https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2O6AAkLoRY

The Pacers are where they were supposed to be all along. In the Eastern Conference Finals, with homecourt advantage, against the Heat.

It was not easy. It was a long and winding road to get there. But here they are.

On the back of David West, a rock offensively this postseason who has found the big shots when his team needed a big offensive performance desperately. He scored 29 points as the Pacers used a 20-6 run to put the Wizards away and finish off their second round series with a 93-80 win at Verizon Center.

Washington rallied from a double-digit deficit and took the lead behind a Bradley Beal 3-pointer. John Wall used his blinding speed to get out in the open court as the Wizards were finally able to push the pace. Indiana lost control over the game.

West calmed the Pacers down. That is what he has done time and time again. He hit jumpers and got post ups to go around the basket.

The Wizards began pressing and the shots stopped falling. That momentary lead was gone in a hurry and the Pacers finished things off.

Lance Stephenson woke up from his season-long slumber to support West, scoring 17 points. That is just in time too with the Heat coming up.

Marcin Gortat scored 19 points as Wall and Beal struggled from the floor. Washington had the effort and nearly got it. But experience and poise won the day for Indiana. Now the Pacers get exactly what they have wanted all year.

In the end, this was not much of a game. Or a much of a series really.

Portland was not really in the same league as San Antonio. Not with the way the Spurs were able to focus in, choke off the Blazers’ potent offense and score at will. Or even not score at will. The Spurs had a stretch in their 104-82 series clincher where they could not get a field goal. And yet their lead was hardly threatened.

The Blazers scored 38 points in the second half, falling deeper into the pit of the Spurs trap.

Even with Tony Parker leaving the game in the second quarter with a strained hamstring. The Spurs insist he would have been ready had there been a Game Six. No need for that anymore.

Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green each had 22 points. Leonard went into his beast mode with a foray of fast break runs toward the rim and dunks. Patty Mills scored 18 points in Parker’s stead.

LaMarcus Aldridge completed a strong postseason with 21 points and Damian Lillard had 17 points. The Blazers though scored only eight points off the bench. A problem Portland will have to remedy this offseason.

The Spurs though can rest a bit before the Western Conference Finals begin next week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Ip7QpnaHE

If anyone would know not to give Ray Allen space, it would have to be the Nets right? Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have seen Allen drain that corner three with less than two minutes, one minute, 30 seconds time and time again. It had so rarely happened to them.

Their last great shot at winning a championship may very well have ended that way. The Heat, trailing by around eight points for much of the second half and unable to get over the hump until they suddenly did.

Allen capped off that run with a corner 3-pointer, a tough one that had him backing up to get to the line. It gave the Heat a two-point lead. Miami needed two defensive stops to put the game away. The last came with LeBron James and Allen combining to force the ball out of Joe Johnson’s hands. Brooklyn did not even get off a shot as the team’s season ended with a 96-94 defeat.

Joe Johnson was the right guy to have the ball. He scored 34 points and carried Brooklyn offensively. He hit tough shot after tough shot over the defense. Just he could not get that shot to fall at the end. And the Nets threw the game away in many ways, unable to execute at the end.

LeBron James scored 29 points and got to the line 17 times, making 15. Dwyane Wade scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half.

And now the Heat are one step closer to a third championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ774pnbUrY

On the glass, on the scoreboard, in Boggle. It did not matter what kind of game the Wizards were playing against the Pacers. Indiana did not show up. Well Indianapolis and the state of Indiana showed up hoping to see their team realize they were still on track and get to the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Pacers just did not show up in a 102-79 Wizards win to force a Game Six on Thursday.

Certainly not on the glass, where Washington held an incredible 62-23 advantage, including 18 offensive rebounds for Washington. Certainly not anywhere.

Marcin Gortat scored 17 of his 31 points in the first half and the Wizards just kept collecting their misses and putting them back in. The Pacers were lethargic and lackadaisical. They were getting beat to every loose ball and every rebound. The rebound stat really says it all for Indiana and the effort and urgency Washington put into this game. The Wizards were clearly the ones playing with elimination on the line.

The Pacers? It is hard to explain how something like this could happen?

Roy Hibbert had no rebounds. Paul George had just one rebound total. David West grabbed only six rebounds. These are the star players and they have to lead with their effort.

John Wall did that in awakening from his slump and scoring 27 points on 11-for-20 shooting. He took control of the third quarter as Washington turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 30-point lead on the road.

This inconsistency from the Pacers really has to stop if they want to continuing scraping and advancing. Maybe they are doing just what they have to do.

Leave it to Charles Barkley to stir things up… again!

TNT’s Barkley has been on a tear recently directing comments at the female population of San Antonio. More specifically, he has no issues calling them, “Big ol women.”

His comments have drawn the ire of the women of San Antonio and few have been demanding he apologizes for his less-than-complimentary words.

But if you think “The Chuckster” is going to apologize for his words — think again.

During a recent show of “Inside the NBA,” Barkley took time to address the firestorm he created but was insistent that he isn’t going to apologize whatsoever. As a matter of fact, he said you can turn off the TV.

The Blazers got off to the good start they needed. They got the shots to fall. They even got a few starts. There was the urgency a team down 3-0 in a series needed to have as Portland won 103-92 to extend the series one more game and back to San Antonio.

Damian Lillard scored 25 points and took over the game early on to set the tone for Portland. He had plenty of help with the Blazers bench awakening from its -100 in three games slumber. Will Barton scored 17 points off the bench to keep Portland pace. San Antonio did not have its usual second quarter runaway this time.

The Trail Blazers shot 43.9 percent from the floor but were up around 60 percent in the first quarter. They held the Spurs to just eight fast break points.

San Antonio just was not quite itself.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 14 points and had only one assist. That is not going to cut it.

This was Portland’s night. They get to play on.