The guys at Stadium Journey recently updated their review of the Atlanta Hawks’ home, Philips Arena, and had some nice and not so nice things to say. Mostly nice, though.

Overall, the stadium was rewarded a 3.1 out of 5 stars, but of course it’s not based exclusively on the actual facility itself. If it was, I have a feeling the score would be higher because Philips is one of the nicer arenas in the league.

The review covered the food options, atmosphere, neighborhood, fans, accessibility, the return on investments, and some other additional information.

I thought most of this was pretty accurate. The fan statements are oh-so-true. We’ll pump out a crowd for Boston and Chicago and we’ll generally be able to drown those fan bases out, but the amount of LA and Miami bandwagoners in Atlanta is off the charts. It’s like a home game when they come to town as they have seemingly mini-cults in every city.

I fully endorse the idea that this color scheme has lost it’s “newness” and if it were up to me, we’d be back in the good ole’ red and yellow. I’d love, love, love a return to the pacman hawk logo. At least put some retros on every now and again, right?

This is an accurate rating if you’re trying to peg the experience you get at Philips, but I think the arena deserves more credit for the actual facilities. It really is one of the best looking arenas in the league.

I mean who can beat the word “Atlanta” spelled out across the side of the arena? That is something completely unique to Philips and it looks so awesome from the city that it’s hard to put into words.

The Miami Heat lost to the Indiana Pacers 78-75 on Tuesday night. Of course, no one wants to hear about the first 43 minutes of the game, people only want to hear about the last 5. That’s unfortunate because, believe it or not, things do actually happen before the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, and those things weigh heavily on the outcome of the game. This whole notion that LeBron is a “choker” is largely a product of this age’s media environment, but that’s an entirely different issue. LeBron James actually had quite the masterful game, tallying 28 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 assists, but his two missed free throws in the final minute that would have given Miami a one point lead bogged down his effort, at least from the perspective of the “twitosphere.” The Heat had plenty of chances to win/tie the game down the stretch, but couldn’t capitalize on any of them: James missed his free throws, Wade missed a gimmee layup, and Chalmers missed a three to tie it in the closing seconds.

Of course Skip Bayless and the likes will go on ESPN tomorrow and rip LeBron for his missed free throws, but as always, logic will be cast aside. James played the entire second half, the only player to do so twice in the playoffs this year (for the second game in a row, too), and he was visibly fatigued by the closing minutes. His bounce was minimized and his knees weren’t all the way into his free throws. The real issue is obviously that he doesn’t have the heart of a champion, though! Right?!

Anyway, there are no excuses when you’re the best player on the planet. He has to make those free throws and he didn’t. A failure to execute will result in a loss, and the Heat failed to execute several times, LeBron contributing to that significantly.

The most important issue the Heat need to address moving forward isn’t the late game mumbo-jumbo that the media feeds off of. It’s how to manage LeBron’s minutes and how to spark a fire under this uninspired second unit. Aside from James and Wade, the rest of the entire Miami Heat roster only produced 23 points. If Miami wants to win this series, that has to change.

Series tied at 1-1

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There’s less to say about the Clippers-Spurs game, at least at the moment. The Spurs led by 8 at halftime, 57-49, but have since pulled away. The game is in the middle of third quarter and San Antonio has upped their lead to 17. It’s not entirely shocking seeing as how the Spurs have had ample time to rest and the Clippers barely survived a ferocious seven game series with the Memphis Grizzlies.

UPDATE:

The Clippers were able to fight their way back into last night’s game for a little bit, but the Spurs reasserted their dominance rather quickly. A lone bright spot for Clippers fans (based off last night, anyway) might be the surprise play of Eric Bledsoe who played stout defense and scored 23 points. If he turns into a reliable back up point guard, it would be huge for LA.

Tim Duncan had a vintage night, going for 26 and 10. The Spurs, who won 108-92, have now won 15 games in a row, and pretty much look unstoppable. Good luck, Clippers. You’ll need it.

Spurs lead series 1-0.

Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Evan Turner (12) gets past Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, left, small forward Paul Pierce (34), and guard Rajon Rondo to score the go-ahead basket in the final minute of the second half of Game 2 in their NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series in Boston, Monday, May 14, 2012. The 76ers won 82-81. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The visiting Philadelphia 76ers edged out the Boston Celtics 82-81 Monday night to tie the series 1-1 in the best of seven match-up.

Philly was led by point guard Jrue Holiday who scored 18 points in a game-high 41 minutes of action. Andre Iguodala (13), Evan Turner (10) and reserve power forward Lavoy Allen (10) were also in double-figures.

Boston’s veteran sharp-shooter Ray Allen came off the bench and dropped a team-high 17 points in the contest for the Celtics but struggled from behind the arc as he only connected on 33 percent (two-of-six) of his three-point attempts. Teammate Kevin Garnett recorded a double-double in the game with 15 points and 12 rebounds while starting power forward Brandon Bass chipped in with 12 points — he was 5-of-15 in the game overall.

The young 76ers really held their own on the road in the legendary Boston Garden and proved that experience isn’t everything by defeating three Hall-of-Famers and closing out the game in the final seconds after converting all six free-throws down the stretch to seal the one-point victory.

Philly led the Celtics 57-51 entering the fourth quarter but found themselves down 72-71 after Boston shooting guard Avery Bradley hit a three-pointer to give the C’s the lead with just 2:20 remaining in the game.

The Sixers knocked down a trey a few seconds later but Boston responded once again with a Ray Allen 3-pointer to put the Celtics up 75-74 with 1:39 left to go.

A minute later Turner went hard to the hoop, eluded three Boston defenders in the lane, and got an acrobatic lay-up to fall that put the 76ers up 76-75 with 40 seconds remaining.

They held the lead and sank six straight free-throws down the stretch to ice the game 82-81.

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Los Angeles Lakers vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives around Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, in the third quarter of Game 1 in the second round of the NBA basketball playoffs, in Oklahoma City, Monday, May 14, 2012. Oklahoma City won 119-90. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder trounced the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 119-90 in the double-header playoff finale Monday night to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Westbrook had a near triple-double performance as he poured in a game-high 27 points while dishing out nine assists and grabbing seven rebounds in the contest.

Superstar teammate Kevin Durant scored 25 points in the game and pulled down eight rebounds while handing out four helpers.

Sixth Man of the Year Award winner James Harden had 17 points off the bench and made a game-high 9-of-10 free-throws in 24 total minutes of action.

Laker legend Kobe Bryant struggled in the game as he shot 7-of-18 from the field overall for 20 points.

Big man Andrew Bynaum posted a double-double in the game as he matched Bryant’s scoring output of 20 points while grabbing a game-high 14 boards in the contest. Metta World Peace (12) and Pau Gasol (10) were also in double-figures for Los Angeles.

OKC led LA 30-23 at the end of the first quarter.

That’s the closest the game was all night.

The Thunder broke out a bit in the second period and extended their lead by doubling their seven-point first quarter advantage to 15 points, 59-44, by halftime.

Oklahoma City exploded in the third period and doubled their lead once again to 30 points by the end of the quarter as they took a 98-68 lead over the Lakers into the final 12 minutes of regulation.

Unrelenting to take their foot of the Lakers’ neck, the Thunder kept pouring in bucket after bucket and won the game 199-90 to go up 1-0 in the best of seven series.