With 28.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 1 on Sunday, the Memphis Grizzlies found themselves clinging to a one-point lead after a furious comeback by a Los Angeles Clippers team that had been down as many as 27 points late in the third. Vinny Del Negro put the ball in the hands of Chris Paul, the man entrusted with changing the fortunes of the Clippers' franchise, and relied on him to make a play against Memphis lockdown artist Tony Allen, one of the league's best perimeter defenders.

With just over 25 seconds left, Paul started his move, driving right on Allen, who seemed to have pretty good position — he stayed outside CP3's right foot, directing Paul back across his body toward Memphis' big-bodied interior, and actually influenced Paul into picking up his dribble. But as Paul raised the ball above his head, Allen reached in looking for a tie-up and instead fouled the point guard. Paul hit two free throws with 23.7 seconds left, Rudy Gay's attempt for a game-winning answer fell short, and the Clippers took a 1-0 lead.

After the final buzzer, we got the thrill of victory, in the form of Chris Paul's postgame fashion tips for TNT's Craig Sager:

... and we also got the agony of defeat, as Allen took to Twitter to take the blame for failing to shut Paul down:

An awful lot of sports fans — especially those on the East Coast, exhausted after 7.75 NBA playoff games in less than two days — probably went to sleep somewhere around the end of the third quarter of Sunday's Game 1 between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers. After 36 minutes of mostly lights-out basketball on both ends of the floor, Memphis held a 21-point advantage over the Clippers heading into the fourth quarter, and they looked well on their way to a convincing blowout win to open their Western Conference playoff series.

And then, this happened:

From Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press:

Chris Paul begged coach Vinny Del Negro to put him back into the game for the fourth quarter and not give up despite being down 21 points.

The result was another Clippers comeback — one of the greatest in NBA playoff history.

Paul hit a pair of free throws with 23.7 seconds left, and the Clippers rallied from a deficit that had been as much as 27 to stun the Memphis Grizzlies 99-98 Sunday night in the opening game of their Western Conference series.

The key, Paul said, is to keep believing.

''Unfortunately, that's how we play,'' he said. ''We get killed in the first three quarters and in the fourth quarter we like to try to stand up for ourselves, and we found a way to win tonight.''

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum blocked 10 Denver Nuggets shots on Sunday afternoon, a mark that tied an NBA playoff record, secured just the second points-rebounds-blocks triple-double in NBA postseason history, and helped the Lakers score a 103-88 victory in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Bynum scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and corralled 13 rebounds to go with the 10 swats, posting the first postseason triple-double by a Laker since June 12, 1991, when Magic Johnson scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 20 assists in the fifth and final game of the 1991 NBA Finals, won by the Chicago Bulls.

He is just the third player to post double-figure blocks in a playoff game, joining former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton, who set the record by blocking 10 shots against the Houston Rockets on April 26, 1985, and Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who tied Eaton's mark with 10 blocks against the Lakers on April 29, 1990. Olajuwon, too, posted a triple-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

[Related: Andrew Bynum, Kobe Bryant lift Lakers past Nuggets in Game 1]

The 24-year-old Lakers center rejected attempts by Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Al Harrington in the first period, then got Lawson again in the second quarter to enter halftime with four blocks. He sent back two Faried tries in the first five minutes of the third quarter, got Harrington again and blocked an Andre Miller attempt to head into the fourth with eight blocks. His ninth block of the game, on a Danilo Gallinari layup attempt at the 6:11 mark of the fourth, tied a Laker playoff record previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Bynum took sole possession of the franchise mark by notching his 10th block with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, sending back an optimistic lefty hook attempt (termed "kind of a hesitant move" by Bynum in a post-game interview) by Denver center Timofey Mozgov to stake his claim to a piece of NBA history.

After missing Game 1 of the San Antonio Spurs' opening (and, as it turned out, only) playoff series in 2011 due to injury, reserve guard Manu Ginobili entered the 2012 postseason healthy, ready and eager to make a splash. Judging by the results of this fast break during the second quarter of the top-seeded Spurs' first game against the Utah Jazz, though, he might have entered a little too eager.

Missing "a room service bucket." I rather like that, ESPN play-by-play man Mark Jones. I kind of think Manu would, too; he's a worldly, comedic sort, and if he had to choose which kinds of phrasing commentators would deploy to discuss him taking off a step too early, getting caught a little too far out in the air, and not being able to rely on go-go Gadget arms for that extra couple of inches he needed to secure the stuff, I think he'd appreciate the ingenuity.

[Related: Parker leads Spurs past Jazz in Game 1]

The first half wasn't all bloopers for Ginobili, though. In the interest of providing equal time for successful endeavors, hit the jump to check out Manu pump-faking a hard-closing DeMarre Carroll into the next ZIP code before detonating on the drive.

After Derrick Rose suffered a season-ending ACL tear during the Chicago Bulls' 103-91 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday afternoon, the reaction of NBA fans, media members and fellow players alike consisted largely of shock and sorrow. A bummed-out legion began to wrap its mind around the enormity of the 2011 NBA MVP's injury and what it means for the top-seeded Bulls' title hopes and, potentially, the career arc of one of the league's brightest young superstars.

I say "largely" because the reaction also contained stuff like this, from the Twitter account of Jason Petrie, a "senior footwear designer at Nike," according to LinkedIn, and the designer of the popular Nike basketball sneakers worn and endorsed by Miami Heat star LeBron James:

(Screencap via @sevenzro1, Nike designer Jason Petrie's Twitter feed)

"Pooh," of course, is the nickname Rose was given by his grandmother when he was a kid. Rose, of course, wears and endorses adidas shoes; the Bulls point guard recently signed a 13-year endorsement deal with the shoemaker that, with incentives, could pay him more than $200 million. The intimation, of course, is that Rose wouldn't have torn a ligament in his left knee if the shoes on his feet when he landed that jump stop were emblazoned with a swoosh. Of course.

[Related: Derrick Rose's knee injury casts pall on Bulls' hopes | Video]

On Sunday morning, Petrie took to Twitter to apologize:

(Screencap via @sevenzro1, Nike designer Jason Petrie's Twitter feed)

As first reported by Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert has torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. Shumpert also tore the lateral meniscus in the knee, the Knicks announced Saturday evening. He will need surgery to repair the tears, and will miss six to eight months of action, the team said.

The rookie sustained the injuries during the third quarter of the Knicks' 100-67 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series on Saturday afternoon, crumpling to the court in obvious pain after a non-contact play.

With the Knicks down 24 points after being blitzed by the Heat 30-13 in the second quarter, Shumpert dribbled up court following a Dwyane Wade turnover. The Knicks guard moved slightly to his left before trying to come back to the right, then instantly pulled up lame, losing control of the ball as he reached for his left knee. Mario Chalmers grabbed the loose ball and passed to Wade, who made a basket and was fouled at the other end of the floor. Shumpert stayed down, holding his knee and appearing to be in agonizing pain.

Teammates, coaches and trainers crowded around the rookie as ABC's telecast cut to commercial. During the break, teammates Jerome Jordan and Josh Harrellson carried Shumpert off the court and into the Knicks' locker room. He exited the game at the 6:04 mark of the third quarter, having gone scoreless in 19 minutes of action.

Shumpert was not the only guard to tear his left ACL during Saturday's opening-round action. Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose suffered the same fate late in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 103-91 Game 1 win over the Phiadelphia 76ers.

Not to get all Stefon on you, but this commercial from Chinese television network CCTV has everything: Playoff teams imagined as feudal kingdoms, legions of armored warriors ready to head into battle, everyone wielding sharpened weapons, Kobe Bryant with claws ... everything.

If the first quarter of Game 1 between the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers doesn't have you suitably amped for the beginning of the second season, then this should do the trick. Now we're ready for the 2012 NBA Playoffs. Feels good, don't it?

Hat-tip to our dear friends at A Stern Warning.

Carlos Delfino drives into Rodney Stuckey. (AP)

The next time someone tells you that Rodney Stuckey is not a fearsome one-on-one defender, kindly point them toward the look in Carlos Delfino's eyes here, and enjoy the resulting moment of stunned silence in whichever way you see fit.

(Yep, I know this one's a few months old, but it was just brought to my attention, and it is the best, so there.)

Best caption wins a visit from Morganna the Kissing Bandit. Good luck.

In our last adventure: Greivis Vasquez is like a kid in a high-five candy store.