Elbower and elbowee. (CHCI.org/Getty Images)

When you love playing basketball, you're eventually going to catch a stray shot in the midst of some physical play — even if you're the President of the United States. Barack Obama suffered the sting back in 2010, when a Thanksgiving weekend pickup run resulted in an elbow to the chops and a split lip that required 12 stitches.

We know getting chin-checked hasn't stopped POTUS from playing pickup, but we never really knew much about the guy who touched him up beyond his name and where he worked — Reynaldo Decerega of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. After the incident, Decerega implored the press to respect his privacy because, he says, “I didn’t want that to define my life.” Now, though, he's apparently totally cool with talking about it, and did so at length with Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe:

“I felt horrible,” said Decerega. “I’ve played basketball a million times in my life and I’ve never elbowed anybody. So the first time I do this, it’s to the President of the United States? What is the probability of that? Nil, right?”

Well, apparently not.

After trailing the Golden State Warriors by as many as 18 and facing a 104-88 deficit with 4:31 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, the San Antonio Spurs ripped off a remarkable 18-2 run to tie the game and force overtime. As our Eric Freeman related overnight, the Spurs went on to win the game, 129-127, after two extra sessions, on the strength of a Manu Ginobili 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining in double overtime.

It was a thrilling, exhilarating conclusion to a game that had once seemed out of reach, and Spurs fans were understandably super amped up throughout the late stages, as San Antonio mounted its comeback by making buckets and forcing Warriors misses. Especially this one fan, whose excitement (as picked up clear as a bell by TNT's broadcast) reached a fever pitch in the final minute of regulation, after Spurs guard Danny Green hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 106 and Warriors star Stephen Curry was unable to answer:

[Also: Manu

The Golden State Warriors entered Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinals series having lost 29 straight road games to the San Antonio Spurs. That run of futility covers many games over many different seasons, with various coaches and players employing different approaches to try to grab a win. That streak is not a mark on the Warriors as a franchise — it does, however, prove just how difficult it has been to beat the Spurs in the time that Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan have led the team. On Monday night, the Warriors found out just how tough it can be yet again.

After blowing a 16-point lead over the last 4:31 of regulation to allow San Antonio to take the game to overtime, Golden State soldiered through two overtimes to have a chance to win. With the Spurs up 126-125 and 10 seconds left in the second extra period, the Warriors turned a missed Tony Parker lay-up into a 3-on-2 fast break that culminated in Stephen Curry (who played all but four seconds of the game's 58 minutes) finding little-used rookie Kent Bazemore for a streaking lay-up with 3.9 seconds remaining. It was a shocking moment, one in which a player best known for his explosive bench celebrations brought his team within a few ticks of the clock of escaping a very rough defeat.

It wasn't to be. Following a Spurs timeout, Kawhi Leonard found a wide-open Manu Ginobili off the inbounds pass to bury a three-pointer from the left wing to give his team a two-point lead. The Warriors could only manage an off-balance Jarrett Jack three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and the Spurs came away with a crazy 129-127 win. It was another great playoff moment in Ginobili's Hall-of-Fame career, particularly after going 4-of-19 from the field the rest of the game and missing a potential game-winner at the end of the first overtime.

[Also: Bulls' Nate Robinson shrugs off stitches, stands up to Heat]

Yet this finish was only one part of a wildly entertaining, up-and-down contest. Join us after the jump for the bigger picture of what went down, including analysis of just how Ginobili got so open on his winning shot, the Danny Green three-pointer that sent the game to overtime, and the Warriors' third-quarter run that built up their lead in the first place.

Jimmy Butler played all 48 minutes in his team's win (Getty Images)

The ongoing saga of the plucky 2012-13 Chicago Bulls has spiraled into the realm of the ridiculous. Battling injury and illness, and just 48 hours after downing a much-hyped Brooklyn Nets team on the road in a deciding Game 7, the Chicago Bulls found yet another gear in their remarkable season as they downed the defending champion Miami Heat in Game 1 of their conference semifinal series by a 93-86 score. As a result, the Bulls now own the home court advantage in a series that absolutely no one, outside of team message boards, has picked the Bulls to win.

Chicago threw off the scent early, running out to a 10-4 lead to start the game with stout defense and excellent recovery rhythms, while the sluggish Heat attempted to work its way back into NBA speed. The Heat had not played since downing the Milwaukee Bucks on April 28, and the rust showed. Several good looks refused to go down for Miami in the first half, and despite improved execution in the second half fatigue may have played a part in Chicago’s comeback from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

[Related: Bulls’ Marco Belinelli fined $15K for ‘obscene gesture’]

“Boo-hoo,” says the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago Bulls guard Marco Belinelli was fined $15,000 for "making an obscene gesture" during his team's 99-93 win in Game 7 of its opening-round playoff series with the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA announced through its weirdly protected Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

The gesture in question came with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Game 7, after Belinelli hit a huge 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 91-81 lead:

Yep, that's right — the NBA just fined the Italian guard 15 large for paying tribute to Sam Cassell by intimating that he, too, possesses sizable testes.

Belinelli scored a critical 24 points on 8 for 14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in 41 minutes of floor time in Chicago's Game 7 win. He's expected to once again start in the backcourt when Tom Thibodeau's Bulls take on the defending champion Miami Heat in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup on Monday.

The Spurs and Warriors tip off on Monday evening (Getty Images)

Somehow, the NBA survived its regular season and first round of the postseason with enough players to field eight teams, so we’re just going to go ahead and begin the conference semifinals. The minds behind Ball Don’t Lie are going to preview each second-round series, with Kelly Dwyer going against character for a more genial take, Dan Devine bringing his inimitable mixture of both order and bedlam, along with Eric Freeman’s legendary look inside the reputations of some of the series’ key fixtures.

We continue with the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors.

The Bulls and Heat tip off on Monday night (Getty Images)

Somehow, the NBA survived its regular season and first round of the postseason with enough players to field eight teams, so we’re just going to go ahead and begin the conference semifinals. The minds behind Ball Don’t Lie are going to preview each second-round series, with Kelly Dwyer going against character for a more genial take, Dan Devine bringing his inimitable mixture of both order and bedlam, along with Eric Freeman’s legendary look inside the reputations of some of the series’ key fixtures.

We continue with the Miami Heat, and Chicago Bulls.

The Houston Rockets, before their 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 Houston Rockets.

The Houston Rockets entered the 2012 offseason as a great unknown, flush with draft picks and cap space and the usual batch of assets. It entered last fall’s training camp as a great unknown, with a massive roster with no clear cut direction. It then entered the regular season as a great unknown, dealing those assets for James Harden and ushering in an intriguing new roster without the benefit of a training camp or exhibition season to warm up its new star.

After a fantastic 2012-13 campaign, the Houston Rockets now enter the 2013 offseason as, you guessed it, a great unknown. The team has still managed to retain endless assets and cap space, and figure to be a major player once again as it deals in trades or works with free agents. There is a very real chance that the Rockets that their fans knew and enjoyed in 2012-13 could be moved elsewhere by autumn, as the team attempts to take that tough step between the lower rungs of the playoff bracket, and a potential championship contender.