Who’s to blame?

Kobe says it’s Pau Gasol.

“Pau’s got to be more assertive,” Bryant said. “He’s the guy they’re leaving [open]. When he’s catching the ball, he’s looking to pass. He’s got to be aggressive. He’s got to shoot the ball or drive the ball to the basket. He will be next game.”

It’s not the first time Bryant has thrown Gasol under the bus with his public criticism. However Gasol wasn’t the only one that Bryant thought was at fault.

Andrew Bynum dominated the first half for the Lakers. And then when the Thunder fronted him with Kendrick Perkins in the second half, Bryant thought Bynum became too passive.

“He’s looking to swing the ball too much,” Bryant said. “He’s got to take his shot.”

As for Gasol, he admits that he made a costly mistake in the fourth quarter (trying a pass to Metta World Peace only to have Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant knock the ball away with 33.9 seconds left), but he says he’s not the only one that made mistakes.

“It’s one play, one mistake,” Gasol said. “There were a lot of mistakes in that fourth quarter, a lot of mistakes throughout the game. So, obviously, if I could have gone back, maybe I could have shot it and I would have. It’s one play, obviously, at a critical time, but I don’t feel like we lost the game because of one turnover.”

The Lakers need to get it together and Kobe needs to stop playing the blame game. With Game 5 on tap for Monday night and the Thunder up 3-1, the Lakers will be dispatched soon enough if they can’t come together quickly.

Image: WENN

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As expected LeBron James and Dwyane Wade led the way for the Heat with 40 and 30 points respectively. James also pulled down 18 rebounds and dished nine assists on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat were down 10 in the third quarter but James and Wade wouldn’t let their team lose, combining for all but two points in a Miami 25-5 run that put the team up 76-66.

Now that the Heat have tied up the series, the pressure is back on the Pacers as the teams head back to Miami to AmericanAirlines Arena for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Image courtesy of TSN

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Russell Westbrook was the player of the game, scoring 27 points, dishing out nine assists and puling down seven rebounds in only 27 minutes of play. He hit 10-of-15 shots from the field and only turned the ball over once.

The big run by the Thunder happened in the third quarter. With OKC already up by 15 points at the half, the Thunder started the quarter with a 15-2 run to end Los Angeles’ hope.

“From then on,” said Westbrook, “it was cruising for us.”

Game 2 will be on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. While the Lakers don’t face a must-win contest quite yet, they definitely need to look sharper than they did in the opening bout.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (Image: TSN.ca)

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While the team hasn’t given a specific timetable yet, they are saying that Bosh is out indefinitely. If you read between the lines, it sounds like Bosh will miss the rest of this series against the Pacers.

“This season has to be extended for me to play again,” said Bosh. “That’s what’s on my mind.”

Losing Bosh obviously really hurts the Heat. Outside of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, he’s easily the most important cog in their machine. He’s the team’s only high quality bigman and it would be really difficult to win a championship without him.

While Bosh is out, expect Ronny Turiaf to start alongside Udonis Haslem and for Joel Anthony to get more minutes.

Chris Bosh Injury Update (Image: TSN.ca)

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Miller had 24 points and eight assists on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. McGee added 21 points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots on 9-for-12 shooting.

Bryant added six rebounds, five assists and two steals to go along with his 43 points. He shot 14-of-32 from the field and played 43 minutes.

Even with the loss, the Lakers still hold a 3-2 advantage in the series. Game 6 will take place on Thursday in Denver.

Kobe Bryant Can't Beat Nuggets (Image: TSN.ca)

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Said Hamilton after the game: “Obviously it’s, other than being in the World Series, the highlight of my big-league career.”

Hamilton’s home runs came in the first inning, third inning, seventh inning and eighth inning. He also added a double in the fourth inning. For the game, Hamilton was 5-for-5 with four runs and eight RBIs.

On the season, Hamilton leads the American League in batting average (.406), home runs (14) and RBIs (36).

On the back of Hamilton’s heroics, the Rangers defeated the Orioles 10-3. The Rangers are now 20-10 on the season, which is the best record in all of baseball.

Josh Hamilton - Four Home Run (Image: TSN.ca)

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The Celtics ended up losing to the Hawks, with Rondo failing to come through on the final play. The Hawks were up one and Rondo couldn’t get a good look for himself or a teammate and the Celtics were defeated. I’m assuming that’s part of the reason why Rajon Rondo was angry at the cameraman after the game.

Personally, the video is hilarious to me because Rondo is wearing the worst jacket I’ve ever seen. The jacket looks like it’s from the 1980s. Then again, I don’t think anyone wore anything that ugly back then.

Here is the Rajon Rondo Cameraman video:

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“Oh my God, I need an ambulance,” the girlfriend of the former USC and NFL linebacker said as she cried. “Oh my God…. My boyfriend shot himself.” A nearly nine-minute conversation with the emergency dispatcher took place, and audio of the call was released by Oceanside officials on Friday.

Listen to Seau 911 Call

Seau’s girlfriend had gone out to the gym for about an hour and when she returned to Seau’s home at about 9:30am on Wednesday. She found Seau dead from a gunshot wound to the chest and a gun beside him. No suicide note was found. The medical examiner has ruled the death a suicide.

According to San Diego Chargers chaplain Shawn Mitchell, the family of deceased NFL star has decided to allow researchers to study his brain for evidence of damage as the result of concussions he suffered.

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After the Grizzlies went up by 24 points with 9:12 remaining, the Clippers went on an amazing 28-3 run to pull out the victory. At the end of the game, Chris Paul hit two free throws with 23 seconds remaining to put the Clippers up by a point. On the final possession, Rudy Gay missed a shot — and the comeback was complete for Los Angeles!

Paul finished with 14 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, while Nick Young led the way off the bench with 19 points. Memphis got 19 points from Gay and 17 apiece from Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Grizzlies can survive this massive letdown. Game 2 will be in Memphis on Wednesday, so the Grizzlies will face a must-win contest. As for the Clippers, they’ll be celebrating this win for a while.

Clippers Comeback! (Image: TSN.ca)

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With less than two seconds remaining, Kevin Durant hit a game-winning jumper to beat the Mavs and lead the Thunder to a 99-98 victory in Game 1. Watch the Kevin Durant game-winner video below to see it for yourself.

After two Dirk Nowitzki free throws put the Mavs up by one point with nine seconds remaining, Durant too the inbounds pass, created a shot and nailed it in dramatic fashion. The Mavs failed to get a shot off as the buzzer sounded. The hometown Thunder fans went wild with excitement.

Even though the Mavs are the defending champs, they are the underdogs in this series. In Game 1, Durant and the Thunder were able to show they were the better team. But just barely.

Here is the Kevin Durant game-winner video against the Mavs:

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