How many NBA playoff game sevens will there be?
Hunter Felt www.theguardian.com hunter-felt
<p><strong>Hunter Felt:</strong> Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks force game sixes against the Philadelphia 76ers, LA Lakers and Boston Celtics; but Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz are out</p>
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the Guardian
On Tuesday four teams had the opportunity to knock their opponents out of the NBA Playoffs, yet only one team did. The Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers were all up 3-1 on their opponents and just needed one more win to advance to the second round. When the last scheduled game ended, roughly around last call on the East Coast, every team remained standing except for the Orlando Magic, whose first round exit was all but predetermined. A Lakers comeback fell short, the Celtics made some key mistakes and the 76ers just plain stunk. On Monday, when the San Antonio Spurs swept the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers took a 3-1 lead on the Memphis Grizzlies, it seemed possible that not a single series would even make it to game six. Now hopes remain that the first round of the NBA player could showcase several of that greatest thing in sports: a Game Seven.

Playoff scores and schedule

1. The Indiana Pacers vanquished the Orlando Magic

One could make the case that Dwight Howard's decision to have back surgery eliminated the Orlando Magic before the postseason even began, but on Tuesday night the Indiana Pacers officially closed them out, 105-87. This talented, if not incredibly star-powered, Pacers team will now wait to find out if they will be facing the Miami Heat or the New York Knicks in the next round. *Spoiler Alert*: It will be Miami. Pacers fans were chanting "Beat the Heat" and not "Nix the Knicks" at the end of the game for a good reason.

The Orlando Magic's first round exit gives the organization time to deal with a rather messy offseason. First, the team has to figure out whether to keep or trade Dwight Howard, the team's best player, irreplaceable superstar and part-time indecisive enigma. Howard agreed not to opt-out of his contract this summer (we think) during an incredibly confusing Trade Deadline negotiation this year, but the problem with the Magic structuring its entire line-up around Howard is that with Howard injured, the Magic had almost no chance of getting out of the first round.

As a second order of business, the Magic have to work on replacing head coach Stan Van Gundy who left the team after a season of publically feuding with Howard and essentially doing his best impression of Ron Livingston in "Office Space", not even faking the desire to still work for the organization. This blog was vaguely surprised he wasn't filling out job applications for a network analyst gig during the game themselves.

Wait, Stan Van Gundy is still technically with the team? Well, in that case, when his absence becomes official in a few days, just re-read the above paragraph.

2. The Chicago Bulls and the Denver Nuggets aren't dead yet

It seems inevitable that one of the remaining series will make it to a Game Seven. There's no way the Basketball Gods would allow three out of four teams in 3-1 deficits survive in a single night if the plan weren't to have at least one Winner Take All Game in the near future. The Chicago Bulls and the Denver Nuggets both did their part to keep the possibility alive, as they defeated their favored opponents.

Despite a last minute run spurred on by Kobe Bryant, the Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 102-99. Bryant made three straight three pointers late in the game to keep the Lakers in it, but his hot shots turned brutally cold at the very end of the game, when he missed his final three. Meanwhile JaVale McGee, perhaps the most unreliable potentially star-caliber player in the league, took over the game with 21 points and 14 rebounds. The playoffs can transform a player's legacy, and this night transformed the player best known for being a YouTube sensation for all the wrong reasons from the Human Lowlight Reel to the Human Highlight Reel. Thanks partly to him, the series is now 3-2 and suddenly the Clippers aren't the L.A. team most likely to play a Game Seven this round.

Meanwhile the Chicago Bulls, the Walking Dead of the NBA, defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 77-69 in an on-court battle that was less of a game and more of an extended infomercial for Not Watching Basketball. Without Derrick Rose and with Joakim Noah still a "game-time decision", which is typically Bulls-speak for "out indefinitely", it doesn't seem like Chicago would be the ideal candidate to survive long enough to force a Game Seven, but with Philadelphia playing the way they are, that door is still open.

3. The Boston Celtics gift the Atlanta Hawks a season saving win

Like an existential hooligan committing a petty crime for its own sake, Rajon Rondo stole the ball from Josh Smith and ended up taking it nowhere. Rondo's last second miscue, committed under the twin pressures of Atlanta's defense and the rapidly dwindling game clock, wasn't the only mistake that doomed the Celtics. Paul Pierce airballed what could have been the difference-making shot and head coach Doc Rivers, who knows how to draw up last minute plays, burnt his timeouts a tad too early in the game. The Atlanta Hawks ended up defeating the Boston Celtics 87-86 in a game where the C's sometimes seemed eager to fly home for a now-necessary game six.

Much credit must go to the Atlanta Hawks, who played with center Al Horford starting for the first time since January. The Hawks took advantage of a Celtics team that stopped playing defense in the third period and its point guard, Rondo, who waited until too long in the game to shift into "takeover mode". The Hawks outplayed the Celtics in so many aspects that it's a bit surprising that the game was even close enough for Boston to have that last second game-winning shot opportunity. Certainly it seems the Celtics should be able to put away this flawed Hawks team in game six, but if the Celtics keep playing careless and sometimes indifferent basketball - "cool basketball" as Rivers once described it after a particularly poor regular season effort - that may not happen. Losing home field advantage on the last day of the regular season may loom large for Boston if this series somehow, improbably becomes the one to reach Game Seven.

4. The night before: Spurs tuned out Jazz, Clippers pushed Grizzlies to brink

Cheer up, Utah Jazz. You still outlasted the defending champions. Now, granted it was only because your game four was scheduled after the fourth game of the Oklahoma City Thunder/Dallas Mavericks showdown, but still. On Monday, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Utah Jazz 87-81, easily completing a sweep thanks to the re-reemergence of sixth man extraordinaire Manu Ginobili. Simply sneaking into the playoffs was the best case scenario for the painfully young Jazz, who did not have much of a chance once they arrived considering that the "Still Promising" Al Jefferson was their centerpiece player and almost counted as part of the team's "veteran presence".

The NBA postseason tends to favors experience over youth, and no team in the West has more experience than the Spurs. The Spurs are given so much credit for being a crafty group of experienced players that, people refer to star guard Tony Parker as a veteran, despite the fact that he has yet to turn 30, simply because of the company that he keeps. With a well-rested Tim Duncan at its helm, San Antonio played Utah as if they were using a cheat code to cruise through a video game. The Spurs will go on to face the winner of the Memphis Grizzlies/Los Angeles Clippers series in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

That series has yet to be decided, although the Clippers now have a 3-1 advantage, a reality which must be rough for the Grizzlies. The series would be even at 2-2 had the Grizzlies not let the Clippers back into the opening game of the series, blowing a 24 point lead that must have seemed all but unblowable. Instead, in the actual world, Monday night the Clippers beat the Grizzlies 101-97 in overtime, even without the aid of Blake Griffin, who fouled out of the game. It was another close win by the Clippers, and another near miss by the reeling Grizzlies who, shades of the already dispatched Dallas Mavericks, face elimination despite having had a good chance to win every game they've played. As Chris Paul put it "It's good TV, man, get the ratings up. We don't want any blowouts".

Yet it is good TV, Chris, but you know what would be better TV? A Game Seven.

5. Other things we've learned

It's the tenth anniversary of the most memorable rant in NBA history. Don't know what that is? I'll give you a hint regarding the Answer: It's not a game. Not a game.

Baron Davis's gruesome injury in Sunday's Heat/Knicks game may end up being career-ending. Hey, these were never promised to only be "fun things we've learned", sometimes these are "really kind of depressing things we've learned".

Sick of hearing about the Knicks, Free Darko founder Bethlehem Shoals engaged New York fan Jason "netw3rk" Coneption in a spirited debate in order to determine why exactly the Knicks get so much coverage. Hint: They play in New York. I agree, too much talk about the Knicks on my Twitter timeline is drowning out valuable Avery "My Guy" Bradley updates.

Steve Nash will be the general manager of the Canadian Olympic Basketball team because, seriously, it's Steve Nash and it's the Canadian Olympic Basketball team. He couldn't be a more logical choice if he were asked to GM the Steve Nash Is the GM of This Team Team.

There is no better way to celebrate JaVale McGee's dramatic performance against the L.A. Lakers than watching some of his earlier career highlights set to music from free jazz pioneer Henry Threadgill. It just makes perfect sense. Yes I have been up all night writing, why do you ask?