And it’s Kelli Tennant, a former reporter that worked with Walton and covered the Lakers for a time, leaving her position at Spectrum shortly after another incident with Walton at a charity event.
Walton has hired the lawyer that defended Derrick Rose in his sexual assault suit, so I fear things are going to get ugly.
Damian Lillard adds to his legend in Portland with a 50 point game, incredible shooting throughout, and a 37-foot buzzer beater at the end to win the game and series. Simply unbelievable.
The Thunder finally got the message, don’t leave Lillard unguarded outside the arc, so Paul George was a good 6 feet beyond it. No problem, Dame will just launch it from 37. Bottom of the net, game over.
On the one hand, maybe a better play would have been to drive to the hoop and make them avoid the foul. But you can’t argue with results, and with the way he’d been shooting all night (10-18 from 3 pt), that hoop was 10 feet wide.
Crazy finish to a game that OKC had in hand right from the beginning. It was a low percentage shot, even for someone who was that hot, but the worst that could have happened was that the game would have gone to OT. That final three minutes was nuts, with several players stepping up. Seth Curry probably made the key play with his inbound steal, and Harkless finally found his free throw shot. Nurkic was apparently watching from home and made his way to Moda to support the team near the end, arriving to a huge ovation from fans and players.
The best part was the wave to the OKC bench after he nailed the shot. 
Now they play either Denver or SAS.
That was an awesome ending for the Blazers and Lillard. I’m still lamenting my Pacers.
Russell Westbrook, much like Carmelo Anthony, is an outstanding individual talent, but he will never win a title. Kevin Durant was smart to leave that shit show.
Paul George, in the presser afterwards, didn’t so much argue as stupidly tried to diss Lilllard by repeatedly saying, ad nauseam, that it was a bad shot.
Riiiiiiight, considering DL has gone 5 for 5 from beyond 30 feet these play-offs. (Whoa)
A well-defended fadeaway from 35+ feet IS a bad shot. Just like Durant’s dagger straight up over James a few years back was a bad shot. Just because you make it, doesn’t mean it’s a good shot.
That wave, though. Absolute savagery that I’d expect from Westbrook, not Lillard.
ESPN had an analysis that for players like Lillard and Steph Curry, it’s not that bad a shot. This season Lillard was 40% from 30-40 feet. Of course, this one was from the outer end of that range, and 2 points would have been the same as 3, so it still wasn’t great.
In the post-game interview, Dame said he considered driving to the basket but didn’t want to put the game in the hands of the ref and worry about them making or not making a game-deciding call. He felt comfortable at that range after the night he’d had.
Lillard saved it for the end of the series, after stoically ignoring all the BS Westbrook, Shroder, and the rest of the Thunder threw out for winning one game. Lillard was truly savage, Westbrook’s antics are just clownish.
Totally agree. After the taunting, mocking, and last second unnecessary dunk at the end of game 3 by OKC, a wave to the bench was pretty innocuous. In a pre-game interview, Lillard said that POR wasn’t going to engage with OKC players other than playing hard against them. He said something like: “We’re not talking to them; the only people we’re talking to are each other and the people in black and white.”
Saying a made-37-footer was “a bad shot” is useless. Had Lillard missed it, there would be no need to say anything. Having made it, George would have been best off saying “it was one hell of a shot”
Nope. Just because it wasn’t good odds to make that attempt successful does not in any way mean that the ultimately successful attempt was bad, especially with his current success at that range.
And he said almost exactly that, long before the “bad shot” quote that has been thrown everywhere.
George was never saying Lillard was bad for taking the shot. With time winding down, that is exactly the sort of shot you want to force - long distance, with a hand right in the face. The entire quote is in response to a question asking “Is there anything a defender can do, with the way the game is going, in terms of those 36, 37-footers? You defended it about as well as you can. At some point, you just kinda have to let the guy shoot that and live with the results, right?”
To put it simply, with four seconds left, which do you want - someone throwing up a LONG contested three or driving to the basket?
There’s something to be said for waiting in a tie game to shoot until the other team will have no time for another possession and creating the shot in a way where your risk of turning the ball over is negligible. It’s a little like being super conservative in a tie game in football with time winding down and then kicking a long field goal. I don’t disagree with Paul George if he was criticizing the shot selection, not the shot itself. It had a twenty-something percent chance of going in, bottom line.
Lillard was 1-7 from 35+ Tuesday night before the dagger.
Clippers beating Warriors, yey. With Game 6 at home, there’s a strong chance they could force a Game 7, and then anything can happen.
So far in the series, the Clippers are 0-2 at home and 2-1 away. I’m not sure being back home for Game 6 will be an advantage.
I’m trying to figure out who is a better opponent for POR, Denver or SAS. Jokic is a real problem inside and is a good ball handler, whereas the Blazers have less trouble with their former teammate Aldridge, who can be stripped. If nothing else, I hope that series goes to seven to tire out the winner. 
What were the Spurs doing there at the end? Down 4 with 25 seconds left and they don’t foul?
What are thoughts on Bucks-Celtics? Should be a good series with several close games, but I think the Bucks will take it, probably in six. The “let ‘em shoot the three” Bucks defense might not work after this round, though. But opponents having to sometimes double-team Giannis might push them through to the finals. Brogdon’s return to health would be a big help.
Beats me. Neither team could hit water if they fell out of a rowboat. Lots of razzle-dazzle plays and pinpoint passing, but conversion to points was sorely lacking. I’m amazed that SAS was able to close the gap. Perhaps both teams are just exhausted, which may be good news for the next round with POR.