NBA Hits and Flops of the Week (March 28th-April 3rd)
The recent NCAA Basketball Tournament or “March Madness” just concluded allowing the basketball media to shift their focus back to the NBA before the Playoffs. With less than two weeks remaining for the 82 game regular season to end, there’s still a lot at stake.
In the Western Conference, five teams are battling for the final four Playoff spots. Meanwhile in the East Detroit and Indiana battle for the seventh seed and four teams are battling for seeds from third to sixth.The NBA always makes a lot of headlines. Some are made on the court and some off the court. Here are the highs and lows of the headlines from the NBA world:
Hit: Positive first game in return for Blake Griffin
After missing a total of 45 games for the Los Angeles Clippers due to multiple reasons, four time All-Star Blake Griffin made a successful return to the court on Sunday against the Washington Wizards. He logged only 24 minutes but did a little bit of everything recording 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in that time.
For obvious reasons Griffin had a tough time getting the ball into the basket, shooting just 2 of 7 field goal attempts however his much talked passing was on full display on Sunday. He had a lot of give and go’s with his guards which created room for them to knock down a shot.
What the fans would have been most happy to see was Griffin dunking again. He had his first points for the game on a fast break alley-oop dished out by All-Star Guard Chris Paul. His other field goal came off a nifty spin move in the post on a smaller defender, which would have certainly given him the confidence to keep trying to regain his rhythm in the remaining games.
The five games remaining are probably the most favorable five game stretch the Clippers would have seen all season long. They play the Los Angeles Lakers twice and then the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz all once. The two Lakers’ games should be walkovers, sealing a win over the depleted Grizzlies squad shouldn’t be tough.
The schedule is favorable not only for the team but also for Griffin to regain his game, something key to the Clippers having a long post-season these Playoffs.