It's been well established that the Los Angeles Clippers seem to enjoy making the most out of the incidental contact that tends to happen about 97,000 times during an NBA game. The team takes plenty of licks with its banging, athletic style, but it also likes to magnify the impact of said licks by flopping, and losing a bit of credibility with the referees along the way. With that in place, it's still hard to understand why the 'Peter and the Wolf' syndrome would influence referee Marc Davis for whistling a technical foul on Clipper forward Reggie Evans for … high-fiving his teammate?

Take a look:

Vinny Del Negro considers his playbook late in Game 6 (Getty Images)

Memphis Grizzlies 90, Los Angeles Clippers 88 (series tied, friends, at 3-3)

It's been a nasty series, full of flops, strange possessions, dodgy officiating, and low scoring. But it's also been, by many accounts, the best series in the first round. It's the Grizzlies and Clippers — now 100 percent lottery free — and it's going to seven games. And we couldn't be happier.

The Grizzlies prevailed in Game 6, but this game really did come down to the obvious absence of the Chris Paul we all know and love and sometimes pick series' based on how well he'll play. The Clippers won't make such excuses (save for the team's coach, perhaps), but Paul really was a shell of himself on Friday night, especially in the fourth quarter when the Clippers needed him most. Paul finished with 11 points on nine shots with five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three turnovers. Not a terrible line in the slightest, but a far cry from the sort of MVP-level production that the Clippers need to make a difference in these playoffs.

No excuses, there, but Paul's limited mobility wasn't even made up for by a tough and determined performance from Blake Griffin. Griffin was also hobbled, and it showed, but he still put together a 17-point night with six assists and five rebounds. And it wasn't enough, because the Memphis Grizzlies made damn sure of it.

LeBron James is the NBA's MVP in 2011-12 (Getty Images)

All apologies for making this so stupidly simple, but this truly is a simple award. You give the Most Valuable Player award to the player that has played the best basketball during the regular season, and LeBron James clearly played the best basketball of any player in the NBA this year. This is why, according to the Associated Press, he will be awarded the MVP trophy on Saturday. Gotta get it in before the Indiana Pacers sweep LeBron's Miami Heat out of the playoffs, y'know.

To consider any other candidate was to be charitable to that runner-up at best. Other NBA players have had MVP-level seasons in terms of production, and there certainly have been several players this season that have been just about invaluable to their respective franchises, but James was so far and away the best player in the NBA that even L.B.J. fatigue -- James has won the award three times in four years -- couldn't sway the vote.

[Related: James wins third MVP award in four seasons]

James averaged 27.1 points this season on just 18.9 shot attempts a game, which is nearly (by .1 of a shot) a career-low. To put that in perspective, Kevin Durant averaged 28 points on 19.7 shots a night, and Kobe Bryant managed 27.9 on 23 shots a contest — and we don't want to hear about Heat helpers in comparison to teams that feature Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. James also contributed 14.1 rebounds/assists and 2.7 steals/blocks, numbers that far outpace his contemporaries in whatever the hell position James plays these days.

Paul Pierce, all smiles (Getty Images)

Hey. It's Kelly. That wasn't fun, was it? The silly lockout, the terrible season, the Dwight Howard, and that awful first round. It's OK, though. It's over now. That is a bird chirping in the distance, I made a pretty good sandwich for your lunch and we don't have anything to do when you get home from work but watch a series of basketball games played by players that are rested, well-instructed, and mindful of what town they're in.

You're going to feel better, now. Your pal insists on it.

Let's talk about the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.

Metta World Peace works out at the Staples Center on May 8th (Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace averaged 14.1 points on 47 percent shooting in April, adding more than four rebounds a game despite playing just 32 minutes a contest -- and not really being asked to do much outside of defending the best wing player and not put up crazy stats. Three weeks into that month, Metta World Peace did something ridiculously crazy — carelessly bashing Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden with an elbow, and he was suspended seven games, as a result, beginning with his team's final regular-season win. With the Lakers due to play the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their opening-round series, holy crap, Metta World Peace is coming back. He's actually allowed to play.

The Lakers need a shot in the arm. Andrew Bynum is moping through plays, nobody can stay in front of the Nuggets' guards, Pau Gasol isn't working his way toward good looks and the team's rotation is severely lacking. Always a top-heavy outfit, the Lakers have now lost two straight to the Nuggies because of the steep falloff in production once you move beyond Kobe Bryant, Bynum and Gasol. World Peace would seem to fit wonderfully.

But he's Metta World Peace. It's not so much that he's going to fling an elbow at Denver's Andre Miller (mostly because 'Dre would probably block it with his cane) or do something suspension-worthy in his first game back. It's because M.W.P. is the definition of mercurial. You don't know what you're going to get from him every night -- and, worse, one has to wonder just how much he can contribute after nearly three weeks away from in-game NBA action. What can the Lakers reasonably (hah!) expect from their man Metta in Game 7? And should expectations even be placed on the guy?

Ivan Johnson tweets at a Boston Celtics fan on Thursday night (Photo work courtesy twitter.com/YourManDevine)

Atlanta Hawks forward Ivan Johnson enjoyed a solid rookie season this year, working with good touch on the interior and a low center of gravity to average 6.5 points and four rebounds a night with his team, playing 16.7 minutes per game. That production fell off quite a bit in the postseason, as the 28-year-old rookie missed 11 of 16 shots in five games before registering a "Did Not Play — Coach's Decision" in Atlanta's series-deciding Game 6 loss on Thursday. And, as you can see above, the rookie with the veteran's age did not take the mature veteran's approach in responding to the effusive nature of your typically rambunctious Celtics fan.

That is to say, "he flipped a dude off."

Denver Nuggets 113, Los Angeles Lakers 96 (Series tied, 3-3)

Yell at these Lakers all you want. Get frustrated at Andrew Bynum's sleepy play, Pau Gasol's inability to do anything in the post and the squad's refusal to take advantage of a clearly flu-ridden Kobe Bryant's gutty 31 points on 23 shots. Still, please give these Denver Nuggets credit. The Nuggets are good enough to play in the second round out West, and they're good enough to beat a Lakers team that obviously has championship potential.

And Los Angeles will have to fight to fulfill that potential. That was always going to be the case against Denver because the Nuggets are too deep and too good to dismiss.  And when Denver starts the game on a 13-0 run and then peels out of the second half just as effectively and dominant, the Nuggets just aren't going to lose. Credit George Karl for having his men ready.

Do we discredit Mike Brown for clearly not having the same running for Los Angeles? I think you can. He's had weeks to ring Bynum's ears. He's had months to figure out how to make Gasol a more consistent mainstay of this team's offense. But at some point Bynum has to act like a leader, and Gasol has to hit more than 1 of 10 shots. And at some point we need to stop talking about the Lakers so much and pay more attention to the team that has won two in a row to force a Game 7 on Saturday night.

LeBron James, prior to Wednesday's Game 5 (Getty Images)

Miami Heat 106, New York Knicks 94 (Miami wins series, 4-1)

It's hardly a novel realization, though Lord knows we've attempted to relay as much in the wake of this game, but it stands as a pretty profound one. The Miami Heat are a scary basketball team, as has been the case since the team's opener on Christmas Day, and it's going to take quite a lot to take them out four times in a seven-game playoff term. The New York Knicks attempted this, in early spring, and could only manage to take one game in five tries. And as poorly as New York played at times, this was only about 13 percent their fault.

Our sensible yet heartbroken Dan Devine will have more on his Knicks' future later on Thursday, so for now you're going to have to hear about Ball Don't Lie fawning over the Miami Heat. Not so much resigned to the fact that the team will take the championship — we think there could still be obstacle(s?) along the way in the East, and several teams out west could pick and probe once the Finals hit — but because this team is such an odd monster that we're not exactly clear what is best built to knock it over.