Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls at 8pm ET on ESPN | San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State Warriors at 10:30pm ET on ESPN
Tonight’s slate of NBA games is very interesting to say the least in our opinion. The Miami Heat gave the Chicago Bulls a school lesson earlier in the week, as we witnessed the largest margin for playoff win-loss differential in NBA history with a 37-point blowout.
In the night cap of hoops, the Golden State Warriors are home after evening the series against the Spurs which they almost blew their double-digit lead again, as San Antonio tried for a late 4th quarter run. Golden State could’ve been back home up 2-0 against the odd-on-favorite Spurs, who are having a hard time dealing with the back-court shooting tandem of Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.
Check after the jump for a continuation of the previews.
OS REWIND: Our Favorite Miami Heat-STREAK Moments
OS REWIND: Golden State Warriors “Man vs. Machine”
Bulls Face Must-Win Game 5 At Home With No Sign Of Rose’s “Return”
Earlier today, the Chicago Bulls finally ended all speculation and their personal circus of the Derrick Rose “return,” with a formal announcement of his 2013 playoff shutdown. This comes as no surprise to any of us who thought Rose should’ve returned back in the first round of the playoffs and more-so in latter half of the regular season. Tonight’s virtually a must-win for the Bulls, as the team will be without Rose (obviously), Luol Deng still dealing with an internal virus and Kirk Hinrich out with a bruised left calf.
Deng could potentially return for game 4, which would be more incentive for Chicago to use their “football” mentality (play with who you have) on the court. In game two, 9 technical fouls were called, in which 6 were on the Bulls. Tonight’s game will be officiated by Joey Crawford, which should favor Miami with the game being called tight. The pressures definitely at an all-time high for the Chicago Bulls who cannot afford to go down 2-1 to the Miami Heat who were down 0-1 at the start of the week.
If Miami wins this game tonight, we could see this series possibly ending in South Beach on game 5 Wednesday night.
Golden State On The Brink Of Western Conference Finals With Weekend Games Set
The most excited match-up on slate this weekend, is by far game 3 of the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs game. For the entire duration of the series thus far, the Spurs have only led in only 6 total minutes, which we’ve witnessed some of the greatest shooting in the history of post-season play led by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson (who’ve led the way thus far). Without their former team captain David Lee out with injuries, Steph has emerged as a superstar becoming the MVP of this year’s playoffs.
We’re witnessing something great with the boys from O-A-K-Land, which they could be poised for another upset in this year’s playoffs. The Spurs are yet to have a good game this series, and have admitted to winning game one by a fluke. Thinking logically, the Spurs are not in any pressure to win both games on the road and only need a split to regain home court; which somehow makes it a must win situation for the Warriors in win both games before Gregg Popovich can figure out a defensive scheme.
Golden States reserves in Richard Jefferson, Draymond Green, Jarrett Jack, Draymond Green and more in particular, Andrew Bogut all play better at home under the college-like atmosphere in the Oracle Arena. Steph and Klay are yet to have a cold-streak, which we could see the role-players leading the way if the Spurs are pressuring the back-court.