WSD Sports Page: Pacers beat Heat at free throw line in ECF opener

After cruising through the NBA playoffs winning eight of their first nine games, the Miami Heat take a backseat in Indiana as the Pacers throttle them from the perimeter and at free throw line to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combine for 52 of the team's 96 points, and outside of Chris Anderson and Ray Allen hitting the double-digit mark and be efficient from the field, no one else showed up on the Heat. Nobody was able to hit from the perimeter, the team hitting a cold 6-of-23 including Chris Bosh's 0-for-5 and just 4-for-12 from the field overall.

While the Heat were making free throws, they just weren't getting there enough. The Pacers took 22 more attempts. That's an incredibly rare deficit for Miami considering their superstars generally get the bulk of the calls.

If Indiana ends up winning Game 2 of this series, you can bet that there's going to be a definite swing in momentum when it comes to fouls being called in Miami. There is no conspiracy in NBA game fixing -- at least, not that we know of -- but we all know that these foul calls will balance out.

There's simply no way the Pacers are going to waltz into Miami and attempt nearly 40 free throws in a game, and they have to go into the game knowing that.

What they can control is shooting, and three of their starters -- Lance Stephenson, Paul George, and David West -- combined for 23-of-36 on field goals, a whopping 63.8 percent. That and rebounds (+9 from Game 1) are something they can control, which is where they match up the best against Miami and why we all considered Indiana to be the Heat killers from opening tip of the season.

Ever since "Boat Trip," the Pacers seem to have righted the ship. Now we'll just see how far it goes and how they respond to adversity in the following games.

NHL: Blackhawks take Game 1 against the Kings

Chicago's defense tightened up in the third period, allowing just four shots on goal by Los Angeles as they cruise to the series-opening victory. Despite having six more shot attempts, only getting 15.3% of them in the final stretch down a goal isn't acceptable. Tyler Toffoli had his fourth goal in the postseason.

MLB: Giants avoid three-game skid against Marlins

San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong shut down the all-of-a-sudden hot Miami offense, giving up only five hits and one walk. A 3-run jolt to start the game in the first inning along with Pablo Sandoval's solo shot in the fifth inning (extending his nine-game hitting streak) was all they needed to win, but things got a bit dicey in the eighth inning when the Marlins had runners in the corners.

However, the fish aren't the 2-out scorers like the Giants are, who scored eight of their 15 total runs on two outs and leads MLB with 86 2-out RBIs.

LAX: Johns Hopkins falls to Duke

The Blue Devils began the game with a 6-0 run and finished scoring seven of the last eight goals, holding their lead to head to the NCAA semifinals. They only scored three goals in the first 21 minutes of play in the first half, but the Blue Jays never felt like a threat on offense. Duke dominated ball control with a 37-19 advantage in ground balls and held JHU to just two shots in the final period. JHU going 3-3 in EMOs in the first half were the only thing that kept them in the game.

Today's Slate
(Central times listed)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3
Rangers at Canadiens (NYR 1-0) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS
Thunder at Spurs (Game 1) - 8:00 TNT

WSD Sports Page: Clippers lack playoff experience, costly against Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers in six games, and another blown lead--not any calls from the refs-- was the main story again.

Photo from TheHoodgirl

Once up 16, the Clippers let everything slide away again in the second half and lost by a 104-98 final margin. Kevin Durant was incredible, putting up 39 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 assists in an incredible night, nailing all 10 free throws. The whole team was aggressive getting to the foul line and it paid off. They went 29-of-33 from the charity stripe while LA hit just 12-of-20.

That +15 edge at the line overcame the Clippers having a +24 advantage in the paint.

Clippers fans were obnoxious during the whole disaster, but this time, they don't have the aid of a controversial finish and a Doc Rivers breakdown to latch onto. Two straight games blowing double-digit leads doomed the team, and while they looked like the best team in the NBA at times throughout the season, playoff experience prevailed for the Thunder.

People forget that LA's other team, despite becoming more popular than the Lakers, simply have next to zero playoff experience in their franchise history. The team is trending in the right direction, and they'll continue to be a factor as they re-tool the team and continue being led by the trio of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan.

But for now, the Thunder get the opportunity to play the San Antonio Spurs, a.k.a the West's Finest. They won't get the luxury of blown leads this time around.

---

NBA: Pacers advance with beatdown of their own

The Wizards couldn't take advantage of a dominant Game 5 and fizzled at home in a 93-80 loss. Finally, Indiana put their foot down after getting embarrassed at home. Now the question is, how ready are they against the Heat?

MLB: Cain grabs first win in Giants' 6-4 win over Marlins

After 11 straight winless starts, San Francisco's Matt Cain finally grabs a victory, and it was technically his worst start of the season after giving up back-to-back jacks in the first two innings. San Francisco's lineup is red-hot after two games, and figured out Nate Eovaldi's fast ball pretty fast rocking nine hits in the first 4.1 innings.

CBB: Oklahoma State clinches Big 12 regular season title

The Cowboys lock up the one seed in the Big 12 tournament next week after defeating their in-state rival, Oklahoma, in the opening game of a three-game series and TCU lost to Baylor. OSU has now won 11 straight games overall, six in Big 12 play.

NBA: Lakers GM says Bryant isn't going to be involved in coaching search

Obviously, Kobe wants to have his say on who's going to become the next coach LA's more historic franchise, but Mitch Kupchak won't give him a seat at the table to talk. Which is fine, because that's not Kobe's job. It's not in his contract to help the team pick a coach. That doesn't mean Bryant can't give his input, and it's not like Kupchak won't give it consideration.

NBA Draft Combine: Wiggins jumps a billion miles in the air

Look at this picture of Wiggins during a workout. Dude's got some serious hangtime.

Today's Slate

(Central times listed)

TENNIS

ATP/WTA BNL d'Italia (Qtrs) - 5:00a TNNS

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2

-Kings at Ducks (Game 7) - 8:00 NBCS

NBA

Scouting Combine - 9:00a ESPNU / 12:00 ESPN2

MLB

Padres at Rockies - 7:40 MLBTV

Dodgers at D'backs - 8:40 MLBTV

-Marlins at Giants - 9:15 MLBTV

CBB

11Washington at 1Oregon St - 6:00 P12

20TCU at Baylor - 6:30 FSSW

-19Texas at Kansas St - 6:30

WSD Daily Sports Page (4-23-14): Should Frank Vogel be fired if the Indiana Pacers don't advance?

Will Indiana's Frank Vogel get fired if the Pacers don't advance to the next round? "Stone Cold" Steve Austin gives his thoughts on gay marriage and says it exactly how we thought he would say it, and your daily recaps of NBA and NHL action -- including Drake's lint roller -- all today in the sports page.

The Lede



It's crazy, but Frank Vogel should be coaching for his job

Despite achieving a 56-26 record and being the first seed in the Eastern Conference, Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel is apparently coaching to keep his job.

ESPN's Marc Stein reports that sources close to the Pacers believe that if Indiana underwhelms in the playoffs, Vogel will likely get the axe. That sounds pretty severe considering everything Vogel has done for the Pacers during his tenure, but there's been a clear drop off by Indiana that's lasted since February.

Clearly, it's not just Indiana coming back to Earth. They're a really great team filled with superstars, but team chemistry must be on the same page. Otherwise, it doesn't matter who is on the team. This is why many teams that are filled with nothing but superstars end up disappointing -- it's incredibly hard to get those egos together.

Team chemistry is completely collapsing with the Pacers, and a lot of it reportedly is from Lance Stephenson beginning in late March. Yahoo! Sports reported on a fight between Stephenson and Evan Turner during practice right before their first game against the Atlanta Hawks. Stephenson had a scuffle with George Hill on March 31st, and Roy Hibbert calling out "some selfish dudes" was likely referring to Stephenson.

Perhaps Stephenson has big head on his shoulders after becoming one of the most improved players in the NBA this season. The problem for Vogel is that he can't pin it on Stephenson. In fact, president Larry Bird is on Stephenson's side and criticized Vogel in March for his disappointment in how the team is prepared.

It's truly unfortunate for Vogel. Since taking over during the 2010-11 season, the Pacers haven't missed the playoffs, haven't finished lower than second in the Central division, and the team is 167-97 in the regular season. Despite just an 18-17 playoff record, they've improved every season and were looking to finally break through into The Finals this year.

There's still time to get that done, but Miami is the clear favorite right now in the East. And perhaps Frank won't get another chance if he doesn't even make it to the Heat.


Top Five Stories that Matter to Me

1. NHL: Los Angeles drops to 0-3 hole against San Jose. There's nothing more pivotal than a Game 3 when a team holds a 2-0 lead. Now the Kings will have to win four straight games
2. NFL: The regular season schedule is officially released tonight. This is the only sport that devotes a 3-hour show for a freaking schedule. Yet it will probably score higher ratings than every baseball game, all the NHL games, and even the Spurs-Mavs game on NBATV.
3. WWE: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin gives vulgar rant about gay marriage. He focuses on religion, and it really "chaps [his] ass." But hey, he gets the point across.
4. NFL: LaMarr Woodley believes the Oakland Raiders will make the postseason. For those that don't know who Woodley is (that's a lot of you) the linebacker spent his first seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It good to have goals, no matter how unrealistic they are.
5. NBA: Aubrey Drake Graham uses a lint roller during the Nets-Raptors game. Real Instagram comment: "habibiz lint roller on deck"

Yesterday's Favorites

MLB: Rockies 2, Giants 1

The hits finally came for San Francisco, but they were unable to bring in the runs scoring just once on a solo home run by Hunter Pence. They were able to get baserunners against Colorado starting pitcher Franklin Morales, but all nine runners in scoring position were stranded. Madison Bumgarner gave up nine hits but recorded six strikeouts in a complete effort that went eight innings.

NCAA Baseball: Texas 5, UT-Pan American 4

It was a bit closer than the Longhorns wanted it, but they finally break a 3-game losing streak after getting bulldozed by TCU over the weekend. Mark Payton hit a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give Texas their first lead of the night and they held on to finish off UTPA in the ninth. Ben Johnson hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the game up.


Stanley Cup Playoffs

• Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (MON 4-0)
• Bruins 3, Red Wings 0 (BOS 2-1)
• Rangers 4, Flyers 1 (NYR 2-1)
• Sharks 4, Kings 3 (F/OT) (SJ 3-0)

After coming back in the 3rd period down two goals, Montreal smacked in the game winner with under one minute left.

Boston is also starting to flex their muscles. After getting zero goals in the first game, they've outscored Detroit 7-1 in the last two games with seven different players.

NBA Playoffs

• Pacers 101, Hawks 85 (Tied 1-1)
• Raptors 100, Nets 95 (Tied 1-1)
• Wizards 101, Bulls 99 (F/OT) (WSH 2-0)

Great night in The Association. The Pacers pulled away in the 3rd quarter outscoring the Hawks 31-13. Toronto outrebounded Brooklyn 52-30 to overcome shooting just 12.5 percent from downtown and turning the ball over 10 more times to even the series. Chicago loses another heartbreaker at home and will have to find answers in Washington.

Today's Slate

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - SEMIFINALS
Bayern Munich at Real Madrid (Leg 1) - 1:45 FS1

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Penguins at Blue Jackets (PIT 2-1) - 6:00 NBCS
Ducks at Stars (ANA 2-1) - 7:00 CNBC
Blues at Blackhawks (STL 2-1) - 8:30 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Bobcats at Heat (MIA 1-0) - 6:00 TNT
Mavericks at Spurs (SA 1-0) - 7:00 NBATV
Blazers at Rockets (POR 1-0) - 8:30 TNT

MLB (NL West)
D'backs at Cubs - 1:20 WGN
-Giants at Rockies - 2:10 CSBA/RSRM
Padres at Brewers - 7:10 FSSD/FSMW
Phillies at Dodgers - 9:10 CSPH/SNLA

LAX
-Villanova at Johns Hopkins - 6:00 ESPNU

CBB (Big 12)
Missouri State at Kansas - 6:00 ESPN3
Baylor at Texas State - 6:30 ESPN3

WSD Daily Sports Page (4-15-14): Indiana Pacers clinch East top spot, Alabama college athletics makes more than all 30 NHL teams

Welcome to the all-new daily sports page for The World of Santa Destroy. Each day, I'll run down a big story in sports, bullet point five stories that interest me the most, and yap about all my favorite teams that I follow.

Consider it a daily journal entry every day to keep myself organized on all the sports I follow. And you can be along for the ride if you want.

The Lede

NBA Playoffs Update: Indiana Pacers get top seed in East, Memphis Grizzlies complete 16-team field

It wasn't even close for the Miami Heat on Monday night. Without Chris Bosh or LeBron James, the two-time defending champions get routed by the Washington Wizards. The Wiz outscored the Heat 43-22 in the second quarter, effectively ending the game before halftime. Trevor Ariza led Washington with 25 points, going 10-of-13 from the field and hitting five 3-pointers. The loss hands Indiana the top seed.

Erik Spolestra felt it was smarter to rest his best players before the long playoff grind begins this weekend. It's a good move, considering clinched one of the top two spots in the East since what feels like December. There's a chance they could face the Wizards again in a playoff series, but right now they have the Charlotte Bobcats on the docket if things stay the way the are after the regular season ends on Wednesday. Indiana has Atlanta no matter what happens.

Elsewhere, the Grizzlies and Suns had a playoff-like game on Monday night. The entertaining affair ended Phoenix's season, now two games behind the eighth spot. It was a disappointing finish for the Suns who started incredibly bright in the first half of the season. Instead, Memphis has a likely series with San Antonio, but they could move up to the sixth seed in the West depending on what happens on Wednesday.

Top 5 Rundown

• Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron still receives racist messages. "Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur)." That's one of the lines in a hateful letter that was sent to the Braves organization. Aaron's hatred comes from the fact that he doesn't believe the past is all different from current era racism. I'd contend that we're definitely heading in a better direction, and each generation continue to become open-minded and don't care about the color of people's skin. But racism is still, unfortunately, very much out there.
• Alabama athletics make more than all 30 NHL teams. The Crimson Tide doesn't just ring $143 million in per year. That's the revenue they make each year, which is more positive green than every single NHL team. I don't have any respect for college athletes that actually complain about going to bed hungry, but the fact that they can't see any of that revenue is ludicrous.
• St. Louis Rams are offering $100,000 for anyone that correctly guesses the schedule. Despite fans having to guess the correct date, kickoff time, and bye weeks, the odds of nailing this contest are much higher than filling out a perfect March Madness bracket.
• An Edmonton Oilers fan has finally given up. Here's an Instagram video of somebody throwing a bag or whatever at an Oilers building. The team has missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. Maybe he can join the Chicago Cubs fans that have also given up.
• Joakim Noah reacts to snow in the Midwest. It's been a harsh winter in all of the continental 48, and the heartland received another blast of snow to open up the workweek. Noah's reaction after talking about how happy he is to see spring was all of our reaction on Monday morning.

Yesterday's Favorites

NCAA Men's Lacrosse: (6)Johns Hopkins 17, Mount. St. Mary's 2

A rare Monday game caused by a snow-out earlier this season. To be honest, it should have just been canceled. The Blue Jays throttled the Mountaineers at the Mount, holding their opponent to no goals until the final four seconds in the third quarter. JHU built up a 12-0 lead in the first three quarters and finished scoring the final five goals. Mt. St. Mary's is still winless (0-14) this season.

JHU took 43 more shots, picked up 28 more ground balls, committed 12 less turnovers, and won 18 of the 23 faceoffs in absolute, complete domination. Jack Grass and Brandon Benn scored three goals a piece leading the way while Wells Stanwick dished out six assists. A whopping 468 people were in attendance for this game, which started at an early 4:00 PM Eastern first faceoff.

NL West Recap

• Mets 7, Diamondbacks 3
• Padres 5, Rockies 4

Arizona had no answer for Zack Wheeler, producing just two runs as the right-hander pitched through 6.1 innings. Josh Collmenter picked up his first loss of the season pitching just four innings and giving up five hits and three runs. The D'backs are just 1-9 at home this season.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Colorado. After starting out 4-0 in the first five innings, San Diego rallied with three runs in the fifth inning and two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Rex Brothers threw a wild pitch and catcher Willin Rosario was tagged with a throwing error in the eighth that resulted in Xavier Nady and Set Smith to score and win the game.

San Francisco and Los Angeles fight for the top spot in the division beginning Tuesday night in a 3-game series at AT&T Park.

Tuesday's Lineup

BPL/UCL

West Ham at Arsenal - 1:45 NBCS

NHL Playoffs begin Wednesday

MLB

Mets at D'backs - 8:40 MLB.tv

Rockies at Padres - 9:10 MLB.tv

-Dodgers at Giants - 9:15 MLB.tv

NBA

Knicks at Nets - 7:00 TNT

Nuggets at Clippers - 9:30 TNT

CBB

-TX-Arlington at Texas - 6:00 LHN

Grand Canyon at Kansas - 6:00 ESPN3

Kansas St at Nebraska - 6:30 BTN

Oklahoma at Oklahoma St - 6:30 FCS