The New York Knicks entered Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Indiana Pacers in need of an inspired performance after Sunday's Game 1 home loss. On at least one play Tuesday night, they got just that.

With just under 8:30 remaining in the first half, Chris Copeland launched a three-pointer from the wing that rimmed out back towards the paint. While the shot initially appeared to deflect far enough from the basket to result in a long rebound, Iman Shumpert had different ideas. Shumpert timed his jump perfectly, reached back to grab the ball with his right hand, and threw down a massive tomahawk follow-dunk in one movement. It was a massive highlight, and it also gave the Knicks a 38-26 lead.

After the jump, check out a GIF of Shumpert's incredible slam.

Although the Pacers cut that lead to 47-42 at halftime, the Knicks were able to bounce back in the second half with an overwhelming 30-2 run from 3:28 in the third quarter to 4:48 in the fourth to put the game out of reach. The Knicks ended up with a 105-79 win, with the Pacers effectively conceding the game and subbing in their bench near the midpoint of the fourth quarter. Game 3 is Saturday, which gives

Michael Beasley (Garrett Ellwood/ Getty)Phoenix Suns forward Michael Beasley has done very little to convince NBA fans of his usefulness over his five NBA seasons. Despite entering the league with the hopes of being a very productive scorer and rebounder, Beasley has alternated isolated moments of greatness with long stretches of woeful, directionless play in which he appears to have little sense of his role within the team or what the coaching staff would like him to do. He also hasn't been a model citizen, dealing with a perceived marijuana problem and getting cited for flagrant speeding in February 2013. There is a common and largely accurate perception that Beasley is not a particularly helpful presence on a professional basketball team.

Ultimately, though, those issues are far less severe than the news coming out of Phoenix on Tuesday. As reported by Alex Ferri of ABC15, Beasley is under investigation for an allegation of sexual assault:

Blake Griffin, in the waning moments of Friday's Game 6 loss (Getty Images)

With every season that ends, for the playoff teams at least, we felt it right to take a look ahead. TNT already has the rights to "Gone Fishin'," and because we're sure that someone, somewhere, still likes that Wyclef song, we're going with "Gone Till November." And, yes, we know the season starts in October. Today? The Los Angeles Clippers.

From the minute the deal sending Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers was announced, it became obvious that the long-suffering franchise was suddenly in the hands of someone special. Most importantly, it was in the hands of someone sullen, with significant sway. After the deal Clipper big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan could be seen celebrating following a Clipper practice, all the way back in December of 2011, in full view of teammates that would be likely packaged off to New Orleans in exchange for Paul’s gifts. CP3 mentor Chauncey Billups was quickly given a gig as the team’s resident sage. Coach Vinny Del Negro was quickly given the dubious eye.

Despite whispers about the potential years’ worth of Los Angeles vs. Los Angeles battles in the Western Conference finals, the Clippers have stumbled somewhat. A second round ouster in Paul’s first, chaotic year as point guard in 2012 was passable enough. A 2013 first round dismissal at the hands of a Memphis Grizzlies franchise (if not fully returned roster) that lost to the Clippers in a similar series 12 months before was galling enough. Chris Paul, team leader, appears ticked. Ticked, more than enough.

And Vinny Del Negro, Clippers coach, appears to be on his way out.

George Karl in black and white. (Garrett W. Ellwood/NBA/Getty Images)

A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Roundball Mining Company. After yet another first-round exit, Kalen Deremo tries to square the resume and reputation of Denver's bench boss with the repeated frustration of postseason failure: "All these years Nuggets fans have been in love with someone who does not exist. George Karl is not the knight in shining armor who has saved the Nuggets from the depths of franchise misery."

PF: SB Nation Longform. A good read (and a long one) from James Herbert on how Indiana Pacers wing Paul George went from a kid playing in jean shorts at a YMCA in Palmdale, Calif., to an NBA All-Star.

SF: Grantland, Eye on Basketball and Eight Points Nine Seconds. Zach Lowe, Zach Harper and Jared "Not Named Zach, Weirdly" Wade come in praise of Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert's paint-patrolling performance in Game 1 ...

SG: SB Nation, Posting and Toasting and The Point Forward. ... Mike Prada, Dylan Murphy and Rob Mahoney look at some adjustments the New York Knicks' offense can make to better attack Hibbert in Tuesday's Game 2.

Tony Allen and Mike Conley must bounce back. (Joe Murphy/NBA/Getty Images)

For most of the first 45 minutes of Sunday's Game 1, the Memphis Grizzlies controlled the pace, the style and the action of their Western Conference semifinals opening matchup with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. But in those final few minutes, it all went away, seemingly quicker than a Kevin Durant rise-and-fire that puts you behind and, eventually, away for good. It must feel like climbing a mountain and find yourself one last push from the summit, then losing your foothold and falling all the way down to the ground below.

"Every player on our team saw this win, and it didn't happen," Grizzlies reserve Quincy Pondexter, who missed a key late fourth-quarter free throw that could have enabled Memphis to tie the game in the closing seconds, told Jeff Latzke of The Associated Press after Game 1. "So, you've just got to move on and not make the same mistakes twice."

But what mistakes are those, specifically? How can Memphis find surer footing and finish the job in Tuesday's Game 2? Let's take a closer look at a few particular areas of interest:

Two inspired characters. (Getty Images)

Sadly, the inspiration behind the “Marge Simpson” character ‘Simpsons’ mastermind Matt Groening created a quarter-century ago died last month. Margaret Ruth Groening’s subsequent obituary in The Oregonian reads about as impressively as obits tend to get, topping off with a tribute to the local basketball club.

Via The Oregonian, here’s the remembrance:

As high school valedictorian and Miss Everett, Margaret's highest honor was being named May Queen of Linfield College. She graduated from Linfield in 1941 and married classmate Homer Groening, whom she chose because he made her laugh the most. Margaret taught high school English before starting a family, and her love of language was apparent in the many Double-Crostics she completed (in ink). Margaret and Homer supported the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Trail Blazers and many local yarn shops (Margaret was a talented needlework artist).

The Phoenix Suns have turned in a few head-scratching years (Getty Images)

Earlier on Tuesday, word was filtering around the usual NBA circles that the Phoenix Suns were attempting to hire Los Angeles Clippers forward Grant Hill as the team’s new general manager. That potential hire would come on the heels of the disastrous regime of since-fired GM Lance Blanks, and the work of another big name ex-player in Steve Kerr. It appeared that the Suns, as run by former Hill representative Lon Babby, were diving deep into business as usual.

It turns out that the team has decided to decidedly mix things up. Former Boston Celtics assistant GM Ryan McDonough is the team’s new personnel chief, and he’ll have quite the task ahead of him. The Phoenix Suns haven’t made the playoffs since 2010, and the team’s roster is filled with middling players with middle of the road contracts that, combined in an unholy alliance, only managed to win 25 games in 2012-13. The team has no coach. The team’s assistant coaching staff mostly quit in disgust last winter. Michael Beasley’s checks have the Phoenix Suns logo in the top corner. There is a lot of work to be done.

And Ryan McDonough is 33 years-old. He, like a lot of us, had junior high-styled lawn mowing duties the last time the Suns made the Finals in 1993. He is the same age as Suns forward Luis Scola, and younger than Suns center Jermaine O’Neal.

He’s also, probably, the best hire the Suns could hope to make.

Hey, remember when Houston Rockets center Omer Asik got called for what appeared to be a pretty dubious offensive foul during the second quarter of Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder? Of course you do! (Remember how I tried to change the name "Thabo Sefolosha" to "Kevin Martin" in the post after being informed that I had 100 percent misidentified the second OKC flopper, only to find that the change didn't take in our publishing system, so it seems like it's going to stay wrong and haunt me forever? Of course you don't!)

In the event you've somehow forgotten the play since the Thunder dispatched the Rockets and moved on to a second-round matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies, refresh your memory:

Well, it seems the NBA didn't forget about it, announcing Monday evening that it has fined Thunder guard Derek Fisher $5,000 for violating the league's anti-flopping policy. I'm not entirely sure why it took that long for Stu Jackson and company to mete out their hot brand of discipline, but the delivery of justice, even when delayed, enhances and emboldens us all.