The Golden State Warriors entered the fourth quarter of Game 6 against the Denver Nuggets poised to complete an inspirational closeout win over the third-seeded team in the West. After struggling to a 42-40 halftime deficit, the Warriors turned things around to take the third quarter 33-20 on the strength of four 3-pointers from star shooter Stephen Curry. The Nuggets looked slow to loose balls and without momentum — in other words, defeated.

Then pretty much the exact opposite happened. After taking an 80-62 lead with 9:11 on the clock, Golden State went scoreless for 4:43 to allow the Nuggets to cut the lead to five points. And while the Warriors did manage to score 12 more points the rest of the way, they did so in the least impressive way imaginable, having trouble completing basic basketball tasks like inbounding the ball and passing out of traps to turn it over nine times in the final eight minutes.

[Related: Bulls, Nets going to Game 7]

The good news for the Warriors is that they held on, making just enough plays in the final minutes to come away with a 92-88 win to knock the Nuggets out of the playoffs in six games. Yet, while a series win is supposed to feel triumphant, the exact form of the moment gave considerable reason for concern.

Heading into Wednesday night's Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James Harden had not performed especially well in his first playoff series as member of the Houston Rockets. In the first four games, Harden put up a solid 101 points on distinctly less impressive 36.4 percent shooting from the field, including a 4-of-25 mark from beyond the arc. Some particularly impatient basketball fans went overboard in determining that Harden was not the franchise-defining star he proved himself to be over the course of the regular season, but he did look somewhat worn down.

Despite fighting flu-like symptoms throughout the day and missing the morning shootaround, Harden proved he had plenty of energy left. In a fairly comfortable 107-100 win, he scored 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 from three-point range to lead six Rockets in double figures. A series that once looked headed towards a foregone conclusion now returns to Houston for Game 6 with the Rockets poised to even things up.

His top highlight of the night was this eminently confident three-pointer near the end of the third quarter. With the Rockets up 82-73 and 37 seconds on the clock, Harden let the inbounds pass roll very, very slowly into the frontcourt following a stoppage so that his team could have an easier time getting a two-for-one possession. Except, instead of playing out a full possession, Harden picked up the ball, took one dribble, and launched a three-pointer over OKC defender DeAndre Liggins.

Damian Lillard can finally get rid of his Taco Bell Skills Challenge trophy (Sam Forencich/ Getty).

Portland Trail Blazers point guard has been named the NBA's 2012-13 Rookie of the Year, as announced late afternoon Wednesday in the least surprising news of the league's awards season so far. The sixth pick in last June's draft received all 121 first-place votes, becoming the first unanimous winner since Blake Griffin in the 2010-11 season. Lillard led all rookies in scoring average (19.0 ppg), assists (6.5 apg), and minutes (38.6 mpg, also second overall in the NBA) and established himself as the award's frontrunner in the earliest days of the season.

Lillard impressed throughout the season with his scoring ability and feel for the game, becoming one of the leaders of the Blazers along with All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and a face of the franchise moving forward. Lillard helped to fill the backcourt gap left by the injury-plagued final seasons of Brandon Roy, the franchise's last Rookie of the Year in 2006-07, and he was one of the most watchable players in the league for non-partisans, as well.

Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto's totally normal wedding card (via @darrenrovell).

By all accounts, the Saturday wedding of NBA legend Michael Jordan and former model Yvette Prieto was a lavish affair. It was housed in a massive tent big enough to house a circus consisting entirely of elephant performers and elephant patrons, featured Usher and Robin Thicke as live performers, and pretty much ensured that every once and future basketball star will have yet another thing in their life unfavorably compared to the accomplishments of His Airness.

Yet the opulence of this wedding presented a major challenge for its guests. What do you get the couple that has and flaunts everything? For Jordan's business partners at trading card company Upper Deck, the choice was simple: a giant, one-of-a-kind greeting card signed by 16 athletes and personalities important to the couple. Ryan Cracknell of The Cardboard Connection has details:

After three stellar performances in Warriors wins, Stephen Curry had his worst shooting night of the postseason in Tuesday's 107-100 Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets, going 7 of 19 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3-point range. It was a frustrating night for Curry, who also had a brief skirmish of words with a fan on his way into the locker room after the final buzzer. Perhaps a return home to a raucous Oracle Arena will help him reclaim his stellar form for Thursday's Game 6.

Warriors head coach Mark Jackson was not content to let Curry's night go down as merely a bad performance. In his post-game press conference, Jackson claimed that the Nuggets targeted Curry for particularly harsh treatment. Watch the video above and read some of the most notable quotes after the jump.

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol discuss the work of Ansel Adams (Andrew D. Bernstein/ Getty).

It was a tough season for Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol, one filled with injuries, a marginalized role, and consistent trade rumors. Under these circumstances, the Lakers' exit from the playoffs might come as something of a relief for him, apart from the essential pain of losing. Yet, as the Lakers head into an uncertain future, it looks as if Gasol might be at the end of his time with the team.

On Tuesday, Gasol had his exit interview with the team at Staples Center. (Visit Yahoo!'s own Marc Spears's Twitter page for substantive updates on what he had to say.) In the midst of several comments on his preparation for a potential trade, Gasol revealed some exciting news about his future plans off the court. From Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com on Twitter:

Pau Gasol reveals he's working on a photography book with inspirational messages from his life off the court

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 30, 2013

Um, when will this book be available for purchase? Can I buy it yesterday?

Kings fans support their team during this season's final home game (Rocky Widner/ Getty).

For several months, the Sacramento Kings have been on the brink of being sold to an ownership group headed by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that would move the franchise to Seattle, ushering in a second SuperSonics era. The sale initially looked like a sure bet, with Hansen's group agreeing to buy 65 percent of the franchise from Joe and Gavin Maloof at a $525 million valuation. Sacto mayor Kevin Johnson fought back with his own group of potential owners and arena developers, and the last few weeks have been full of slight adjustments to offers, petty ultimatums, and sincere efforts to have NBA basketball in one of two deserving cities.

[Also: ThePostGame: The road to Jason Collins' revelation]

On Monday afternoon, all involved parties received the clearest indication yet that a resolution has been reached. In a unanimous vote, the NBA Board of Governors Relocation Committee recommended that the Kings should not be sold to Hansen's group. Barring an unforeseen change in the situation, the Kings will stay in Sacramento.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com was the first to report the news on Twitter, with Yahoo!'s own Adrian Wojnarowski following soon after. Sam Amick has more for USA Today:

Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry entered Sunday night's Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets with reason to doubt his own ability to carry his team to victory. After two stellar games to help the Warriors to a 2-1 series lead, Curry needed pain shots to cope with his sprained left ankle and struggled to score in the first half, putting in seven points on only 1 of 3 shooting from the field.

It turned out that Curry was merely biding his time for one of the most impressive scoring runs of the postseason so far. After a separate outburst by Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson (15 points in the first six minutes of the second half) helped Denver cut the lead from a halftime deficit of 12 to just four points, Curry caught fire to score 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor in the last 6:22 of the quarter, with 19 of those points coming in a torrid 7 of 7 stretch from the 4:22 to 1:12 marks. The Warriors held a 91-72 lead at the horn, overwhelming the Nuggets on the way to a 115-101 victory that puts them one win away from clinching their first playoff series since 2007.

[Related: Lakers fans given white flags ... ahem towels, before Spurs game]

Curry finished the night with 31 points on 10 of 16 from the floor (including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc), further cementing his reputation as the top shooter in the NBA. In his last three games (all Warriors wins), Curry has averaged 30 points per game on 31 of 56 shooting from the field and 14 of 28 shooting from 3-point range. Those are incredible numbers for the postseason, and they might be even better if Curry hadn't had to miss several minutes of the fourth quarter after being poked in the eye by Nuggets wing Corey Brewer. He returned to action despite a very reddened eye, although his status is worth monitoring before Tuesday night's Game 5.