Curtains close to closing on Clippers championship chances. We'll see if Monday is their last playoff game.

On the positive side, at least they broke their curse...

Man, the Hawks got off to the hottest start they could ask for tonight, going up by as much as 15 in the first quarter, with Young getting back to shooting the lights out. Seriously, dude was scorching (15/23 FG, 35 points). Once the Bucks settled down and stopped the sloppy play and turnovers, they slowly clawed their way back over the course of the game.

Khris Middleton was a man on fire in the fourth, and his team needed every bit of it, with Jrue Holliday being ice cold from the field (2-11) and Giannis being solid-but-not-amazing (by his standards). Middleton finished 15/26 from the field for 38 points to tie his career playoff high, notably going 6/12 from deep. HE HAD 20 IN THE FOURTH!

With that Bucks win, they've snatched back home court advantage and are now up 2-1. Good adversity win for those guys, going down big early on the road and taking several haymakers from the Hawks that they could have (and in past years, probably would have) used as excuses to falter down the stretch.

Whenever I'd hear analysts and b-ball heads talk about how teams need to learn how to win in the playoffs before they are championship ready, I used to wonder if that was just hot air. Now I'm learning what that means.

Also, one of the refs apparently committed a dirty play on Trae Young, because Young stepped on his foot late in the third quarter. Someone should teach that ref about "floor height" and how to recognize where other peoples' feet are at all times. ~_~

Ivica Zubac has been officially ruled OUT for Game 5.

Huge blow to the Clippers since he was the only man they had who could even remotely guard Deandre Ayton.

This is the Suns’ best shot at going to the Finals tonight.
If they don’t win this game, I don’t think they have a shot at winning Game 6. And who knows what’ll happening in a Game 7.

Well the Clippers still have a chance and it looks like Marcus Morris Sr got over his injury.

No Trae Young, no problem for the Hawks.

No Giannis, BIG problem for the Bucks.

Just when I was starting to think Budenholzer's stubborn, often maddening insistance on limiting minutes, was going to pay off...

AD - Calf Strain
LeBron - Bad ankle
Kawhi - ACL
Joel Embiid - Meniscus
Kyrie Irving - Ankle
James Harden - Hamstring
Devin Booker - Broken Nose
CP3 - Bad shoulder
Trae Young - Ankle/foot
Giannis - Knee

Paul George is probably sweating bullets right now, thinking "Damn, I'm next!"

Donovan Mitchell had a bad knee too.

It would be very interesting if all the stars for each team get laid up with injuries. I am not sure if we ever have seen a situation like that