012 22:22:26 PDT)
Even at 36 years old, Kevin Garnett remains as emotional as ever.

Column: Same skills, new mindset for LeBron? (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 17:51:44 PDT)
Spectacular as it seemed, it was nothing we haven't seen from LeBron James before.

Pacers-Heat Preview (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 14:18:51 PDT)
MIAMI (AP) On the plane ride home from Indiana, Miami guard Dwyane Wade was watching a LeBron James highlight tape. It was otherwise known as Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

LeBron, Heat rest up for Game 5 with Pacers (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 14:17:21 PDT)
MIAMI (AP) On the plane ride home from Indiana, Miami guard Dwyane Wade was watching a LeBron James highlight tape. It was otherwise known as Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Magic fire coach Van Gundy, GM Smith
(Mon, 21 May 2012 13:21:13 PDT)
The NBA's Orlando Magic fired coach Stan van Gundy and agreed to part ways with general manager Otis Smith on Monday after they were eliminated from the first round of the play-offs by the Indiana Pacers.

Mike D’Antoni breaks silence on New York Knicks exit: ‘An obstacle had to be removed’ (Ball Don't Lie)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 12:40:18 PDT)
Mike D'Antoni has maintained a pretty low profile since resigning from the post of head coach of the New York Knicks two months ago, on the heels of a six-game losing streak, the day before the NBA's trading deadline. While everyone else talked — about where the Knicks would turn next in their ceaseless search for a savior , about how the refusal to look inward for solutions has poisoned the Knicks' organizational culture , about whether D'Antoni really stepped down or a certain isolation-loving forward who never seemed at peace with the coach's spread pick-and-roll, ball-movement-dependent system demanded his ouster, etc. — D'Antoni just exited stage left, watched as the Knicks ripped off an 18-6 run under interim head coach Mike Woodson before being eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Miami Heat, and kept quiet. Until now. D'Antoni recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with legendary basketball scribe Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated. McCallum spent a season in the coach's hip pocket while writing a pretty cool book about how D'Antoni was evolving the modern conception of NBA offense with the Phoenix Suns. In the resultant piece, D'Antoni shoots down rumors that he's interested in leading the Orlando Magic ("When I saw those stories, I immediately texted Stan [Van Gundy, the Magic coach] and told him it was bull----"), bristles over McCallum's description of his exit ("Could you use the word 'resign?' It hurts when I even hear the word 'quit'") and recalls his wife Laurel's response when he told her he was resigning ("She told me I should stop at the store on my way home because we were out of milk"). [Adrian Wojnarowski: LeBron James delivers for Heat at the most critical time ] And, of course, he addressed the elephant in the room — what role that iso-loving forward played in the process:

LeBron James won’t even give Lance Stephenson half a bar (Ball Don't Lie)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 09:00:32 PDT)
''Lance Stephenson? You want a quote about Lance Stephenson? I'm not even going to give him the time. Knock it off.'' -- LeBron James, donning his  hater blockers on Saturday, according to Tom Withers of the Associated Press . That's just textbook shoulder-brushing form by the Miami Heat star, who utterly dismissed the sideline choking gesture offered during Game 3 by Lance Stephenson (who has scored fewer points in his two-year NBA career than James has in his last five playoff games ) before going out Sunday and producing one of the greatest playoff performances in recent memory to tie his Heat's Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Indiana Pacers at two games apiece. That James' performance came after Stephenson apologized for the gesture, and in a contest that saw the second-year reserve out of Louisville catch his sixth DNP-CD in Indy's nine postseason games, makes this all the more delicious. Reached for comment on the matter, Stephenson said nothing, ever again, for the rest of his life.

Company pulls anti-Seattle, Oklahoma City Thunder T-shirts after receiving death threats (Ball Don't Lie)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 08:00:53 PDT)
The New York Times' Howard Beck, on his way from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City to cover Monday's Game 5 between the Lakers and Thunder, uncovered this rather shady T-shirt design on Sunday . The Thunder aren't exactly giving these rags out at the door, but that didn't stop our initial post on the T-shirts on Monday morning from inspiring a world of outrage on Twitter, and apparent death threats sent the way of Warpaint Clothing, the company that humorlessly put the duds together -- utilizing the former Seattle SuperSonics logo along the way. Rightfully, just one Thunder fan deciding to purchase this and pull it over their head is enough for us to break out the Patented BDL Tsk-Tsk Geiger Counter -- and as a result Warpaint has decided to stop selling the shirts because of death threats sent its way in reaction. To reiterate, Oklahoma City didn't wrest its current team out of Seattle because 37 selected fans and civic leaders won a free-throw shooting contest. It didn't "win" the team by being the quickest to press buttons in some trivia contest at a local chicken wing joint ( "PRESS 'B!' It's 'Romancing the Stone!' Hurry!" ), and the presiding genius of GM Sam Presti is no reflection on either level of fandom emanating from either Oklahoma City or Seattle. No, the current Oklahoma City Thunder are not the former Seattle SuperSonics mainly because former owner (and current Guy That Bilks You Out of Money Every Day For Your Starbucks Fix, You Silly Twit) Howard Schultz didn't think twice before selling a basketball team needing a new stadium to an ownership group from a city that had already proven it could be a fantastic host for an NBA team, with a new stadium at its disposal. [Related: Kobe, Metta World Peace technicals bury Lakers in Game 5 ]

Heat Wave: James, Wade combine for 70 in Heat win (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 00:38:35 PDT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) As the clock ticked down to a precious few seconds, LeBron James threw his right arm around Dwyane Wade's neck and pulled his teammate close.

Behind the Box Score, where the Heat grabbed control behind LeBron James’ amazing afternoon (Ball Don't Lie)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 23:05:36 PDT)
Miami Heat 101, Indiana Pacers 93 (series tied, 2-2) Dwyane Wade came alive and LeBron James had a game for the ages on Sunday afternoon. All signs pointed to the Heat's dynamic duo flipping the proverbial switch, as they put the Pacers away, so what took so long? Why, a week into this series, did it take four games for the Heat to come alive? Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was absolutely correct in pointing out that none of us should be surprised that a series between a second and third seed will be a long battle "without much variance," but we're probably just as correct in wondering where the heck Udonis Haslem was in Game 3 of his team's long series with the Indiana Pacers. Even before Haslem's jump shots helped put the Pacers away in Miami's Game 4 win over Indiana on Sunday, Spoelstra's adjustments won Miami this game. He put two of the best players in NBA history in a position to succeed, and his work (even when Indiana was up, in the first quarter) won the Heat this game.

LeBron brushes off Stephenson controversy (The SportsXchange)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 21:10:09 PDT)
In the pantheon of players essentially blown off over the years by LeBron James, a list that includes DeShawn Stevenson among others, add the name of Lance Stephenson.

Heat's LeBron James picks critical time for one of his best playoff performances ever
(Sun, 20 May 2012 20:56:22 PDT)
LeBron James carried the Heat, especially Dwyane Wade, back into the series against the Pacers.

Report: Wade had knee drained before Game 3 (The SportsXchange)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 20:01:12 PDT)
Although Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has downplayed the injury to his knee during the series against Indiana, he had his knee drained on Wednesday prior to Thursday's Game 3 loss, ESPN.com reported Sunday based on multiple sources.

James, Wade take home-court edge from Pacers (The SportsXchange)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 19:51:11 PDT)
And just like that, the home-court advantage is gone for the Indiana Pacers. And they can blame LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for that.

James, Wade combine for 70 as Heat win Game 4 (The Associated Press)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 19:27:11 PDT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The coveted NBA championship, the one LeBron James needs to validate everything, was vanishing.

Heat overpower Pacers to tie playoff series
(Sun, 20 May 2012 19:19:57 PDT)
(Reuters) - LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 70 points as the Miami Heat recovered from back-to-back defeats to grind down the Indiana Pacers 101-93 on Sunday and level the NBA's Eastern conference semi-final at 2-2.

James and Wade power NBA Heat past Pacers
(Sun, 20 May 2012 17:24:40 PDT)
LeBron James finished with 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists and Dwyane Wade had 30 points as the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 101-93 to level their series at 2-2.

James, Wade combine for 70 points in Heat victory (The SportsXchange)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 17:01:10 PDT)
INDIANAPOLIS -- This time, the power of two was enough.

Heat 101, Pacers 93 (The SportsXchange)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 15:31:15 PDT)
INDIANAPOLIS -- This time, the power of two was enough.