And it is a charade. Howard, lebron james jersey in his opt-in news conference last month, described himself as “too loyal. ” That’s a good one. If “loyal” is going behind a superior’s back to ask for his head on a platter, the Magic should trade for some traitors. lebron james jersey “The only thing I’m ever uncomfortable with, ” Van Gundy said Thursday, lebron james jersey “is bull[expletive]. … The only thing that liberates me is, you know, kobe bryant jersey be honest and deal with what’s out there. Some people have a hard time with that, I guess. ” derrick rose jersey Cue Howard, entering stage right. The bravery of Van Gundy’s move was in its martyrdom. He was clearly not trying to save his job. “It’s 12: 02 right now, ” he said. “If they want to fire me at 12: 05, I’ll go home and find something to do. ” dwyane wade jersey He knew there’s no win for him, just like there was no win for him in Miami. There’s never any win for a ring-less NBA coach unless there’s a titan backing him up - like Riley behind Erik Spoelstra.

Paul's 3-point play with 1: 22 left got the Clippers to 86-81, the closest they had been since the latter stages of the first half. derrick rose jersey A dunk by Jordan with 55. 8 seconds left got them even closer at 86-83. But Gay got a feed from Mayo on the baseline with the Clippers overplaying defensively and his dunk put the Grizzlies up five. kobe bryant jersey Gay followed with two free throws after Paul's turnover, and Conley converted the final four free throws. "We got stops, " Griffin said of the comeback. dwyane wade jersey "We got in the open court and got some easy buckets. Once that happens, some shots start to fall. We fought back, but obviously didn't finish it out, and that was the problem. derrick rose jersey "No one had to point out how close the two teams are or could ignore the possibility of a first-round 4 vs. 5 matchup. dwyane wade jersey "We are right there, " Griffin said. "We are going back and forth. We very likely could (face each other), and we are excited about that. "

Memphis finished shooting 50 percent, while the Clippers were limited to 41 percent. derrick rose jersey
Gasol led the Grizzlies with 12 points in the first half. No Clippers player had reached double figures, but Paul and Foye had nine apiece and Griffin had eight. kevin durant jersey Griffin also spent some time on the bench with two fouls. The Clippers, who committed five turnovers in the half, including two in the final minute, kobe bryant jersey shot 37 percent before the break. Memphis extended the lead to 15 early in the second half, and maintained a double-digit margin through much of the third quarter. The Grizzlies led 71-60 heading to the fourth. Bledsoe's layup got the Clippers' deficit under double digits to start the final period, lebron james jersey but Mayo scored a pair of baskets, extending the lead to 81-64 with 7 minutes left. Griffin and Paul were on the bench at the time. When they returned during the middle portion of the fourth, kevin durant jersey consecutive baskets by Paul pulled Los Angeles to 84-74 with 3: 14 left.