Update--- New article coming Tuesday morning. Right now, read the latest results and where each series stands as Monday saw three games conclude.
The 2013 NBA Playoffs continue to roll along and there were some exciting finales after Saturday's action. Check out the standings and how each series stands after the first full week of NBA playoffs. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks were all victorious in their games. Let's begin with the triple overtime game.
The Bulls defeated the Brooklyn Nets 142-134 to take a comfortable 3-1 lead in their best of seven series. The Bulls weren't supposed to be this good. Their mercurial star, Nate Robinson, was not supposed to be this good either. The Bulls roared back from a 14-point deficit and less than four minutes left in the game. Robinson caught fire as he said, "like NBA Jam," as every shot he took seemed to find the bottom of the net.
Robinson scored 34 points helping Carlos Boozer carry the load. Boozer finished with 21 points while Joakim Noah and Kirk Hinrich finished with double-doubles. Noah scored 15 points with 13 rebounds and Hinrich had 18 points with 14 assists. They are now just one game away from advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs after many said they were too injured to compete.
Also just one game away in their playoff series, the Thunder. They took out the Houston Rockets 104-101. Despite how close this game wrapped up as both teams exchanged leads late in the game, the Thunder had a 26-point lead early in the game. Many are now concerned that the Thunder won't be able to protect leads without the help of Russell Westbrook. However, they have Kevin Durant, who stepped it up and scored 41 points in Game 4.
The Rockets almost made the comeback and they had to do it without Jeremy Lin. Lin was in too much pain with a bruise chest muscle to make a solid contribution to the Rockets' effort. Francisco Garcia, on the other hand, finished with 18 points to help James Harden. Harden scored 30 points as his Rockets are now just one game away from being swept and eliminated from competition.
The Rockets and Bulls were winners of the more exciting games on Saturday. The Hawks and Grizzlies completely outplayed their opponents as their games got out of hand quickly.
The Hawks beat the Pacers 90-69. Al Horford controlled the pace of this game scoring a game-high 26 points as they returned the favor to the Indiana Pacers. In the previous two games, it looked as if the Pacers were going to wipe the floor with the Hawks in this seven-game series. However, the Pacers shot a measly 27 percent from the floor while committing 22 turnovers. That is not a recipe for success.
The Grizzlies tied their series against the Los Angeles Clippers after a great performance from their bigs, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. They both scored 24 points guiding the Grizzlies to a 104-83 victory. Once again, these two teams are looking like they will be going seven games as both teams have triumphed in their home courts.
Here's what the series look like in our playoff standings as the NBA postseason as a little over a week old.
UPDATED:
Eastern Conference
Miami Heat 4-0 Milwaukee Bucks
New York Knicks 3-1 Boston Celtics
Indiana Pacers 2-1 Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets 1-3 Chicago Bulls
Western Conference
OKC Thunder 3-0 Houston Rockets
San Antonio Spurs 4-0 Los Angeles Lakers
Denver Nuggets 1-3 Golden State Warriors
L.A. Clippers 2-2 Memphis Grizzlies