Archives › Kurt Helin
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As we told you was coming, LeBron James officially became the winner of the NBA MVP for the third time, the official announcement came down on Saturday. What you see above are some highlights of his acceptance speech. James said he was nervous and then went on to thank his mother, Gloria, for all she…
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Pacers coach Frank Vogel fined for planting seed in refs’ heads
May 12, 2012, 7:57 PM EDT
There will be no working the referees through the media before the series starts. That is what the NBA essentially said when it came down Saturday with a $15,000 fine for Pacers coach Frank Vogel less than a day before his team opens the second round against the Heat. Vogel started trying to plant a…
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It’s a do-or-die Game 7, but the questions are the same one since Game 1. Can the Nuggets get the Lakers to play their up-tempo, scattered game? Can anyone on the Lakers stop Ty Lawson? Can the Lakers slow the game down, pound the ball inside to their big men and use their size and…
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Last summer, the Golden State Warriors were looking for a big man to put next to David Lee and forced the Clippers hand — would the Clippers match a four year, $48.2 million contract offer for DeAndre Jordan? How badly did the Clippers want to keep Jordan next to Blake Griffin? Badly enough to match…
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When that play happened, it felt like a turning point. Blake Griffin was fighting through a knee injury and was not himself. DeAndre Jordan has been a ghost this series. But this might have been the play of the night and felt like the Clippers that fill up the highlight reels. The game was close…
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Grizzlies steal Clippers’ script — come from behind to win, force Game 7
May 12, 2012, 1:26 AM EDT
In the first four games of this series, Chris Paul owned the fourth quarter, while at the same time the Grizzlies would get away from their game plan of pounding the Clippers inside with Zach Randolph. It’s why Los Angeles had a 3-1 series lead. There will be a Game 7 Sunday because that script…
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Sorry Hawks fans, this sucks. And there is no recourse. The NBA has admitted referees blew call in the final seconds Thursday that could have changed the outcome of the Hawks Game 6 loss to Boston that eliminated them. If you were watching the TNT broadcast you heard the announcing crew confused by the call…
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Because we know you plan your lives around the NBA playoffs just like we do, here is the schedule for the two Eastern Conference semifinals. At least as it stands right now. There is a whole lot of TBD in there for times. If you want to talk about the series, we have previewed both…
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Chris Paul, Blake Griffin to start for Clippers, may be limited
May 11, 2012, 8:05 PM EDT
They will be out there, how effective they are remains to be seen. Both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will start for the Clippers despite suffering injuries in Game 5, coach Vinny Del Negro confirmed. However, he said he would monitor both and might limit their minutes depending on how they are moving and performing…
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It’s not yet official, but this really isn’t a surprise either. LeBron James is going to be named the NBA MVP, a source has told the Associated Press. A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press that Miami’s LeBron James will be announced Saturday as the NBA’s MVP, the third time he’s won…
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For Memphis, Game 6 is must win. For the Clippers, it isn’t that (they are up 3-2) but it’s about as close as you can get, because if they have to go win Game 7 on the road they face climbing K2. It’s a big mountain. Which makes Game 6 in Los Angeles on Friday…
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The already strange Chris Andersen case has taken an new turn with the attorney for the Nuggets big man suggesting this is a case of extortion by a spurned female fan. Yesterday police from the Internet Crimes Against Children division searched Andersen’s Denver area home and took a number of computers and other devices as…
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SEASON RECORDS Boston: 39-27 (No. 5 seed) Philadelphia: 35-31 (8 seed) SEASON SERIES Philadelphia took it 2-1, with the home team winning easily in each game. KEY INJURIES Celtics: Paul Pierce has a sprained knee that will not be right until this summer, Ray Allen is battling through ankle pain that may need surgery, and…
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Luol Deng and his wrist, Joakim Noah and his ankle were two names near the top of the lengthy scroll of Chicago Bulls injuries that undid them in the first round of the playoffs. But those injuries are not keeping Noah or Deng out of the Olympics this summer. Both confirmed since the Bulls were…
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“I thought I played well, especially with the kind of season it was. We had the best record again in basketball, won our division again, had the top seed again, that’s all that matters, yo.” —Carlos Boozer, after the Bulls were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, via ESPN. Wow. I’d like to…
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Here is our daily look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points. • There is a report that Ricky Rubio has signed a shoe deal with…
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Don’t we all want a beard like James Harden? Clever little song parody above (Maroon 5′s “Moves Like Jagger”) saying what we are all thinking about the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. We’re all a little jealous. Admit it. I still like what Nick Collison said best about Harden — he could survive a…
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The lesson here: Never listen to what players tweet late at night. The Knicks’ J.R. Smith — after an unimpressive playoffs and dreadful Game 5 — fired back at his numerous critics on twitter and said he might not come back to the Knicks. Smith has a $2.5 million player option for next season. But…
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MRI shows no structural damage to Griffin’s knee; Paul, Griffin game-time calls
May 11, 2012, 11:35 AM EDT
I’d be surprised if both are not out on the floor for a crucial Game 6, but officially both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are game-time decisions due to their injuries suffered in Game 5 Wednesday. Griffin had an MRI on his sprained left knee but it found no structural damage, tweeted Ramona Shelburne of…
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Is there any upper echelon team in the NBA that can lay an egg like the Lakers? Denver came out at home in Game 6 with an energy that the Lakers just refused to match and they got their doors blown off. What was hard to swallow for Lakers fans was that Kobe Bryant spent…
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SEASON RECORDS Miami 46-20 (2 seed) Indiana 42-24 (3 seed) SEASON SERIES Miami Heat 3-1, although the Pacers won the last meeting (during Miami’s March slump) and in the second to last it took Dwyane Wade heroics in overtime to get the Heat the win in a game the Pacers rightfully think they could have…
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Kevin Garnett is Kevin Garnett — he was going to be fired up for Game 6 no matter what. But comments by the Hawks owner that KG is the dirtiest player in the league was just fuel for the Boston big man, who came out and dropped 28 on the Hawks to lead the Celtics…
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I’m not sure any word but “weird” does justice to the Orlando Magic season. It started with then Magic CEO Bob Vander Weide essentially drunk-dialing Dwight Howard and asking him to stay in Orlando. It didn’t seem like things could get more odd, but that was just the start, something that culminated in the day…
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Video: Iguodala’s game…. er, series-winning coast-to-coast drive
May 11, 2012, 7:55 AM EDT
That’s about as exciting an ending of a game as you are going to see. It started when rather than try to run out the clock and try to draw the foul himself with 7 seconds left, C.J. Watson (an 80.8 percent free throw shooter) passed the ball to Omer Asik, who tried to score…
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The “Birdman” was at shootaround Thursday morning with his teammates. Chris Andersen, the Nuggets reserve big man, was there after police had come and searched his house that morning, taking a lot of computers and other equipment as part of an investigation by their Internet Crimes Against Children Division. We don’t know much, but we…
