SH Blog: Pierce Done In Boston? Curry Stars On And Off The Court; LeBron Open About 2010 “Phantom” Injury

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Paul PierceNothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm.

And for Paul Pierce, leader of the “old man’s pick-up game,” that adage will define his career as one of the greatest Boston Celtics in its storied history.

This is not to begin mourning the death of his Celtics life, but to understand what it all meant if reports today from Greg Dickerson are true

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SH Blog: Raptors, Sixers decide on GMs; Hollins declines credit for stopping Durant

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The Warriors knocked off the Spurs today to knot their series back up, 2-2. And they did it with Steph Curry on a balky ankle. Tomorrow night, the Thunder and Bulls will try to even up their series as well. If you know who’s going to win each of these series, you could probably make a fortune. The NBA future is about as unclear as it ever gets right about now.

For a couple teams, though, the future is getting a little clearer. Or at least the major players in that future. In today’s blog, we’ve got news on two NBA teams making up their minds on who will be their GM heading into the offseason. Before we start that, though, check out our Euroleague final report for a heads-up on what’s going on across the pond.

Now here’s all the latest news and rumors from around the NBA.

  • There’s a new boss in Philly: former Rockets assistant GM Sam Hinkie. John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer tells us a little about him: “One thing I’ve learned about Hinkie in the last 48 hours is that he’s not just all about crunching numbers. Yes, he’s big on ascribing value to shots taken at the basket vs. long two-pointers that should be threes, but perhaps there is more here. In three conversations with people in Houston who have worked with him and watched him work, the common thread is that while Hinkie and former boss Daryl Morey, the Houston general manager, have hired a slew of MIT MBAs to analyze everything, Hinkie is a relentless worker who will “scout talent as much as anyone in the league.” Hinkie joined the Rockets in 2005, two years before Morey did. During that time, the Rockets more than doubled their scouting department – not including advance scouts – to six.”
  • Kevin DurantThe Grizzlies are playing their style of basketball, and it’s been troubling the Thunder quite a bit so far. But Lionel Hollins is being modest about it, reports Jeff Caplan of NBA.com: ‘The reality of All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook – Allen’s more natural counterpart –being shelved is in full effect and it’s not pretty. The Grizzlies are doing all they can to grit-and-grind their way to making life as uncomfortable as possible for Durant, forcing his teammates to step up, and especially late in these games, each of which have been up for grabs in the final three minutes. “I’ve said it before, when a guy has the ball and has to score like that it takes energy, and the more you make him work, that’s the best you can do,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “You can’t stop Kevin Durant, he’s a great player, but he played 45, 46 minutes and he’s asked to carry a huge load for them. As the game goes on other people for them, they start taking the load away from him a little bit, but I don’t think that we can stop him. I’m not attributing it to us.” “

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Bernucca: Melo Needs to Take a Pass on Hero Ball

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Carmelo AnthonyHere’s the bottom line on Carmelo Anthony’s recent play. Using the measuring stick of points per shot, it is his worst four-game stretch of the postseason since the first four playoff games of his career.

Furthermore, when compared alongside other worst four-game stretches of contemporary solo superstars, it is near the bottom.

Following Sunday’s loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference semifinals opener, the Knicks are 1-3 in their last four games, including 0-2 at home. Their only win saw them nearly squander a 26-point lead in a matter of minutes as they repeatedly force-fed Anthony (and, to be fair, J.R. Smith) in isolation situations.

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SH Blog: Will Chris Paul and/or Vinny Del Negro be Clippers next season?

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Chris PaulSuddenly, everything is a whole lot clearer. Four teams were eliminated last night, and we’ve got just one more game in the first round of the playoffs. It’s tonight, between the Bulls and Nets, and the winner gets to face the Heat. So maybe not the best reward, but every team in the East knows they’ll have to go through the Heat if they want to reach the Finals.

The rest of the second round is set, and we’ve got previews all ready for you. First we’ve got the Grizzlies and the Thunder out west, and in the east we’ve got the Pacers and the Knicks.

Now here’s all the latest news from around the NBA:

  • With the Clippers’ season now over, they may be another team riding the coaching carousel, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com: “Clippers sources insist no decision has been made on (Vinny) Del Negro yet and that this early playoff exit won’t be the only basis upon which he’s judged. The team won a franchise-record 56 games this season and Del Negro has always had a good relationship with the team’s ownership. The team is expected to take “about a week” to evaluate the season before making a decision on Del Negro, according to one source. Officially Del Negro’s contract runs a few more months, and the Clippers have been known to take their time with such matters — interim coach Kim Hughes famously worked several months after he was dismissed as interim head coach — but “that’s not going to happen this time,” the source said.”
  • Ric Bucher of CSN Bay Area weighs in on the Clippers’ coaching situation: “A tantalizing candidate to be the Clippers’ next head coach posited by one NBA executive if the team would like to maximize its chances of Chris Paul re-signing with the franchise: Chauncey Billups. I can’t tell you if Billups is interested in retiring as a player at this point, or even if being a head coach is what he wants to do next, but he certainly knows the game well enough, has long held unusual authority among his peers on the court and in the locker room. Then there’s this: no one is closer on that team than Paul and Billups. I also know that Paul’s control of the franchise, by virtue of the fact the Clippers will do anything to keep him, is nearly absolute. As for the current head coach, Vinny Del Negro, the consensus around the NBA is that this first-round ouster is almost certain to cost him his job.”
  • Blake on CP3 re-signing: "He knows how we've done things, especially the last two years. I think he knows it's a great place to play."
    @ramonashelburne
    Ramona Shelburne

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Hamilton: Humbled and Refocused Knicks Will Win Game 6 in Boston

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150px-NBA_TrophyNEW YORK — The quiet demeanor of a champion is unmistakable. His persistence is unassuming. He fights to the end, until the battle is won. When it is, he celebrates…

But for a moment. Because then, it is on to the next challenge.

The Boston Celtics are champions. The New York Knicks are not, and the unmitigated hubris that the Knicks collectively exhibited heading into Wednesday night’s Game 5—and how the Celtics responded to it—proved that.

And you know what? In the long run, the Knicks will be better off for it.

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