The Silver Stern Times

Monday, April 27, 2015 Special Section

PLAYOFF RACE

The road to winning it all

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AP

GRAPHIC BY TAYLOR BRIGHTWELL

LOGOS COURTESY OF ESPN

2015 NBA Playoff Predictions

Top teams and analysis of first round matchups

By Zach Buckley for The Bleacher Report
Sundays four-game slate of NBA playoff action will
almost certainly produce some memorable moments.
The last time these eight teams squared off, three of the
four contests were decided by single digitsone by only
two points. In the fourth, this seasonss Defensive Player of
the Year, Kawhi Leonard, dominated the offensive end as
his San Antonio Spurs forged ahead in the first rounds only
series to be knotted at one win apiece.
The star power in all four outings is strong, highlighted
by four-time MVP LeBron James and James Harden, one
of this seasons top candidates for the coveted award. The
stakes are even higher. The Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors
and Dallas Mavericks are all fighting for their playoff lives.
Will this be a broom-filled round of basketball spring
cleaning? Or will historys astronomical edge given to clubs
with a 3-0 series lead be rendered moot for a day?
Were here to help answer those questions and provide
everything you need to know about the four battles awaiting the Association.
The pesky Boston Celtics have gotten closer to victory in

each game, as they trailed by just three with 2:17 to go in

their 103-95 loss to Cleveland on Thursday.
But the Cavaliers, with more top-level talent and playoff
experience, havent seemed very threatened in any game. Its
hard to envision a different outcome in Sundays showdown.
Clevelands heavyweight trio of James, Kyrie Irving and
Kevin Love has controlled this series from the start. The
three have combined for 68.3 points, 20.7 rebounds and
13.7 assists per game, easily outperforming the best Boston
has to offer.
Love has been the lowest-scoring member of that triumvirate at 18.3 points a night. Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics
leading scorer, has gone for 16.3 points per game.
Boston has had an even tougher time keeping pace on the
glass. The Cavs are averaging 6.7 more rebounds a night,
with three of those extra boards coming at the offensive end
alone.
There have been missed shots and missed rebounds and
missed opportunities, wrote Adam Himmelsbach of The
Boston Globe. There has been a sense that even though all

Playoff Predictions continued on Pg. 3

ON THE INSIDE

Costly Mistakes
Bulls fall short in game
four against Bucks,
turnovers to blame.

Pg. 4

Staying Hungry
Warriors sweep Pelicans and advance to
second round.

Pg. 5

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AP

READ MORE

www.silversterntimes.com

www.silversterntimes.com

The Silver Stern Times

SPECIAL SECTION PLAYOFF RACE

Monday, April 27, 2015

Clippers tie series in crucial game 4 against Spurs

Doc Rivers harsh critiques of game 3 motivate Clippers team to tie series 2-2
By Arash Markazi for ESPN
On Saturday, the day after the Los Angeles Clippers were
embarrassed by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of their
first-round series, Doc Rivers didnt hold a practice. He told
his players to get some sleep and regroup inside the Navarro
Room, a ballroom at The Westin Riverwalk at 2 p.m.
The only thing as brutal as the Clippers effort on the
court was Rivers scathing commentary, as he watched the
film along with the players and took them to task.
Doc pretty much went at all of us, Chris Paul said. He
told us about ourselves, told us about what we didnt do in
Game 3. And he told us, when it comes to the playoffs, its
the players time.
The Clippers responded with an impressive 114-105

win over the Spurs to tie

the series at 2-2, essentially
turning it into a three-game series with two of the next
PLAYER
three in Los Angeles.
While Rivers challenged
his players during the film
OF GAME 4
session, he also wanted to
show them they werent out
of the series because of one
lopsided game. That can
Chris Paul
happen during the course of a seven-game series.
PG #3
Whats crazy about it,
we were in there for like
two and half hours, and the thing I think we all took
away was we dont have to
change our game plan. We
34 points
dont have to change our
schemes, Blake Griffin said.
3 rebounds
We just have to do what we were supposed to do better,
7 assists
and we didnt do that on
Friday night. I want to say
we didnt do a single thing
that we wanted to do Friday
night, and tonight was
different. We just came out
with a different spirit, and it Harsh Critic. Clippers Coach Doc Rivers stands courtside,
PHOTO BY GARRETT ELLWOOD
GRAPHIC BY TAYLOR BRIGHTWELL
was great to see.
frustrated during tough game 3 loss against Spurs.
During the film session,
Rivers challenged his playIm not making shots and help my team. Im going to keep
ers to contribute something to the team even if they were
looking to score and having fun.
struggling offensively. He pointed out time after time where
Austin Rivers has been the punchline of Internet jokes
someones individual struggles on offense led to breakdowns since his dad traded for him in January. He is the point
on defense.
guard and often the scapegoat of the Clippers ineffective
My dad said before the game, If youre not making
second unit, and the fact that hes the coachs son obviously
shots, what else are you going to do for us? Austin Rivers
doesnt help matters. And while his teammates have playfulsaid. That was my mindset. Im going to play hard even if
ly teased him throughout the season, highlighted by Blake
Griffins viral video impersonation of Rivers, they
knew they would need him
on Sunday. He responded
by scoring 16 points and
hitting seven of his eight
shots from the field.
I came into one of the
timeouts, and I told Austin,
I said, Man, I trust you,
I believe in you, be aggressive, Chris Paul said.
Without his production
today, we dont win the
game.
Paul scored a game-high
34 points but was in foul
trouble late, playing most of
the fourth quarter with five
fouls. Blake Griffin had 20

Clippers win:
continued on Pg. 5

The Silver Stern Times

SPECIAL SECTION PLAYOFF RACE

Monday, April 27, 2015

www.silversterntimes.com

Playoff Predictions: continued from Pg. 1

three games in this series were close for stretches, the Celtics
remained so very far away.
Bostons rebuilding project appears a few steps ahead of
schedule, and the Celtics havent let anything come easily
for Cleveland.
But this series is what most thought it would be. The
Celtics shattered their preseason expectations simply by
making the playoffs.

CAVS STATS
LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving
average a combined
68.3 points 20.7 rebounds 13.7 assists
GRAPHIC BY TAYLOR BRIGHTWELL

The Cavs have been a popular championship pick all year,

and theyll take their first significant step toward reaching
that goal by dispatching their first-round opponents with a
series-ending triumph Sunday.
Prediction: Cavaliers 101, Celtics 90
The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers both
carried intriguing championship credentials into their colossal first-round clash.
LA and San Antonio finished the regular season ranked

Playing to win. LeBron James slams it home in first round game against The Boston Celtics.
See more photos at www.silversterntimes.com

second and third in point differential, respectively. The first

two matchups of this series looked like a heavyweight prizefight, as the Clippers drew first blood with a 107-92 win
and the Spurs answered with a 111-107 overtime victory.
But everything changed once this series shifted to the
Alamo City. San Antonio strolled to a 100-73 triumph in
Game 3, silencing a Clippers offense that paced the
league in efficiency both this
season and last.
The Spurs struck early
and often, with their most

PHOTO COURTESY OF USA TODAY

damaging blows coming courtesy of Kawhi Leonards massive mitts. The reigning Finals MVP poured in a career-high
32 points, hitting 13 of the 18 shots he launched in less
than 29 minutes.
LA, meanwhile, got uncharacteristically sloppy performances from All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The
typically dominant duo missed 17 of their 26 shots and
coughed up nine giveaways. As the offensive execution
sagged, the defensive effort went with it.
We have had this a couple times this year...where we lose
our spirit because we cant make shots, Clippers coach Doc
Rivers said, per Fox Sports Wests Jill Painter Lopez. Thats
what I thought happened as the game went on, every time
we missed a shot, we played less defense.
The defending champion Spurs can smell blood, and this
veteran group doesnt want to extend this series longer than
it needs to go. But the Clippers could have an even more
powerful motivation: desperation.
A 3-1 deficit to San Antonio would feel like a death sentence. Bounce-back efforts from Paul and Griffin will keep
it from being handed out.
Prediction: Clippers 104, Spurs 100
Both the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors
struggled down the final stretch of the 82-game marathon.
But the Wizards are the only ones showing signs of life
since.
Washington has had an answer for everything thrown at
it by a Toronto offense that ranked third in efficiency during
the regular season. The Wizards have held the typically
high-scoring trio of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Lou
Williams to an abysmal 48-of-149 shooting (32.2 percent).
Thats part of the reason Washington has survived the
shooting struggles of John Wall (36.7 percent) and Bradley

Playoff Predictions: continued on Pg. 6

The Silver Stern Times

SPECIAL SECTION PLAYOFF RACE

www.silversterntimes.com

Monday, April 27, 2015

Monday, April 27, 2015

Bulls lose game 4 against

Bucks, commit 28 turnovers

Clippers win:
continued from Pg. 2

Bulls look to limit mistakes to close series in game 5

BULLS

Jimmy Butler, SG #21

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

33 points

18 points

7 rebounds
2 assists
3 steals

3 rebounds
4 assists
4 steals

BUCKS

O.J. Mayo, SG #00

GRAPHIC BY TAYLOR BRIGHTWELL

By Nick Friedell
for ESPN

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP

Keep Control. Pau Gasol passes the ball below the rim in
game 4 against Milwaukee Bucks.

We got plenty of guys that can

make plays, make shots, so to sit there
and hold the ball and let them strip
you, just doesnt make sense.
- Mike Dunleavy, SF #34

After watching his

team turn the ball over a
season-high 28 times in
a Game 4 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks, even Mike Dunleavy, the easy-going veteran
Chicago Bulls guard, sounded angry about what he had just
witnessed.
You got to give them credit, Dunleavy said of the
Bucks defense, before revealing where his frustration really
stemmed from. But for whatever reason ... were not understanding the spacing and where we need to be and where
were coming from. After four games, its like its getting
worse. It should be getting better. Well take a look at the
film again, but we either got to get it by now, or I dont
know when its going to happen because we have a bunch of
guys who just want to hold the ball.
We got plenty of guys that can make plays, make shots,
so to sit there and hold the ball and let them strip you, just
doesnt make sense.
The Bulls have turned the ball over 76 times in four
games against the Bucks, an alarming number for any team
at any time, but especially bad for a playoff team with
championship aspirations. Dunleavy and his teammates
remain confident theyll be able to close out the Bucks in

Game 5 on Monday night, but they know they must clean

up their mistakes in advance of the upcoming showdown
against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
You turn it over 28 times, there are some pretty amazing
ways to do it, Dunleavy said after Sundays film session. At
some point you start becoming creative, and it was pretty
amazing the way we turned it over, but hopefully well fix
it.
Like his players, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is not
pleased with the amount of giveaways the Bulls have made
in this series.
We want 13 or less, Thibodeau said. Thats an awfully
high number we gotta get down.
So how do the Bulls get them down and close out the
Bucks on Monday?
When Hall of Fame NBA writer Sam Smith mentioned
to Dunleavy on Sunday that with the Bucks usually doubling Pau Gasol or trapping Derrick Rose, there should be
somebody open, the veteran guard raised his arms over his
head and a smile started to break across his face.
Ahhh, Dunleavy said, with a sense of relief and happiness, as if he had finally found someone who understood his
pain.
Yes. Man, youre brilliant. That, in theory, is what were
trying to do. Make that ball move, get it out of the double
team and take advantage of four-on-three on the weakside
or whatever it may be.

points and 19 rebounds but

was in foul trouble as well.
Both players went up to
Austin during the game and
told them they needed him
to be aggressive.
Ive learned a lot of
things playing with [Paul]
and just the way he carries
us every night and he came
up to me, and he said, Yo,
man. I need your help,
Rivers said. And that just
put a lot of confidence in
me. Chris Paul believes in
me. I know I can do it. I
believe in myself. Why not?
Why not me? Just play hard.
Youre going to make and
miss shots. Youre not going
to go 6-for-7 or 7-for-8
every night, but if you play
hard, youll be fine.
After Sundays game,
many players were still
talking about Saturdays film
session, as they left the arena
to board their flight back to
Los Angeles. If their season
ends up extending past next
week and next month, it
will likely be viewed as a
turning point for a group
still trying to find themselves.
It was good for us, Rivers said. We held each other
accountable in the meeting,
and guys said what they had
to say and it helped us. It
was a big growing moment
for us.

The Silver Stern Times

SPECIAL SECTION PLAYOFF RACE

www.silversterntimes.com

Warriors sweep Pelicans

Will host winner of Portland-Memphis matchup
From the Associated Press

PHOTOS COURTESY OF USA TODAY

Positive Momentum. Top: Klay Thompson embraces

Stephen Curry after the Warriors sweep the Pelicans.
Curry and Thompson combined for 64 points in game
4. Bottom: Stephen Curry rises to shoot over 6-foot-10
Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis.

Stephen Curry wasnt about to say that

shooting over Anthony Davis was easy.
The Warriors prolific scorer was just
crafty enough to make it look that way
sometimes.
Equally devastating from long range and
on drives to the hoop, Curry scored 39
points, and the Golden State Warriors took
a 109-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night, completing a sweep
of their first-round playoff series.
I knew he was crafty, I mean, a great
shooter, Davis said of Curry, who averaged
33.8 points in the series. Theres nothing
you can do. You try to pressure him and
run him off the [3-point] line and hell
hit incredible shots in the lane. You back
off so he wont drive, hes going to hit a
3. So youve got to pick your poison, and
hes a tough player to guard. Thats why
hes [a candidate] for MVP.
Klay Thompson added 25 points for
the Warriors, the NBAs top overall seed,
who will wait to host Game 1 of their
second-round series against the winner of
the Portland-Memphis matchup.
Im proud of the way we played, the
way we competed, Curry said. Four in
a row is a good feeling. Were going to
rest up.
Draymond Green added 22 points and
10 rebounds for Golden State, which
raced to a 67-54 halftime lead and widened
the gap to as many as 24 points in the second half before the desperate Pelicans briefly
cut their deficit to single digits in the final
minutes.
Curry had eight rebounds and nine assists

in Game 4.
What weve been through playing against
Steph sometimes, its not fair, Pelicans
coach Monty Williams said. Steph is like,
hes on a different level -- some of the shots
he makes, his command of the ball, his
ability to finish. The moment doesnt bother
him.

PLAY BY PLAY

GRAPHIC BY TAYLOR BRIGHTWELL

He is in the elite of the elite right now,

and hes after something and you can tell by
the way hes playing.
Davis had 36 points and 11 rebounds to
close out what has been a remarkable third
season for the Pelicans 22-year-old franchise
player. He just didnt have quite enough
help on either end of the court.
The 6-foot-10 Davis is one of few big
men quick and agile enough to guard the
NBAs top perimeter players, and he usually
has a height advantage about as significant
as the 7 inches he had on Curry.
Curry was 6-of-8 from deep, while
Thompson was 4-of-7 and Green 3-of-6.
The first three games all came down to
the wire, and then I thought tonight was
our best effort of the series, Warriors coach
Steve Kerr said. Im very pleased with the
effort, and Im very pleased I dont have to
see Anthony Davis until November at the
earliest.

Warriors sweep: continued on Pg. 6

www.silversterntimes.com

Playoff Predictions: continued from Pg. 3

Beal (39.3). But an even bigger key has been the consistently stellar play of veterans Paul Pierce (16 points per game,
53.8 percent shooting) and Marcin Gortat (16, 70.0) and
sophomore Otto Porter (10.3, 63.2).
Pierce, in particular, has given Toronto major headachesand not only with his trash-talking. He has routine-

The Silver Stern Times

SPECIAL SECTION PLAYOFF RACE
ly torched the Raptors defense while being deployed as a
stretch 4, a look the Wizards rarely used during the season.

We were saving it for the playoffs.

- Paul Pierce, SF #34
We were saving it for the playoffs, Pierce said after his
18-point performance in Fridays 106-99 win, per Jorge

Monday, April 27, 2015

Castillo of The Washington Post.
Torontos defense has been an issue all year. This series
is not going to fix it. The Wizards are bullying the Raptors
inside and out. Wall has had problems igniting his own offense, but hes done a masterful job of setting the table (13.3
assists against 3.7 turnovers).
The Raptors only hope is to overwhelm the Wizards with
offense. But that isnt happening, with Lowry battling both
injuries and inefficiency.
Washington should put
Toronto out of its misery
without needing to leave the
District.
Prediction: Wizards
105, Raptors 94
The Dallas Mavericks
gamble on mercurial point
guard Rajon Rondo was an
unmitigated disaster. But
theres a reason they felt
compelled to make that
move.
Rondo, at his best, was
Dallas best shot at plugging
its defensive leaks on the
perimeter. And now that his
Mavs days appear over, this
team is frantically searching
for a serviceable defensive
formula that involves Monta
Ellis, Dirk Nowitzki, J.J.
Barea, Amare Stoudemire
and Raymond Felton.
Youd have an easier time
discovering the fountain of
youth.
The Mavs have major defensive issues. The Houston
Rockets have James Harden.
Guess which side is winning
this war.
Dallas racked up 128
points Friday, shot 52.3
percent from the field, got
34 points from both Ellis
and Nowitzkiand still
lost. Harden feasted on
the Rondo-less, Chandler
Parsons-less Mavs for 42
points and nine assists. Josh
Smith and Corey Brewer
combined for 33 points on
13-of-26 shooting. Dwight
Howard dominated the
other end with 26 rebounds,
two blocks and two steals.
The Mavericks have been
outgunned. Out-coached.
Outplayed. And, in the
end, out-superstarred,
wrote Jerome Solomon of
the Houston Chronicle on
Friday. In a couple of days,
they are likely to be out of
the playoffs.
Dallas cant simply outscore Houston. This series
has already proved that.
And the Mavs cant stop the
Rockets, either. Not with so
many liabilities on that side
of the ball.
The quicker the Rockets
wrap this up, the more time
theyll have to rest before
drawing the Clippers-Spurs
winner. Space City should
sleep well Sunday night.

Warriors sweep:
continued from Pg. 5

PHOTO COURTESY OF CBS SPORTS

Sharp Shooter. Stephen

Curry looks out at the crowd
after game 4 win.

The Pelicans said they had

no intention of giving up,
no matter how bleak their
series deficit looked. They
looked competitive early on,
but Golden States accurate
perimeter shooting made
effective defense a difficult
proposition.
Then, needing a strong
third quarter, the Pelicans
instead struggled offensively,
hitting only five of 18 shots.
The Warriors led 87-63
on Harrison Barnes dunk
late in the third quarter, and
the lead was 21 entering the
fourth.