Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings made some waves Thursday night when he told the crowd at the Wisconsin Sports Awards just how confident he felt heading into his team's first-round matchup with the heavily favored Miami Heat: "I'm sure everybody is writing us off but but I see us winning the series in six." The brash young guard has stuck to his guns over the past two days, prompting TNT's Craig Sager to ask Heat star Dwyane Wade for his response to Jennings' prediction.

So, Dwyane: What do you think?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

For more on Jennings' comments, Wade's response, Wade's health heading into Sunday's Game 1 and more, hit the jump.

Read More »from Dwyane Wade’s reaction to Brandon Jennings’ Bucks-in-6 prediction is perfect (Video)

David Lee will miss the rest of the season. (Garrett Ellwood/NBA/Getty Images)

Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee will miss the rest of the 2013 postseason after suffering a complete tear of his right hip flexor during his team's 97-95 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff matchup, the team announced Sunday.

Lee suffered the injury just after the start of the fourth quarter on Saturday night.

After working a pick-and-roll with point guard Stephen Curry on the right-hand side of the court, Lee slipped to the basket, received a pass from Curry and elevated to attempt a layup, which was contested by JaVale McGee. After the Nuggets center fouled Lee on the play, the Warriors All-Star hit the floor hard and landed awkwardly, immediately grabbing for his right leg as he lay under the basket. After making one of two free throws, Lee limped back on defense before being escorted off the court and back to the locker room. He finished with 10 points on 4 for 14 shooting, 14 rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 29 minutes.

Read More »from Warriors’ David Lee out for season after tearing hip flexor in Game 1 loss to Nuggets

Chris Paul, deservedly smug (Getty Images)

Los Angeles Clippers 112, Memphis 91; Los Angeles leads the series, 1-0

It didn’t quite vault them back to the top-ten level we were used to seeing from Los Angeles when they raced out to that stellar first half of the season, and the presence of the offensively-lacking Memphis Grizzlies admittedly did play a part, but it was fun to see the Clippers ramp up their activity and pressure on the defensive end in the second half of this solid Game 1 win.

This attention to detail on that end, mixed with a surprisingly poor defensive first half from Memphis and plenty of run out and delayed transition opportunities for the Clippers in the second half, led to a final 21-point deficit in a game that didn’t really feel like a blowout until late. Blake Griffin (3-9 shooting, six fouls in an injury-plagued performance) continued his dodgy play against the Grizzlies, but Los Angeles’ backcourt dominated Memphis’ Mike Conley and Jerryd Bayless even at their most spirited.

In about 50 minutes of combined action, Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe put up 38 points on 14-18 shooting, with eight rebounds, 11 assists, and just two turnovers against the West’s best defensive team. Jamal Crawford nailed a four-point play in the first half (the 38th of his career), Caron Butler hit some opportunistic jumpers, and the Grizzlies just couldn’t score enough points to keep up.

Read More »from Behind the Box Score, where the playoffs have begun and the Clippers are up one

The Denver Nuggets don't have an obvious first option in late-game situations, which is typically seen as a red flag in the postseason. These concerns are typically overblown — a team with as many offensive options as the Nuggets can always turn to the correct option based on circumstances, not a predetermined hierarchy.

That's exactly what they did on Saturday night in the final moments of Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors. With the score tied at 95-95 and 14 seconds remaining in regulation, the Nuggets gave the ball to veteran point guard Andre Miller for the final shot. Miller took rookie defender Draymond Green off the dribble and finished a lay-up at the rim. With only 1.3 seconds left and no timeouts, Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry was unable to put up his desperation heave before the buzzer, and the Nuggets came away with the 97-95 win in a closely contested series opener.

Join us after the jump for more on Game 1, including video of Curry's game-tying three-pointer on the prior possession.

[Related: Ball Don't Lie Power Rankings: First-round NBA playoff matchups]

Read More »from Andre Miller finishes the game-winning lay-up to grab the Nuggets a Game 1 win

The patch the Boston Celtics will be sporting throughout the playoffs (Getty Images)

On the road for Game 1 of their first round series against the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics did not have to work through the same emotions and tributes that the Boston Red Sox put together on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. Keen to do their part in the wake of the pair of bombings during last Monday’s Boston Marathon, the C’s debuted a new patch to their classic Celtics road uniform, while announcing a charity initiative that their fans could take part in.

From a Celtics press release:

The Boston Celtics announced today multiple initiatives to support victims affected by the recent tragedy at the Boston Marathon. The Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation has committed to raise $200,000 to support The One Fund Boston to help the families affected by the Boston Marathon tragedy through a $100,000 pledge from the Shamrock Foundation and multiple team initiatives to raise an additional $100,000

“Our Celtics family and our fans join all Bostonians in demonstrating our city’s great strength by coming together to stand as one to get through this difficult time ,” Boston Celtics Managing Partner and Shamrock Foundation President Stephen Pagliuca said.” We are proud of all the heroic efforts that were made during this horrible tragedy and would like to show our support to those victimized by this terrible act.”

Read More »from The Boston Celtics unveil a tribute patch, charity drive following the Boston Marathon bombings

BDL readers expect LeBron James and Kevin Durant to advance quickly. (Issac Baldizon/NBA/Getty Images)

We've spent the last couple of days previewing each of the eight opening-round series in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, which are set to tip off at 3 p.m. Saturday when the New York Knicks take on the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden. We've gone in-depth with our breakdowns of the matchups, X-factors and major storylines, we've looked at which series figure to be the most entertaining, and we've made our fearless predictions for how the postseason will unfold.

But we also wanted to hear what you thought, so in each series preview post, we asked you to vote in a poll at our Facebook page to let us know which team you thought would win each series, and in how many games. As of 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, here's what those of you who voted told us — if you want to make your voice heard, feel free to go check in on the chatter on Facebook, or let us know what you think in the comments below.

Read More »from The wisdom of crowds: Here’s who you think will win each first-round playoff series

The Clippers and Grizzlies tip off on Saturday (Getty Images)

After a long regular season full of snaps and strains, travails and terrors and 715,973 canned arena demands that “ev-ry-bo-dy clap yo hands,” the NBA’s postseason is set to tip off this weekend. With that in place, the minds behind Ball Don’t Lie are going to preview each first-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 Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies.

Which team do you think will win the series, and in how many games? Vote here to let us know what you think.

Read More »from Ball Don’t Lie’s 2012-13 Playoff Previews: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Memphis Grizzlies

Denver and Golden State tip off on Saturday (Getty Images)

After a long regular season full of snaps and strains, travails and terrors and 715,973 canned arena demands that “ev-ry-bo-dy clap yo hands,” the NBA’s postseason is set to tip off this weekend. With that in place, the minds behind Ball Don’t Lie are going to preview each first-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 Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors.

Which team do you think will win the series, and in how many games? Vote here to let us know what you think.

Read More »from Ball Don’t Lie’s 2012-13 Playoff Previews: Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors