Notes from TNT’s NBA Playoffs Coverage – Monday, May 5, 2014
TNT’s NBA coverage of the NBA Playoffs continues Tuesday, May 6, with an exclusive doubleheader featuring the Brooklyn Nets @ Miami Heat (Game 1) at 7 p.m. ET, and the Portland Trail Blazers @ San Antonio Spurs (Game 1) at 9:30 p.m.
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Washington Wizards (102) at Indiana Pacers (96) – Wizards lead series 1-0
Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Chris Webber (analyst) with Tracy Wolfson (reporter)
Webber on Pacers center Roy Hibbert’s role as a big man: “Your job isn’t to score or be a cheerleader, it is to rebound and block shots if you are over seven feet.”
Webber on how fans should feel about the Wizards: “If you are a Washington Wizards fan or a Washington Bullets fans, you should be proud not only of the effort of this team but mentally how they approach this game. They are older than their years.”
Webber on Wizards guard John Wall: “John Wall has improved so much. [He] may be the fastest player in the NBA from end to end with the basketball and the live dribble. He’s not just known for speed, he’s learned to knock down the mid-range jump shot and, more importantly, getting the ball to [Bradley] Beal and other players to become a leader.”
Webber on the Washington Wizards: “This team plays with the reckless abandonment that you have to like while paying attention to detail.”
Webber on the impact of the energy guys on a team: “It’s not about the key players, it really comes down to who is going to make the extra effort. It is going to come from the energy guys, the glue guys, those guys that can get the crowd and team involved with their effort not just skill play.”
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Sprint Halftime Report
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith
Barkley on the Wizards: “This is going to be a beat down, quick and painless. They (Pacers) have no chance of beating these guys.”
Barkley on John Wall: “John Wall went 100 miles per hour his first couple of years in the league. Now he has learned how to play the point. He still goes about 100 miles per hour, but now he drives about 70.”
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Webber on the Pacers: “If you think about Indiana and who they are, they played so well this season because of this crowd and because of their energy defensively. If they get back to their identify on defense, they are never out of the game.”
Webber on the Wizards’ Bradley Beal and John Wall: “LeBron and D-Wade, Kevin Durant and Westbrook, Isiah [Thomas] and Joe Dumars…it is so beautiful to watch two wing players have a vibe and a chemistry…to be able to play off of each other, to take it out of each other’s hands…just beautiful basketball by this backcourt.”
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Los Angeles Clippers (122) at Oklahoma City Thunder (105) – Clippers lead series 1-0
Marv Albert (play-by-play) and Steve Kerr (analyst) with Lewis Johnson (reporter)
Kerr on the Thunder: “Oklahoma City has to find that balance between attacking and being poised and on target with their passes.”
Kerr on Clippers guard Chris Paul: “When he looks for his shot and is aggressive, I think that is when the Clippers are at their best.”
Kerr on the Clippers hard fought win against the Warriors in Game 7. “With everything that happened that week and everything that was expected this season, I think that Game 7 win was such a relief and a monumental moment for this club – Doc Rivers’ club. I think you are going to see their best in this series. They will be relieved, happy and on point with their game, just because they have been able to move on.”
Kerr on the difference between the Thunder and Clippers: “Oklahoma City is a little quiet in the half court isolation one-on-one stuff relying heavily on [Russell] Westbrook and [Kevin] Durant. The Clippers really move the ball, they have a lot of weapons. OKC’s challenge will be to slow them down.”
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Sprint Halftime Report
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal, Smith
Barkley on Clippers guard Chris Paul: “He’s the best leader we have in the NBA today, very impressed with Mr. Paul.”
Barkley on Thunder guard Russell Westbrook: “He takes everything personally. He’s so competitive, he’s so explosive. He tries to go at a guy offensively and then he starts rushing. I wish sometimes his competitive nature would say maybe I should try to stop Chris Paul instead of going back at him [on the offensive end].”
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Kerr on Westbrook: “You are always going to get some of everything from Westbrook. The force that he brings is remarkable.”
Kerr on OKC center Serge Ibaka: “He is just a model of consistency. He’s not a star but he is an excellent NBA player.”
Kerr on the Clippers: “They are just scary. With the shooting and the devastating inside force of [Blake] Griffin and [DeAndre] Jordan and of course the best point guard in the league this team can do anything offensively…when they hit their threes like tonight, they are almost unstoppable.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Kia
Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal, Smith
Barkley on Clippers guard Chris Paul: “He was a great leader tonight; he came out firing on all cylinders.”
Clippers forward DeAndre Jordan joins the Inside crew via Arena Link
Jordan on teammate Chris Paul being aggressive against OKC: “We need Chris to be aggressive every night. He’s so unselfish. He wants to pass and pass some more but sometimes he has to come out and be aggressive and not wait until the fourth quarter. Once he is aggressive early, it opens the floor for Blake to not get doubled.”
Jordan on the Clippers reaction last week during the Donald Sterling fiasco: “I think it was a distraction during Game 4. That wasn’t us playing out there in Game 4. We weren’t playing our style of basketball. Once we locked back in and realized who the opponent was…we locked back in. We refocused and started playing the way we were capable of playing.”
Smith on the big men being the key to winning this series: “DeAndre Jordan was critical in that Golden State series. His ability to rebound that basketball. He has to hit the offensive glass and defensive glass for them to win this series. As much as we have joked about Kendrick Perkins on the show, he’s going to be a valuable asset [for OKC].
O’Neal on Pacers center Roy Hibbert struggling in the Playoffs: “Rebounding is effort. He’s seven foot. He at least has to get two or three. He needs more effort. He needs to stop worrying about trying to get the ball and score. He should get all the defensive rebounds.”
Smith on Roy Hibbert: “He’s the key to helping them win an NBA Championship but he’s not involved.”
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