Playoffs 2nd Round Game 1 Los Angeles Clippers vs Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas.. Los Angeles Clippers lead series (1-0) against the Rockets. Game 2 played on Thu, May 7.

 The second seeded Houston Rockets looked extremely impressive over the seventh seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Houston won the series by a 4-1 margin, with their only loss coming in Game Four on the road. It was the Rockets’ first playoff series win since 2009. In Tuesday night’s 103-94 series clinching victory, MVP Candidate James Harden scored 28 points and handed out eight assists. Josh Smith continued his strong play off the bench with 20 points and eight rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. Free throws continue to be a point of concern for Houston, after shooting 19 for 36 in Game Five.

 The third seeded Los Angeles Clippers are coming off an epic seven game series win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The Clippers faced 2-1 and 3-2 series deficits and won in both occasions on the road in the series. In Saturday night’s 111-109 Game Seven victory, Chris Paul hit a running bank shot with one second remaining to win the game. Blake Griffin recorded his second triple-double of the series with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists.

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The teams face each other in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, with the first game taking place at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers won all three of their regular season games against the Bulls this season. The Chicago Bulls enter this highly anticipated matchup with no injury concerns to speak of and that should give them an advantage over the shorthanded Cavaliers.

 The second seeded Cleveland Cavaliers looked very impressive during their four game sweep over the Boston Celtics in the first round. However, the win proved costly as the Cavaliers will be without Kevin Love for the rest of the postseason with a shoulder injury suffered in the Game Four win. Cleveland will also be without SG J.R. Smith for the first two games of this series as the result of a suspension for striking Boston’s Jae Crowder in the face.

It will be interesting to see if there is any rust for the Cavaliers, after being off for the last eight days. In last Sunday’s 101-93 closeout victory, LeBron James led the way with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.

 The third seeded Bulls are coming off a 4-2 series win over Milwaukee in the first round. Chicago raced to a 3-0 lead in the series, before dropping two consecutive games to the scrappy Bucks. In Game Six, the Bulls quieted their doubters with a 120-66 demolition of Milwaukee to close out the series on the road.

All five starters scored in double figures for Chicago, led by Mike Dunleavy’s 20 point night. The Bulls knocked down 15 from 30 from behind the three point line and held the Bucks to just 21 percent from distance.

 Playoffs 2nd Round Game 1 Chicago Bulls vs Cleveland Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio.. Chicago Bulls lead sreries (1-0) against Cavaliers.. Game 2 played on Thu, May 7.

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The Washington Wizards have started their Eastern Conference semi-final series against the Atlanta Hawks with a 104-98 victory at the Philips Arena.

 The first round series for the Atlanta Hawks with the Brooklyn Nets did not go as easily as many had predicted. The Hawks were pushed to the limit in every game of a competitive six game series win. In the series clincher on Friday night, Atlanta was finally able to pull away on Brooklyn’s home floor in a 111-87 victory.

The Hawks led by six at halftime and pulled away with a 41-21 third quarter to put the Nets away for good. All-Star F Paul Millsap scored 25 points to go along with nine rebounds and six assists in the win. Atlanta connected on 13 for 32 from behind the arc, including six made three pointers by sharpshooter Kyle Korver. During the regular season, Atlanta defeated Washington 3 out of 4 times with the only loss coming when the Hawks rested their starters.

 The Wizards are coming off their impressive first round series sweep over the fourth seeded Toronto Raptors. In that series, Washington came out and stole both games on the road and never looked back. The Wizards have not played since last Sunday, when they closed the Raptors out with an impressive 125-94 home victory.

Washington was very successful in that series using veteran forwards Paul Pierce and Drew Gooden in a stretch four role. Playing small allowed the Wizards to shoot 44 percent from the three point line in the series and certainly is a strategy that they will continue to use against the Hawks.

 The conference's top seeds started the game well, surging 11 points ahead by the end of the first quarter thanks to early shots from DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford. Washington started to cut Atlanta's lead at the start of the third quarter as John Wall found the basket, before a couple of Marcin Gortat free throws tied the scores, but a Kyle Korver three-pointer left the Hawks just in front going into the final spell.

 The Wizards took the lead less than two minutes into the fourth though, and never fell behind again as Atlanta struggled with their shooting, taking almost five minutes to add their first points of the fourth.

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The Golden State Warriors raced through the regular season under rookie head coach Steve Kerr. Golden State comes at you with a frenetic pace, shooting a bunch of three pointers and the ability to lock you down defensively.

The Warriors have perhaps the greatest shooting backcourt of all-time in likely MVP Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Golden State swept through their first round playoff series with the New Orleans Pelicans despite many who predicted the trouble that may exist from a matchup standpoint. I would expect Golden State to attack rugged F Zach Randolph in pick and roll situations with Curry and Draymond Green and create all sorts of problems for the Memphis defense in this series.

 Mike Conley has been ruled out of the Memphis Grizzlies' opening game in their Western Conference semi-final playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. The point guard underwent surgery to repair several fractures to his face last week, and was officially declared out after completing warmups while wearing a protective mask.

 The Grizzlies appeared to be on a collision course with Golden State in the Western Conference Finals. However, a late season slide dropped the Grizzlies into fifth place and a second round date with the Warriors. Memphis defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round by a convincing 4-1 margin. The Grizzlies smothered the Blazers on defense and pounded them inside on offense throughout the series.

 Playoffs 2nd Round Game 1 Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State Warriors at the ORACLE Arena, Oakland, California.. Game 2 played on Wed, May 6.

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The defending champions knew that a win in their home court would send them through to the Western Conference semi-finals, but the sides could not be separated in the first half.

 The Los Angeles Clippers have ensured that they will play a seventh game against the San Antonio Spurs after winning game six of their first-round playoff series 102-96 Defending champions the San Antonio Spurs have been knocked out of the NBA playoffs after a last-gasp shot from Chris Paul lifted the Los Angeles Clippers to a 111-109 win in the deciding game in their first-round series.

 The Los Angeles Clippers will evaluate Glen Davis after the forward sprained his ankle late in their game against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center last night. Davis landed awkwardly during the fourth quarter of the 102-96 win, resulting in him being taken to the locker room in a wheelchair.

 Paul sustained an injury which forced him out for the majority of the first half, but the guard returned before the break to help leave the home side just ahead at the interval. The Clippers were five points back with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but Blake Griffin added a couple of free throws before a three-pointer from JJ Redick tied it up.

 The lead changed hands several times in the final minutes as both sides battled to remain in the playoffs, with a couple of free throws from Paul being cancelled out by Tim Duncan with less than nine seconds remaining. Paul quickly charged back down the other end though, beating Duncan and Danny Green with a one-handed shot at the buzzer, clinching the series win for the home side.

 The win sets up a Western Conference semi-finals series with the Houston Rockets for the Clippers.

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The two biggest stars in boxing put their welterweight world titles on the line at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but Mayweather has insisted that he will prove to the worldwide audience that he is the best fighter in the history of the sport. Floyd Mayweather Jr has claimed victory over Manny Pacquiao on a points decision in Las Vegas to remain unbeaten and move to 48-0 in his career.

 The judges declared the 38-year-old the winner by unanimous verdict as they scored the bout 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 to allow the American to become the unified welterweight champion by adding Pacquiao's WBO title to his own WBA and WBC belts. Pacquiao had his moments in the fight, especially in round four when he rocked Mayweather, but the undefeated American controlled the majority of the contest and was deservedly given a unanimous verdict.

 The American began the fight in an aggressive fashion as he landed a couple of right hands on the chin of the 36-year-old, using his reach and tight defence to his advantage. Pacquiao responded with a strong second round as he pushed Mayweather into the corner, but was unable to land a telling blow on the American who then caught him with a solid right counter before the bell. The men battled out an even third round before the Filipino launched an assault on the American as he pinned him to the ropes and landed a series of body shots to make an impact in the fight. Mayweather came out with an excellent response in the fifth round as he took the initiative to land a couple of blows to the body of Pacquiao, while avoiding the counter punch from the Filipino.

 Mayweather applied pressure in the opening stages of the seventh to knock Pacquiao out of his rhythm, but the Filipino responded with a right hand, although the American did enough to see off the threat to land further blows to extend his lead in the fight. Pacquiao came out with a powerful left hook in the eighth round to surprise the American, but the 38-year-old hit back with two quick blows on the counter and was solid in defence to ensure that the Filipino could not take the round cleanly. The Filipino failed to land the meaningful blows he required in the ninth round to close the gap on his opponent as Mayweather displayed his quality in defence by weaving away from Pacquiao's range.

 Mayweather's advantage in the bout allowed him to dictate the tempo as he managed to avoid getting into close exchanges with the Filipino and continued to use his reach to fend off his advances as time slipped away. The American produced his strongest round of the bout in the 11th as he landed several shots on Pacquiao to take the fight away from the Filipino with a series of quick-fire jabs, which the 36-year-old was unable to respond to as Mayweather put himself on the brink of victory at the bell. The 38-year-old used his experience in the final round to avoid Pacquiao punching power on the inside, securing a unanimous points decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

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The New Orleans Pelicans have been more competitive than many experts predicted through the first two games of this series, and are hoping a home game will help to shift momentum in this series. Much like the regular season, New Orleans has been forced to rely heavily on All-Star PF Anthony Davis. In the Game Two loss, Davis scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 45 minutes of action.

Eric Gordon contributed 23 points on 5 for 10 from the three point line. Reserve G Norris Cole has looked good coming in off the bench and will continue to see more action moving forward in this series. Golden State has not been spectacular in winning the first two games, but has managed to hold serve at home.

The Warriors have been getting the job done in this series with their defense. Golden State was the top rated team in defensive efficiency this season and their numbers through the first two games have been even better.

On Monday, the Warriors got 48 combined points from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in a 97-87 victory. Golden State held New Orleans to 38% shooting and just 16 points in the final quarter.

New Orleans PG Jrue Holiday was unable to go in Monday night’s loss and is considered day to day with a sore leg. Golden State F David Lee has missed the first two games and is likely out again for Game Three with a sore back. The Pelicans have given the Warriors trouble and this will be their best opportunity to steal a win in the series.

Playoffs 1st Round Game 3 Golden State Warriors vs New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.. Golden State Warriors lead series (3-0). Game 4 played on Sun, April 26.

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