5/11: This is the End.

Greetings everyone... somber day...

• The Atlanta Hawks season ended in such "Atlanta Hawks" fashion that it was almost the perfect ending. Josh Smith took an ill-advised, contested jumpshot from 23-feet with 9 seconds to go in the game and the Hawks trailing by one point, it went begging, and after an Al Horford missed free throw (and inexplicable make of the 2nd one), Jeff Teague's 70-foot heave was all that the Hawks could produce. This game had everything. An angry Kevin Garnett, after posting 28 points and 14 rebounds, assassinated Hawks owner Michael Gearon publicly following Gearon's comments concerning Garnett's "dirty" play, and it was clear that KG used this as motivation. That's "Hawks move" number one. Joe Johnson 7-for-17 shooting performance including an Iso-Joe 18-footer at the 1-minute mark, and a failed drive attempt late were pretty indicative of the Johnson era as a whole. Uninspiring is the term I keep coming back to. And then there was Al Horford absolutely battling through 46 minutes less than one week after his unexpected comeback, doubling as the best player on the Hawks on a night he attempted only 9 shots. Atlanta got only 9 points from the entire bench, as well as 5 points on 9 shots from Jeff Teague, and lost the rebounding battle to a team that it's difficult to lose the rebounding battle to. This game had it all. I won't go on and on about missed opportunities like giving away Game 2 to a Rondo-less Celtics team that had no business winning, talk about how no one on this team outside of Al Horford has "the look" that a Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett possesses, or rant about Josh Smith's shot selection for the umpteenth time today, because I don't have the energy. Just know that this one hurt, and my initial reaction is to call for changes. Here's looking at you, Josh Smith.

Quickly, let's head elsewhere in the NBA before we head out...

• Sixers 79, Bulls 78 - What a weird game. The Sixers are moving on to round 2, but not without some late-game issues. Chicago's CJ Watson inexplicably attacked the rim with a 1-point lead and under 10 seconds remaining, and ended up dropping off a pass to Omer Asik, who was fouled hard by Philly. No issue, right? Well, let me remind you that a) the shot clock was off and they had a 1 point lead, b) CJ Watson is a career 81% free throw shooter, and c) Omer Asik shot 46% from the line for the season and is at 48% for his career. Which guy do you want shooting guaranteed free throws with your season on the line? Anyway, Asik missed both, Andre Iguodala went coast-to-coast for the game-winning bucket, and that was that. Neither of these teams has the ability to make the NBA finals (since Chicago is without Rose), so the series is mostly cannon-fodder, but this was a brutal end to the season for the Bulls.
• Nuggets 113, Lakers 96 - We're headed to at least one game 7 in round one. Denver got 32 points, 6 assists (and no turnovers) from Ty Lawson to spur their offense and run LA out of the gym effectively. Kobe was fantastic even on a day where he had flu-like symptoms, as he finished with 31 points on 13 of 23, but Pau Gasol shot just 1-10, and Andrew Bynum wasn't effective on the block despite his 16 rebounds. The transition defense of LA was utterly laughable in this one, and I believe it stems from Bynum's complete unwillingness to sprint back, but we're getting too technical here. I still like LA in Game 7 because I don't think Pau goes 1-10 again and Denver is a different (read: worse) team on the road, but anything can happen.

What to watch for...

• MLB - Angels @ Rangers - MLB 8:00 - Wilson vs. Darvish - Two of the most talked about pitchers of the offseason square off. For all of the talk of LA's demise, they are only 7 games behind Texas and it's early May. Long way to go.
• MLB - Braves @ Cardinals - Peachtree TV 8:15 - Minor vs. Garcia - Mike Minor has really struggled two starts in a row, but his xFIP is much, much better than his ERA, and we'll see if he can rebound against that banged-up Cards offense.
• NBA - Grizz @ Clippers - ESPN 9:00 - Win or Go Home time for Memphis on the road in this Game 6, and while I firmly believe that Memphis is still the better team, Chris Paul has been, by far, the best player on the court in the series, and the team with the best player usually wins. All eyes on LA.

Enjoy...