Shaquille O'Neal Rumors
All NBA Players
Justin Kubatko: The @Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard is just the second player in NBA postseason history to record four games in which he scored at least 25 points while shooting 65% or better from the field in a single series. He joins Shaquille O’Neal, who did so for the Magic in the 1995 ECF. pic.twitter.com/PRWkdBDtdh
Booker had 22 first-quarter points on 8-of-9 shooting. He made all six of his 3s. As the Lakers tried to ease into the game, testing if Davis’ groin could hold up (it couldn’t), Booker sensed blood and attacked. Phoenix was up 22 at the end of the first quarter, and Booker had outscored the entire Lakers team by eight points. “This is what superstars do in closeout games,” Shaquille O’Neal said on TNT at halftime, when Booker already had 33. “Give me the damn ball and get out the way.”
Tommy Beer: Ben Simmons is 5-of-20 from the free-throw line this postseason. Per @Basketball-Reference, the only players in NBA history with a worse FT% over a four-game span in the playoffs (min. 20 FTA) are Shaq, Wilt and Andre Roberson.
O’Neal, the longtime “Inside the NBA” analyst, was missing from his seat when Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley kicked off their coverage ahead of the Charlotte Hornets-Indiana Pacers matchup. The crew, obviously, had to crack plenty of jokes. “What kind of a dummy misses the first night of the playoffs?” Barkley asked before Smith called O’Neal via FaceTime on the broadcast.
