WSD Sports Page (5-3-14): Damian Lillard leads Portland Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Semifinals

Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge are men amongst boys in Portland, the San Francisco 49ers pick up the option for Aldon Smith, and college lacrosse continues to dazzle. All in today's sports page.

The Lede

It took 24 Western Conference first round games, but a team finally advances to the next round. Damian Lillard makes a shot with 0.9 seconds on the clock, giving the Portland Trail Blazers a ticket to the next round over the Houston Rockets.

How much of a badass was Lillard? Against Houston, the man can do everything. In this playoff series, Lillard averaged 25.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in 45 minutes of action. All of that is above his normal season averages.

Also tack on an incredible 45.9 percent shooting from downtown and constant drilling from the free throw line. The man had it all, and he was one of the two big reasons why the Blazers are headed to the next round.

Another one is LaMarcus Aldridge, who rebounded from his off night in Game 5 and put down 30 in the series clincher. His efficiency died when compared to his first two games in the series, but it knocked his percentage down to 50 percent, which just explains how freaking nuts he was in the first two games at Houston -- which was about a 59 percent average for those scoring at home.

These last two games in the series weren't like the insane, zero-defense affairs. But at some point you just gotta be a little tired from scoring all the time, right?

Poor Dwight Howard. He was non-existent in his first and only playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was certainly the man for the Rockets averaging 26 points and 14.2 rebounds per game, but the Laker fans already having fun slapping him on the ass as he exits the door.

Can't blame them for how he left, but he was certainly not the reason why Houston isn't moving on.

Their defense is.


Other Headlines

1. NBA: The latest on Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano -- Sterling admits that he should have "just paid her off" while the woman spoke to Barbara Walters on 20/20 and insists that Sterling should publicly apologize. Considering Sterling's history, he is a racist, and any sort of apology would be fabricated garbage that would just be wasting everybody's time.
2. NBA: Dallas, Brooklyn force even more Game 7s. That brings us to a total of five Game 7s in the NBA this weekend. Most of the time you'd be lucky to have a single game on Saturday night, and the second round usually began the next day. Enjoy it!
3. NHL: Chicago lays the wood down with 5-2 shellacking. Patrick Kane closes it out with two goals in the third period.
4. NFL: 49ers pick up the option for Aldon Smith. I'm still firmly against it, but ultimately it was the right move in a business sense and it's not a surprise after hearing all signs pointing to go in the past couple days. It's only guaranteed until next March, and again, I've got the under on that bet he'll stay clean until then.
5. NFL: Colin Kaepernick comes out and says the Miami "incident" has changed him. Unless you're an idiot like Aldon and haven't grown up after screwing up royally over three times in your life, you quickly learn that a target is on your back when you're a big figure. But, perhaps Joshua David should just tell him to shut the f*ck up.
6. LAX: Ivy League semifinals both ended in one-goal games. The only time Ivy League sports is exciting is when the Harvard men's basketball team has their moments and when their teams meet on the field for men's lacrosse.

Yesterday's Favorites

• Giants 2, Braves 1 - Tim Lincecum picks up his second win of the season thanks to Angel Pagan's leadoff home run and Michael Morse's solo shot in the sixth inning to break a 1-run tie. Sergio Romo's eighth save was like watching the end of an NBA game. Long and brutal.
• NCAA Baseball: West Virginia 5, Texas 3 - It's the Longhorn's third straight Big 12 loss despite Brooks Marlow going 4-for-5 and the team getting the same amount of hits as the Mountaineers (11). Texas was down 4-0 until the seventh inning when they put up three straight runs. And that was it.

Today's Slate

Central times listed.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

-Tottenham at West Ham - 6:45a NBCS

Sunderland at Man United - 9:00a NBCS

Man City at Everton - 11:30a CNBC

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2

Canadiens at Bruins (MON 1-0) - 11:30 NBC

-Kings at Ducks (Game 1) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1

Hawks at Pacers (Game 7) - 4:30 TNT

Grizzlies at Thunder (Game 7) - 7:00 TNT

Warriors at Clippers (Game 7) - 9:30 TNT

MLB

Dodgers at Marlins - 6:10 SNLA/FSFL

-Giants at Braves - 6:10 CBA/FSS

Mets at Rockies - 7:10 SNY/RSRM

D'backs at Padres - 7:40 FSAZ/FSSD

LAX

AE: UMBC vs Albany (Final) - 9:00a ESPNU

-Johns Hopkins at Loyola - 11:00a CBSS

Army at Notre Dame - 11:00a ESPNU

Colgate at Syracuse - 3:00 ESPN3 (ONL)

BE: Denver at Villanova (Final) - 3:30 FS1

ECAC: Fairfield vs Air Force (Final) - 4:00 FS2

Lizards at Bayhawks - 6:00 PT

Hounds at Launch - 6:00 TLN (ONL)

CBB

Baylor at Oklahoma - 2:00 FSOK

Texas Tech at Kansas - 2:00 ESPN3 (ONL)

-Texas at West Virginia - 3:00

Kansas St at TCU - 4:00 FSSW

WSD Sports Weekend (4-26-14): Los Angeles Lakers keeping Mike D'Antoni shows nothing but stupidity

Stupid is the theme of the day as I dissect why Mike D'Antoni returning for another season defies all common sense, why Gawker Media/Jezebel/Deadspin fails again at crapping all over someone, and there's some lacrosse respect in today's sports page.

Photo from Beyond the Buzzer.

The Lede

Stupid: Los Angeles Lakers decide to bring back Mike D'Antoni for third season

There's a lot of stupid going on in the NBA lately.

Whatever's happening with the Indiana Pacers is stupid because everyone that's not a Miami Heat fan wants to see the Miami Heat lose, and we thought the answer was here for the first four months of the season. Whatever happened at the end of the Golden State's game and not calling a foul on the LA Clippers' Chris Paul is pretty stupid, and that adds to the fire of ref stupidity during these playoffs.

And of course, there's been stupid since Jim Buss took over full operation with the Lakers. After two miserable seasons with Mike D'Antoni as head coach, they decided to bring him back for a third season.

Hear that? That's the sound of every single Laker fan that's still left throwing everything out the window. That's Kobe Bryant screaming in agony as he reinjures himself because he knows full well that he's going to get another season-ending injury before Thanksgiving.

There's absolutely zero equation that fits both Bryant and D'Antoni to equal out a championship. None. D'Antoni's system is built for young guns. Built for fast-paced offense that doesn't matter whether or not they play defense. In fact, they'd rather the team launch a quick shot and make it so they can get back on offense.

Pau Gasol might as well pack up his shit and go to LAX, he's history. Bryant might as well demand a trade, because a championship isn't coming to the Lakers organization until well after he's retired. Any big names in free agency this summer might as well skip right past going to the Lakers because why in the world would any experienced talent want to come in when D'Antoni's just going to favor putting in more younger guys.

D'Antoni runs a college system that will never work in the NBA. It will never get the Lakers a trip to the Finals. While next season may not be as craptastic as last season, they'll be nowhere near title contention.

They basically gave one of the best players in their history, Kobe Bryant, the big middle finger and told him that they're going to rebuild with D'Antoni. They gave the middle finger to Magic Johnson who doesn't like D'Antoni at all. And they gave two big middle fingers to every single Lakers fan.

At least Buss and D'Antoni were able to get rid of all the Laker bandwagoners because no front-running idiots will stick with a team that lost more games than they played. Now they'll be able to get rid of every single Laker fan after next year.

Say hello to your new fan, Golden State San Francisco Warriors!


Other Headlines

1. NFL: San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh backs up quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Harbaugh reflects on the situation, saying that just one side has been reported and he even quotes Winston Churchill. Of course...
2. NFL: Gawker Media idiot Joshua David bitches about Harbaugh and tells him to shut the f*ck up. Well David, I don't know if you're trying to be the next Drew Magary on Deadspin, but this article was complete garbage. Drubbing it up into a different argument about rape culture when that's not even the issue. It didn't happen, even THE GIRL said it didn't happen. She filed a report to figure out how she got to the hospital, and then we figured it out. Of course, David didn't want to mention any of that because he was too busy ranting about how much he hated Harbaugh. Good job. When you first wrote "I don't know what happened," you should have probably shut the f*ck up yourself and deleted the post.
3. MLB: Washington Nationals keep Bryce Harper out for today's game against San Diego Padres. Harper jammed his thumb while siding into third base during an 11-1 blowout. Even when he decides to try hard, he still can't win.
4. NBA/NHL: Chicago goes 2-0 in big playoff games. The Blackhawks take a huge 3-2 lead against the St. Louis Blues as they head back to Chicago, while the Bulls avoided a 3-0 hole against the Washington Wizards. Displaced Chicagoians at the bars last night were as happy as hell.
5. MLL: The season begins tonight. For the first time, similar to Johns Hopkins in the college ranks, I'll be following a team from beginning to end. And my favorite team in the MLL is the Denver Outlaws.
6. NCAA LAX: Last night's game were the best. There were three buzzer beaters last night, two of them in the ACC semifinals that led to Syracuse and Notre Dame victories. Another one in the Patriot League semifinal between Lehigh and Army. The Irish needed the win to stay away from being 6-6 and potentially not making the playoffs, while the Black Knight's loss puts them in a tough position to make it.
7. MLB: Giants take lead in NL West after win over Indians, Dodgers loss. Suck it, Dodgers.

Today's Slate

Or, in other words, what I'll be keeping track of. All times Central.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1

Red Wings at Bruins (BOS 3-1) - 2:00 NBC

Blue Jackets at Penguins (Tied 2-2) - 6:00 NBCS

Wild at Avalanche (Tied 2-2) - 8:30 NBCS

-Kings at Sharks (SJ 3-1) - 9:00 CNBC

NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1

Pacers at Hawks (ATL 2-1) - 1:00 TNT

Spurs at Mavericks (Tied 1-1) - 3:30 TNT

Heat at Bobcats (MIA 2-0) - 6:00 ESPN

Thunder at Grizzlies (MEM 2-1) - 8:30 ESPN

MLB

Padres at Nationals - 12:05 FSSD/MASN

-Indians at Giants - 3:05 STO/CSBA

Phillies at D'backs - 7:10 CSPA/FSAZ

Rockies at Dodgers - 8:10 RSRM/SNLA

LAX

Harvard at Yale - 12:30 FCS626

Machine at Hounds - 6:00 MSG+

-Outlaws at Launch - 6:00 LAXN

CBB

Oklahoma at Texas Tech - 12:00 FCS623

-Oklahoma St at Texas - 1:00 LHN

Virginia at Florida St - 5:00 EPSN3

Oregon at Oregon St - 9:30 P12

WSD Daily Sports Page (4-18-14): MLB replay isn't the problem, the whole sports replay process is wrong

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