Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers has struggled against the San Antonio Spurs in the postseason, but he made one of his best plays in the closing minutes of Game 4.  Paul was driving the lane and he was bumped by a couple Spurs.  Paul absorbed the contact and threw up a shot that bounced on the top of the backboard a couple of times and dropped in.

That was one of the most amazing shots that I have seen.  Paul has been playing hurt, but you can not question his heart and spirit.  That is a play that very few people can make.  They just can not combine the level of skill and luck a play like that takes.

Chris Paul and company may be done in the playoffs, but their spirit can not be questioned.  They played hard against a Spurs team that has just been on fire over last month.  They are probably the best team in basketball right now and I am not sure if anyone can beat them.

The Clippers can use the offseason to rest up and it will also allow some of their players to improve their game.  Blake Griffin can dunk with the best of him, but he needs a lot of work.  He can provide highlights but he also needs to be able to play some defense and make a jumper.

I expect the Clippers to be back and better than ever next season.  Give them a little bit and they will be fine.  When you have Chris Paul in your back pocket, nothing is impossible.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Blake Griffin may not be extremely polished yet, but the Los Angeles Clippers forward can still make the highlight plays.  In Game 3, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs made headlines by stuffing a Griffin dunk attempt.  Sunday was Griffin’s revenge as he threw one down right over the future Hall of Famer.

Blake Griffin catches a lot of flak right now, but you have to realize that he’s still incredibly young.  He is not going to learn to shoot a jumper or play perfect defense right away.  These things take time.  It sucks even more because he has a coach like Vinny Del Negro.  I’m not sure Del Negro could out coach a fifth grader, much less help a player increase his skill level.

I have the feeling that this will get replayed a lot, but I doubt the Spurs and Duncan care.  After all, dunks are only worth two points and the Spurs have been dominating the series.  You can have highlights against the Spurs, but I bet they come out on top nine times out of ten.  They are the epitome of a perfect basketball team right now.  They can do it all.

I expect big things out of Blake Griffin and company in the future.  This just is not the year for them.  The Spurs are a buzzsaw and they will take out anyone in their path.  The poster dunk is nice, but I’ll take the playoff victory every single time.  LA will get there.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

This was possibly the best thing that I have ever seen in my life.  The build up to the end had me rolling around in my seat.  It was that funny.  John Laurinaitis sold everything perfectly and it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in this business.  You could not have him lose, because he is the perfect heel authority figure for the company.  Without him, there is a void at the top of the company.

John Cena played this perfectly.  He toyed with his boss and made it one of the best things I have seen.  This was one of the few times they played up a comedy angle and made it look actually half decent.  I enjoyed myself the entire time that the match went on.  The commentary was perfect and it made everyone look amazing.

They exploited Cena’s bad arm to give John Laurinaitis a chance to get some offense in and the match actually built to a very good finish.  I was impressed with how it went and it opens up a lot of ways for this thing to continue on in a logical way.  Big Show can return as a heel, which is the right way for this to work.

I am excited to watch Raw on Monday to see how this works out.  Knowing creative, they will mess it up but it looks great right now.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Juwan Howard of the Miami Heat is a long respected veteran in the NBA.  Before Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers, Howard had words with Pacers guard Lance Stephenson.  Howard was not amused with the choking gesture that Stephenson gave to LeBron James.  The situation was defused before violence broke out.

I understand what Howard’s motive was, but come on dude.  There is no reason to get into it with the kid before Game 4.  Neither of you are going to play a meaningful minute in the playoffs.  If you have an issue with him, be civil about it.  Don’t get in his face before a game.

Juwan Howard is getting raked over the coals for this incident by some people and he should.  It is just a flat out bad thing to do.  The kid made a mistake and he said he was sorry for it.  Why do you need to fan the flames?  This will probably incite the Pacers crowd even more.  They get rowdy there and the Heat do not need to make a more hostile enviornment.

What makes it worse is that Juwan Howard went and looked for Stephenson on Saturday.  This is not that big of a deal, Juwan.  The kid did what kids do.  He didn’t think and did something in the heat of the moment.  Let it go man.

I hope Juwan Howard eventually apologizes.  I doubt that happens but it is a nice thought.  He should be the bigger man.  He is the veteran in the league.  Stephenson is still a young and pretty immature kid.  In this situation, the roles were apparently reversed.  It is not like the Heat need more reasons to be hated, but I guess Howard thought he was not getting enough attention.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Are Tebow’s people so concerned with image that he can not have a picture with girls dressed like that?  I mean, come on.  It is part of a play.   It is not like Tebow hit up the strip club and was posing with every stripper in the place.  It was a picture with the cast of a play.  I would be upset if I was the dancers because she could not share that moment.

I get that Tebow has an image to maintain, but this is a bit of a joke.  Tebow will eventually have a flaw or two exposed.  He is not perfect.  Nobody can be perfect, but posting Tim Tebow up to be some person with no issues whatsoever is not a good move.  This might actually cause worse PR for the Tebow camp.

Tim Tebow and his camp need to apologize to the people involved in the show.  By asking that the photo be removed, it puts a stigma on the cast.  So what if they are dressed like that for a play?  Is it so wrong for Tebow to pose for a picture with those people?  Sometimes, people amaze me.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants is one agile man. The Panda decided to give a shaving cream pie to Angel Pagan while he was being interviewed by Jaymee Sire.  Sire was aware of the Panda’s exploits but she was unable to avoid her own shaving cream pie to the face.

Sire wasn’t exactly happy with this turn of events and tried to chase Sandoval through the clubhouse.  She was not successful but she learned a valuable lesson.  Never turn your back on anyone in the clubhouse.  You never know who is going to sneak up on you and deliver a shaving cream pie.

I believe that Jaymee Sire thought she was free because there would be no way that a player would do that to a reporter in the middle of an interview.  She said the Giants had a loose clubhouse and she was right about that.  The typical rules were ignored and she ended up on the wrong end of a tradition.

I am impressed that she was that good of a sport about that.  I would certainly not react well to that type of situation.  I would continue chasing Sandoval until I caught him and delivered some vengeance.  She is apparently more professional than me, which is probably a good thing.

There is a plus side to this.  Everyone will know who Jaymee Sire is.  They might know her as the reporter that got hit in the face with shaving cream, but hey.  It’s a start.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Kobe Bryant was in a heck of a good move after the Los Angeles Lakers won Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder Friday night.  Bryant was in such a good mood that he interrupted Pau Gasol’s postgame interview in one of the wackiest scenes ever.

Gasol kept trying plug along with the interview, but Kobe Bryant was way too distracting.  He was making weird faces, insulting Derek Fisher, and he even swore on live television.  That is the trifecta of interview interrupting.  I guess when you drop almost 40 points in a crucial game, you get a little bit of leeway from everyone.

This actually reminds me of Chris Bosh.  The Miami Heat forward is known for interrupting interviews and acting fairly weird.  He has made a living out of videobombing LeBron James as he gives interviews and although Kobe didn’t quite do that, this method was also effective.  Maybe the two can share secrets and improve on their interview crashing skills.

If Kobe Bryant is in a good enough mood to do this after a game, Lakers fans have to happy about that result.  They are probably not happy that they have to play again Saturday night, considering Bryant is no spring chicken.  I would be shocked if Kobe is able to be as effective as he was Friday night.  I mean, he wasn’t effective from the field but he did get to the line.

Then again, if they lose, Kobe Bryant might interrupt more interviews in an even weirder way.  I think we could settle for that.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

For starters, the Lakers made 11 shots in the second half, yet managed to score 49 points.  How do you do that?  By going 26-27 from the foul line.  We can go even more in depth with this.  Both teams were charged with six shooting fouls in the second  half.  The Thunder only took 14 free throws compared to LA’s 27.  A little bit strange, right?

I can not comment on the first 4 minutes of the third, but I did watch the rest of the game.  The referees did make some questionable calls, but nothing unusual.  If a player tells a ref to watch for something, they will watch for it.  That could explain the next paragraph better.

What stuck me as odd was the final two minutes of the game.  Each possession, the referees seemed to look at differently.  Some times contact was fine, other times it was an instant whistle.  James Harden picked up a foul after bumping into Kobe Bryant with the ball nowhere near them.  It was a tiny bump, yet Kobe got two free throws.

Kobe will get the benefit of the calls because that is the nature of basketball.  He’s been around for a long time and Harden is still a young pup.  But it was still a very weak call.  This was compounded when Harden grabbed another foul about 30 seconds later.  This gave him five fouls and changed the game.

With the Lakers down by one, the ball went to Bryant.  Harden couldn’t afford to pick up another foul, so Russell Westbrook switched over.  Westbrook couldn’t guard Kobe if he could hand check him with a taser, so Bryant drew the foul and sank both free throws.  LA would never trail again.

The Lakers may have gotten more calls, but they were also more aggressive.  Time and time again they were driving to the basket.  They also took advantage of the fouls they drew.  They took 42 shots from the line and made 41.  That is simply unheard of.  If LA went 38 for 42, which is still insane, they probably lose the game.  Both sides can use that argument, but I look at it as the Lakers being more aggressive and forcing the issue.

The referees will be looked at, but I think LA took this fair and square.  Yes, the referees did play a role but it was nothing like Game 6 from 2000.  We all know what I am talking about.  Look for another great Game 4 on Saturday, hopefully sans controversy.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics is an amazing dribbler, nothing else.  Rondo is magical to watch with the ball when he’s doing everything but shooting.  Rondo pulled off one of the best dribble moves that I have ever seen Friday night as he faked a behind the back pass in order to set up a Brandon Bass jumper.

That move is just ridiculous.  It is so close to a violation, but I have no idea how you could tell.  That is how good Rajon Rondo is with the ball in his hand.  It is not fair to be able to do that on a regular basis.  If more players could do that, they would be unstoppable.

If Rajon Rondo had a jumper, he would be the best point guard in the league.  No player has an impact on the game quite like him.  He is a triple double machine and is always in the center of things.  His shooting is the only thing that holds him back.  With the Big 3 in Boston getting older, it comes down to Rondo to power the team.  He did a great job doing that this past season.

If Rajon Rondo keeps getting better, it will be a war to decide the best point guard in the league.  If this keeps up, Boston will be in the NBA Finals this season.  There hasn’t been a point guard quite like Rondo in a long time and I am not sure if there will be one in the future.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.

Friday, NASCAR and Twitter teamed up to announce a special partnership.  The two companies will work together to bring the best tweets from NASCAR personalities to the fans.  This way, the fans can interact with their favorite drivers and much more.  This is a big step for the sport and should probably get them more exposure through the media.

Frankly, I am surprised that this has not happened before.  Partnering with Twitter is a great way to get more exposure for anyone.  This helps push the sport to the forefront of social media.  It gets the leg up on all the other major sports.  NASCAR needs to take this and run with this.  It is a great way to pick up more fans, thanks to how interactive Twitter is.

I see this as a win-win situation.  Both parties will gain a lot more exposure in a segment that they may need extra reach.  This could get more racing fans on Twitter and Twitter could have exposure to the world that is auto racing.  Sounds like a great move for both companies.

I am excited to see how this turns out.  I expect big things from this and I hope to see the sport grow even more in the coming years.

Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.