The 2012 NBA Draft Lottery left the Phoenix Suns with the 13th pick, which was no surprise, but the Hornets winning the Anthony Davis ball was. Or was it? We also look at the remaining conference finals playoff series.

Hosted by Bryan Gibberman and Seth Pollack and presented by Arizona Sports 620 and SB Nation Arizona.

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The 2012 NBA Draft Lottery was a few days ago and most of us have moved on to other things. It was a fun 30 minutes of television. We noted the results, we joked about conspiracies and now we are back to the regularly scheduled NBA Playoffs.

For Hornets fans in New Orleans, however, winning the lottery is a potential franchise-changer and they are not even close to being done with the buzz surrounding their victory.

SB Nation's At The Hive, is leading the charge and giving excited Hornets fans a place to gather, learn, and share their joy together.

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The 2012 NBA Draft Lottery left the Phoenix Suns with the 13th pick, which was no surprise, but the Hornets winning the Anthony Davis ball was. Or was it? We also look at the remaining conference finals playoff series.

Hosted by Bryan Gibberman and Seth Pollack and presented by Arizona Sports 620 and SB Nation Arizona.

Subscribe on iTunes or stream online after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The Oklahoma City Thunder turned on the jets, pulled out all the stops and left no cliche behind in their blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the 2012 NBA Playoff Western Conference Finals. The Spurs had won 20-straight games prior to the loss which makes the defeat both remarkable and therefore also somewhat inevitable.

Over the years, we've seen great Spurs teams get blown out of playoff games and never skip a beat. Game 4 of this series will determine if this loss was a blip (most likely) or some kind of change in how this series will play out.

ECF Game 3: Miami Heat at Boston Celtics at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT on ESPN

The Celtics hope they can do what the Thunder did and steal a game at home against a superior opponent. It will be a tall task since Boston couldn't win a game in which Rajon Rondo scored 44 points. Who else is going to give the Celtics consistent scoring? Maybe Brandon Bass is due for another big game.

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 4: Sunday, June 3 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 5: Tuesday, June 5 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 6: Thursday, June 7 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 7: Saturday, June 9 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Western Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 4: Saturday, June 2 at Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 5: Monday, June 5 at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. ET*
Game 6: Wednesday, June 6 Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET*
Game 7: Friday, June 9 at San Antonio, 9:00 p.m. ET*

For more on the Spurs, visit Pounding The Rock. while Thunder fans should visit Welcome To Loud City. Celtics homers can head over to Celtics Blog, while for more on the Heat check out Peninsula Is Mightier.

We have 322 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports smart in no time fast!

Football

-- Canal Street Chronicles breaks it all down regarding the Drew Brees contract situation.

-- Age discrimination in the Rams organization under previous head coaching regime? Turf Show Times on the recent lawsuit.

-- Breaking down the Titans' passing scheme by Music City Miracles.

-- Baltimore Beatdown reports from the Ravens' latest OTA sessions.

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The 2012 NBA Draft order is now set and final. Except it will change, of course, once teams start swapping picks for other picks; picks for players; or picks for cash. Here's Tom Ziller's first NBA Mock Draft for 2012, Post Lottery Edition. Any guesses where Anthony Davis is going?

As for the Phoenix Suns, you will be shocked to see Austin Rivers name again tied to the 13th overall pick. I still maintain that this would be a solid option for the Suns. Teams need guys like this who can come off the bench and light it up. See also: Crawford, Jamal; Terry, Jason; Williams, Lou; Brooks, Aaron.

As for the rest of Tom's comments about the Suns future...well, just remember that he lives in Sacramento and has covered the Kings so there's a lot of built in bitterness there. Love ya, Tom! :)

2012 NBA Mock Draft: Hornets Land Anthony Davis, Wizards Are Keystone - SBNation.com
13. PHOENIX SUNS: AUSTIN RIVERS As if the end of the Steve Nash era won't be jarring enough, a volume scorer from Duke added to the mix will provide a nice splash of cold water. "In case you'd forgotten over the past decade of success, this is what it's like to suck, Phoenix."

And since conspiracy theories are the name of the day, just think of the potential of recruiting Doc Rivers to Phoenix to coach his son!

For more exclusive content, follow us on Twitter @Brightsidesun and "Like" us on Facebook.

The Boston Celtics understood that if they were going to win their 2012 NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Finals series against the Miami Heat they would need to steal a game on the road. They saw how important it was for the Dallas Mavericks in last year's finals to win Game 2 in Miami and they played like a desperate team...and fell short.

Rajon Rondo, a guy often rumored to be on the trading block, was amazing: 44 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while playing all 53 minutes of the overtime game. The Heat were just a tad bit better with LeBron James (34 points) and Dwyane Wade (23 points) again carrying their team.

This game was likely the Celtics best chance at winning the series which now heads back to Boston for Game 3 on Friday.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on TNT

We know the Spurs have no problem winning on the road (as evidenced by their 20-game win streak) but the Thunder have played far better at home this season. But it's not clear what, if any, adjustments OKC can make that the Spurs won't be able to match and beat. Maybe they will get a spark from the crowd and simply hit more shots and play that much harder. It could be a fun game, but so far this series hasn't been as close as some predicted.

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Western Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 4: Saturday, June 2 at Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 5: Monday, June 5 at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. ET*
Game 6: Wednesday, June 6 Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET*
Game 7: Friday, June 9 at San Antonio, 9:00 p.m. ET*

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 3: Friday, June 1 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 4: Sunday, June 3 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 5: Tuesday, June 5 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 6: Thursday, June 7 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 7: Saturday, June 9 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*

For more on the Spurs, visit Pounding The Rock. while Thunder fans should visit Welcome To Loud City. Celtics homers can head over to Celtics Blog, while for more on the Heat check out Peninsula Is Mightier.

We have 321 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports-smart in no time flat!

College Sports

-- Burnt Orange Nation opines on why Texas may actually not be interested in seeing the Big 12 get any bigger.

-- Addicted To Quack with a short remembrance of Oregon's greatest athlete of all time, Steve Prefontaine.

-- BC Interruption points a talon at The U as the ACC realignment blame game rolls along.

-- Pacific Takes and Building The Dam discuss the notion of the Pac-12 seceding in anticipation of super-conferences.

-- Backing The Pack says in college baseball, the state of North Carolina is king.

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No surprises here. The Phoenix Suns stay with the 13th pick. It's hard to be disappointed when the odds were sooooooo soooooo long.

As Jim explained the Suns only had a 0.6% chance of landing the #1 overall pick and a 2.18% chance of ascending to the top 3. Long odds indeed.

Oh well.

Here's the full draft order for the first round.

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The NBA Draft Lottery, as Jim so fantastically detailed here, is upon us. Some teams like the Wizards and Bobcats have earned tanked their way into high odds. Other teams like the Suns and Rockets played to win the game and therefore have fewer (lottery) balls.

There's plenty of talk about changing the lottery system to reward winning and discourage losing (what a concept) but there's also other reasons why some teams "deserve" to win more than others.

SB Nation.com did a survey and put together this list of pleas from representatives of each team including our own Ray from the East Bay.

Who Deserves To Win The NBA Draft's Anthony Davis Sweepstakes? - SBNation.com
Tensions boil over as our bloggers make the case for why their team "deserves" to win the NBA Draft Lottery -- and the rights to Anthony Davis -- on Wednesday.

Go check it out and vote for which team is most deserving. Then come back and rip EBR for not making any mention of the Phoenix Suns history of HORRIBLE luck in all things....everything. Coin flip. Blown calls. Injuries. You name it, the Suns have suffered it. And yet Ray didn't even go there. Shame.

To the casual hoops fan, this 2012 NBA Western Conference Finals series has been turned on its head. They must be stunned to see the San Antonio Spurs (yes, the old stodgy, fundamental, boring Spurs) not only hang with the young, athletic, up-tempo Oklahoma City Thunder, but beat them at that game.

Even the Thunder experts at Welcome to Loud City have thrown in the towel and are waiving the Yellow Flag:

Spurs 120, Thunder 111: Spurs Control Pace, Take 2-0 Lead (2012 Western Conference Finals Game 2 Recap) - Welcome to Loud City
The Spurs play Spurs basketball better than the Thunder play Spurs basketball. This might be a self-evident tautology, but I think it was the deciding factor in (Tuesday night's) game which was not as close as the score indicated.

[...] If Tony Parker is the man that makes the machine go, the word 'fast pace' is what it reads on the Spurs' speedometer.

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It's too soon to call the 2012 San Antonio Spurs the best team ever, but what they are doing so far in the 2012 NBA Playoffs certainly has to open the conversation. They rolled over an Oklahoma City Thunder team to a 120-111 and handled every trick in the book OKC could throw at them.

San Antonio seemingly incorporated some elements of the Phoenix Suns quick attack / pick and roll offense and have become an unstoppable scoring machine. Defensively, they aren't the best in the league but they are smart and committed and get the job done. Folks, the Spurs are GOOD.

Boston Celtics at Miami Heat on Wednesday, May 30 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT on ESPN

Boston ran out of gas in the second half of their Game 1 loss to the Heat. We'll find out if a couple days rest can make the difference. It's doubtful.

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 3: Friday, June 1 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 4: Sunday, June 3 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 5: Tuesday, June 5 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 6: Thursday, June 7 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 7: Saturday, June 9 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Western Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 3: Thursday, May 31 at Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 4: Saturday, June 2 at Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 5: Monday, June 5 at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. ET*
Game 6: Wednesday, June 6 Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET*
Game 7: Friday, June 9 at San Antonio, 9:00 p.m. ET*

For more on the Spurs, visit Pounding The Rock. while Thunder fans should visit Welcome To Loud City. Celtics homers can head over to Celtics Blog, while for more on the Heat check out Peninsula Is Mightier.

We have 322 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports smart in no time fast!

Baseball

-- Minor League Ball's John Sickels reviews the career of Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez will announce his retirement on Sunday.

-- Fake Teams has five not-so-obvious players who should be owned in all fantasy baseball leagues.

-- The Good Phight reviews the Phillies' excellent success since May 10.

-- Lookout Landing likes the way catcher Jesus Montero frames pitches behind the plate.

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The Miami Heat had extra rest, were at home and are better than the banged up Boston Celtics. That all played out exactly to script in Game 1 of the 2012 NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics kept it close in the first half and then ran out of gas. The 93-79 home win for the Heat gives them a 1-0 lead in the series with Game 2 in Miami on Wednesday.

In the Western Conference Finals, the San Antonio Spurs are also the older team, but they are deeper and healthier than Boston. That showed in Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder with their ability to close a fourth quarter gap with bench play and then close out the game on the back of Manu Ginobili.

Game 2: Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on TNT

Neither of these teams played great in Game 1 and yet it was a great game. Both should be sharper with their shots which could make for a real thriller in Game 2.

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Western Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 3: Thursday, May 31 at Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 4: Saturday, June 2 at Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 5: Monday, June 5 at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. ET*
Game 6: Wednesday, June 6 Oklahoma City, 9:00 p.m. ET*
Game 7: Friday, June 9 at San Antonio, 9:00 p.m. ET*

Here's the remaining schedule for the 2012 NBA Playoff Eastern Conference Finals Series (all times in ET):

Game 2: Wednesday, May 30 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, June 1 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 4: Sunday, June 3 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.
Game 5: Tuesday, June 5 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 6: Thursday, June 7 at Boston, 8:30 p.m.*
Game 7: Saturday, June 9 at Miami, 8:30 p.m.*

For more on the Spurs, visit Pounding The Rock. while Thunder fans should visit Welcome To Loud City. Celtics homers can head over to Celtics Blog, while for more on the Heat check out Peninsula Is Mightier.

The NBA Conference Finals got started on Sunday with a fun one in San Antonio. While it's normal for folks to get caught up in the moment, there's got to be something to the frequent comments on Twitter that Spurs-Thunder is the best playoff series in years. We'll see about that.

In the East, there's no question that defense is the name of the game. We'll be lucky if either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat manage to score 90 points on the other. Likely, it will be less.

Our writers from Celtics Blog and Peninsula is Mightier break down the challenges each of their teams will face in this series.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks finally won a series at home, the first since opening weekend against the Giants. It's too soon to say if they've actually turned things around for the season but they certainly have picked up the level of play in the last week or so. It may be too late to catch the Dodgers unless they go in the tank, but all you can do is play well and take care of your business which is something we've not seen consistently in quite some time.

Sunday's win featured the return of Daniel Hudson to the mound after about a month on the disabled list with "shoulder impingement". Huddy did well, giving up just two runs and scattering six hits in five innings. He was limited to just 83 pitches in his return and certainly looked sharp.

The offense didn't give much support to their starter, however, and found themselves down 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth.

But after Brewers enigmatic outfielder Nyjer "T Plush" Morgan ended a rally with a double play ball helped by his failure to run hard to first, the momentum went back to the Arizona side.

In the bottom of the inning, Aaron Hill just missed a home run by a few feet and ended up with a lead-off double. Justin Upton and Chris Young had non-productive outs ahead of the team's most consistent hitter, Jason Kubel. The steady left fielder drove in Hill with a great at-bat.

The two-out rally continued with Goldschmidt reaching on an infield hit and then Ryan Roberts and Henry Blanco each had an RBI single to complete the three-run inning that put the Snakes ahead for good.

Of note, Goldschmidt's 471-feet solo home run in the fourth inning to dead center field was the longest ball hit in Chase this season.

Also deserving mention was the bullpen team of Bryan Shaw, Brad Ziegler, David Hernandez, and J.J. Putz that shut down the Brewers over the final 3.2 innings.

The D-backs will now travel to San Francisco for a three-game set with the Giants before moving on to San Diego to face the Padres before returning home on June 4th to host the Rockies and Oakland A's.

For more on the D-backs, visit AZ Snakepit.

After a few weeks off, we begin the process of looking at the various options the Suns have for rebuilding their team. We also get into the Spurs-Thunder series and some other fun stuff.

Hosted by Bryan Gibberman and Seth Pollack and presented by Arizona Sports 620 and SB Nation Arizona.

Subscribe on iTunes or stream online after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

After a few weeks off, we begin the process of looking at the various options the Suns have for rebuilding their team. We also get into the Spurs-Thunder series and some other fun stuff.

Hosted by Bryan Gibberman and Seth Pollack and presented by Arizona Sports 620 and SB Nation Arizona.

Subscribe on iTunes or stream online after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

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Last year, the Indiana Pacers were beat in the first round of the NBA Playoffs by Derrick Rose. This year they made it to the second round before being ousted by a historically crazy-good performance from the Dwyane Wade / LeBron James dynamic scoring duo.

The Pacers could have, and probably should have, beaten the Heat who were without their third scoring option (Chris Bosh). It would have been a victory for team basketball, balance and depth over the established orthodoxy of super star dominance. Unfortunately, Indiana couldn't move the ball well enough to win. Perhaps with more time together as a unit, increased cohesion will lead to better execution. Two shouldn't be able to beat five.

For fans in Indiana, however, there is a certain mid-West sense of optimism in the loss as expressed by SB Nation's Indy Cornrows.

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LeBron James was brilliant. Dwyane Wade was insanely terrific. But the Indiana Pacers got knocked out of the 2012 NBA Playoffs (at home) because they couldn't execute their offense against the Miami Heat. Some of that is good defense from Miami but a lot of it is a young team that lacked to cohesion and experience to take advantage of their many advantages.

The Heat didn't beat the Pacers. The Pacers failed to play up to their potential and that's always difficult to watch. They should have won and therefore I stand by my prediction, Pacers in seven.

NBA Playoff Schedule:

Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT on ABC

Conventional wisdom has the Celtics winning at home and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat. Clearly that would be the better match up for ratings and history and what not, but the Sixers might just be able to pull out the upset if they can take better advantage of the Celtics injuries as they did at home in Game 6.

We have 322 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports smart in no time fast!

College Sports

-- Tomahawk Nation makes the argument for Florida State's relevance based on the national media's excoriation of their Big 12 skirt lifting.

-- Shakin The Southland has an excellent argument for Clemson as driver of value in the ACC and an appeal to out of conference suitors that goes well beyond an indecipherable regional accent.

-- The Rock M Nation roundtable tackles expansion and addresses CBS's hardline stance that Missouri and Texas A&M add no value to the existing SEC contract.

-- Finally, Black Shoe Diaries has its own clever and informative take on expansion and the Big 10's enviable financial position.

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The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics in one of the ugliest games of the 2012 NBA Playoffs. Philly held the beat up and depleted Celtics to just 75 points but instead of a blow out, they only managed 82 themselves. Yes, both teams play good defense but making open shots would be a nice change as well.

The series goes back to Boston for a Game 7 on Saturday. Even though they barely have enough players to wear the uniform, most people expect the Celtics to win. We'll see.

Thursday's 2012 NBA Playoff schedule:

Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

The Pacers will also try and force a Game 7 and they have a very good chance of doing just that. The Heat will be without Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman. Haslem got one game and Pittman three for their roles in the Game 5 hard foul fest. Needless to say, the already depleted Miami front court will be even thinner. The question is, can the Pacers stop taking jump shots and feed the ball inside?

We have 321 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all, we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports-smart in no time flat!

College Sports

-- Pacific Takes looks at the 10 best sleeper hoops recruits of the Pac-12's last decade.

-- Land-Grant Holyland has some quibbles with the B1G's BIG payday.

-- Black Heart Gold Pants visits the island of Sodor to reveal the prototype of Purdue's new Nike Pro Combat uniforms.

-- Bruins Nation opines on the recently announced Big 12-SEC "Fauxse Bowl" matchup.

-- The 7th Floor looks at six 'Canes who need to step up for The U to return to its winning ways.

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Before the game, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said he had already moved past Tuesday's tough loss and was feeling pretty positive about where the team was. Maybe he knew something or maybe being positive about everything, all the time, just happened to coincide with a big win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

More importantly, and still at least a week or two away from being answered, is the bigger meaning of this all-around team victory. Did a strong start from Joe Saunders, the best offensive showing of the season, and a competent bullpen performance signify a shift in momentum and a turning point in the season?

Stay tuned, D-backs fans. Stay tuned for the answer to that important question.

The offensive explosion started in the first inning with a Ryan Roberts solo home run and an Aaron Hill RBI single. The Snakes added nine more runs spread out over the next five innings with six different players recording an RBI.

"I don't want to speak for him," Willie Bloomquist (3-6, 1 RBI) said of Dodger's starter Ted Lily, "He didn't have his pinpoint control he usually does so we just tried to get pitches out over the plate and do something with them."

Gibson praised his team for being more patient in their approach and letting the ball travel deeper into the zone.

Joe Saunders was pitch perfect through six innings. He allowed a solo home run in the fourth but then ran out of gas in the seventh and gave up three more. But with 11 runs on the board for his team, Joe could afford to be a bit sloppy at the end of his game. That's not to say he was in the least bit pleased to be lifted without closing the book on the inning.

The 11 runs (on 14 hits) for the D-backs is two more than they managed to score in any other game this season.

The Diamondbacks have an off day Thursday and then open a home series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

For more on the D-backs, visit AZ Snakepit.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in a deep hole with June rapidly approaching and the "it's early" palliative is quickly wearing thin. 11.5 games back in late May is a big hole. Even worse, the problems on the team are pretty much everywhere and anywhere on any given night.

Some games the offense has all the potency of a watered down lemonade and on other occasions it's the bullpen or untimely fielding mistakes that delivers the heart breaks. You just don't know where the fail will come next and conversely, there's not any part of the team you can truly trust.

It's frustrating.

It's slam your helmet, overturn the water cooler and scream at the players after the game frustrating.

But that's not how the "fiery" Kirk Gibson rolls. He's Mr. Positive Thinking who's convinced that good things are just around the corner.

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There's very little question the San Antonio Spurs are one of, if not the best NBA franchise in the past 15 years. A big reason for their ability to win consistently is the continuity and maturity of their core players: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

Over the course of their decade-long run together we've seen the leadership torch effortlessly passed from Duncan to Ginobili and now with age and injuries catching up to those two vets, it's gone to the youngster of the trio, Tony Parker.

Before we take you to Pounding the Rock's fantastic story about Parker's journey to the top, it's worth noting the lack of ego and envy in the Spurs locker room which is in sharp contrast to what we've seen between many other top players in the NBA.

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The Eastern Conference side of the 2012 NBA Playoffs has degenerated into a typical slug fest. This is what happens when teams don't trust their talent and can't execute. They get physical and macho and the beautiful game turns into a wrestling match. Ugly.

The Miami Heat ended up winning Game 5 and are up 3-2 on the Indiana Pacers. The silliness started with a hard foul by Tyler Hansbrough on Dwyane Wade. Udonis Haslem upped the ante with an even harder foul on Hansbrough. Then Dexter Pittman, who brings little discernible basketball value to the court, followed up with a needless hit to the neck of Lance Stephenson's with a wink.

Making the entire situation even worse heading back to Indiana for Game 6 is Larry Bird calling his own team "soft". That can't end well.

Here's what's on tap for Wednesday on 2012 NBA Playoff schedule:

Boston Celtic at Philadelphia 76ers at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT on ESPN

Can Brandon Bass follow up his Game 5 outburst of 27 points? If not, the Sixers should be able to win at home and force a Game 7. Between the injuries on the Boston side and the lack of an offensive plan on the Philly side make this another brutal series in the East.