The Heat were on the ropes, the Spurs were moments away from bringing in title No. 5 to the franchise and the Heat needed something to turn the tide.

Enter Heat's Ray Allen.

Dwyane Wade misfired on a three to tie the game in the fourth quarter and with 7-seconds left in regulation, Allen nailed the clutch three to send the game into overtime where Miami would go on to win the game and tie the series forcing a game seven.

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Two players, Cody Zeller and James Michael McAdoo, headed in to the 2012-2013 college basketball season as locks for the top five of this year's NCAA Draft. McAdoo disappointed and decided to return to North Carolina for another season.  Meanwhile, Zeller improved marginally in all aspects of his game, but concerns surrounding his size and aggression grew louder and louder as the season has gone on. 

Recently teams in the 10-15 range of the NBA Draft have looked at Zeller. However, his stellar Chicago combine numbers and recent individual workouts have Zeller trending back up towards the top 5 of this year's draft.

Let's start with his measurements and athletic testing results from the Chicago combine last month. Zeller easily measured out as the most athletic big, finshing the combine with a 3/4 sprint of 3.15 seconds and a max vertical of 37.5 inches.  He also measured a shade taller than seven feet tall in shoes (the height measurement that matters).

Those measurements had general managers and scouts wondering if Zeller might be able to play power forward in the NBA. Then the individual workouts started. Zeller has visited Phoenix (the 5th pick), Sacramento (7th pick) and Portland (10th pick) among others. In each of those stops he has shown an ability to step out and shoot all the way back to the NBA three-pointer.

After Zeller's Sacramento workout, head coach Mike Malone said Zeller's shooting ability caught him off guard (H/T Cowbell Kingdom).

"I didn't know he had NBA three point range like he showed today," Malone said. "And that's definitely an area that he's put a lot of time and effort in to."

Zeller has compared his game to LaMarcus Aldridge because of his ability to work in the mid-post and his passing ability. That is not a terrible comparison, though Zeller's wingspan and standing reach will do him no favors defending the block or shooting over other defenders.

However, if he can work out in space he could be a dynamic offensive weapon given his shooting stroke (assuming it translates from work outs to in game) and athletic ability to blow past defenders. He also seems to be mobile enough to be a good pick and roll defender.

Right now, Zeller is still in the 10-14 range on most mock draft, but his workout in Sacramento was very good and Chad Ford reported Tuesday that he is a dark horse pick for the Bobcats at number four. As with most rookies, how well Zeller does will be about fit as much as where he's picked. But in recent weeks his talent that put him in the top-five for much of year is starting to shine through.

Photo: DraftExpress

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The Heat were on the ropes. The Spurs knew it. The Heat knew it. The fans knew it.

The coronation seemed to begin as fans filed for the exits losingh ope with Miami down 10 points entering the fourth quarter and then even down five points with 30 seconds to play.

It was Rudy Tomjanovich who said "Don't ever question the heart of a champion," after his sixth-seeded defending champion Rockets swept through the 1995 Finals. The Heat are champions until someone dethrones them, and it will clearly take 48 -- sometimes 53 -- minutes to do that.

San Antonio has the championship experience, but they are not the champs.

The Spurs saw their lead crumble behind LeBron James' 16-point third quarter. He committed a couple key turnovers that led to Tony Parker run outs that gave the Heat a five-point lead late. Then two offensive rebound opportunities for Miami, capped off with Ray Allen hitting a 3-pointer with five seconds left to force overtime.

Chris Bosh was the hero with the offensive rebound which led to Allen's game-tying 3-pointer. He would be the hero again as Manu Ginobili turnovers put Miami up three with one second left. A hard screen from Tiago Splitter freed up Danny Green to the far corner. Bosh met him and recorded the block.

Game Seven is on its way to Miami on Thursday night as the Heat staved off elimination with a 103-100 win over the Spurs at American Airlines Arena on Tuesday.

The back and forth between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers regarding Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett heading to L.A. seem once again reportedly off. 

Several outlets, including ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, are reporting the Clippers pulled out because they were unwilling to give up an extra first round draft pick as compensation for Rivers. According to Shelburne's report, the teams have no plans to talk again and the Clippers are moving on with a second round of head coaching interviews with Lionel Hollins, Brian Shaw and Byron Scott.

Things could change by the hour here, but as of right now this deal is not happening.

So where do both teams go from here? 

This is exactly why Monta Ellis is opting for free agency.

It is the chance not only to rack in the extra going, but also to be a hot commodity on the open NBA market and let the suitors line up to swoon over you. That did not take very long after the 27-year old point guard informed the Milwaukee Bucks that he is opting out of the final year of his contract.

For those keeping track at home, that contract extension is reportedly a two-year deal worth $24 million with Ellis coming off a season where he averaged a team-high 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.

Since the expected news broke, a number of teams have already been rumored to have Ellis on their free-agency radar once teams can officially begin negotiating with players.

The Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies top the teams speculated to have interest in Ellis and apparently the feeling is mutual for Ellis when it comes to Memphis. The Los Angeles Lakers could be grouped in that discussion too, but getting a deal done would have to involve a sign-in-trade to it might be far fethched. And while these teams likely will not be alone in their sales-pitch, there is another team to keep in mind: the Sacramento Kings.

While Ellis was traded to Milwaukee by the Golden State Warriors on March 12, 2012, he could benefit from some Warriors’ connections that have suddenly made their way down to Sacramento as part of the Kings resurgence. Keep in mind that new head coach Mike Malone, new GM Pete D’Alessandro and even Chris Mullin -- who has been offered a consulting job by the Kings -- all have strong relationships with Ellis and could lead to a reunion of sorts in Sacramento.

Again, that is just one scenario that involves Monta Ellis.

As free agency heats up this summer, there is a pretty good chance he will be speculated to sign with a number of teams around the league. 

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The Spurs got the pivotal Game 5 win in San Antonio to go up 3-2 in the 2013 NBA Finals over the Heat.

Large part of the Spurs' lead in the series has obviously been the torrid shooting of Danny Green from long range but also the Spurs' solid defense on the NBA MVP, LeBron James.

Built like an NFL tight end and with the speed of a gazelle, James is a handful for all NBA teams and whichever player has the assignment of guarding him needs much luck.

But the Spurs have done a decent job at containing James thanks to their first line of defense -- Kawhi Leonard. Leonard has had the main job of trying to slow James down and from the looks of this video, it seems that Leonard may be giving James some issues.

Check out LeBron's reaction when Kawhi checks back into the game during Game 5 in San Antonio. Needless to say, you know what he is thinking since it is written all over his face.

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 Celtics, Clippers still talking
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The talk all weekend was about the potential goings on in the back halls at TD Garden. And it was not about the Stanley Cup Final making its way to Boston. There are proverbial moving boxes outside Doc Rivers' office if the team can get this thing figured out.

Catching you up in case you had your head buried in the sand, the Celtics and Clippers engaged in talks where the Celtics would send Kevin Garnett to the Clippers for Eric Bledsoe and/or DeAndre Jordan. Boston would then let Doc Rivers out of the final three years of his contract so he could go to the Clippers and keep the band together.

By the end of the weekend, the talks had fizzled out. Boston wanted Bledsoe and Jordan to make the necessary release for Rivers (something Garnett would also condition his trade on too) and Los Angeles wanted to keep Bledsoe as insurance should Chris Paul leave the team in free agency.

Other than that, there still seems some mutual interest in getting something done.

Boston senses the end of the road for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and is trying to remain relevant while rebuilding around Rajon Rondo. And so the Eric Bledsoe sticking point seems to be a significant one at the moment.

That will not stop the discussions though as the Clippers too are trying to retool and capture the championship window while it is still slightly ajar. This is a move to grasp at that chance and keep Paul around.

Whether this deal happens or not, it is somthing to keep an eye on as the offseason quickly approaches.

Nearly a month ago, Mark Cuban announced he was working to redesign the Mavericks jersey and logo for the 2015-16 season. Cuban has always been a guy at the cutting edge of fan interaction and his latest venture was to open up his jersey redesign to the fans.

During the last month, crowdSPRING has helped the Mavericks solicit and store many of the designs the organization will consider. This is a truly unique opportunity for Mavericks and NBA fans to interact with one of the league's premier franchises.

We wanted to learn more about this and so we asked crowdSPRING spokeswoman Lauren Russ about the crowdsourcing plan. Russ allowed us to share a couple of the designs that have been submitted, which are posted throughout the post and the photo above.

Philip Rossman-Reich, Crossover Chronicles: How did the relationship with Mark Cuban and the Mavericks come about? What was he looking for when he approached crowdSPRING to host this design competition?

Lauren Russ, crowdSPRING: crowdSPRING is one of the largest marketplaces in the world for crowdsourced graphic design, industrial design, naming and writing services. crowdSPRING offers 43 different categories of design, industrial design and writing projects, including clothing design.

When Mark wrote on his blog that the Mavs were re-designing their uniforms for the 2015-16 season, crowdSPRING reached out, introduced Mark to the site and offered to involve Mavs fans and the global crowdSPRING community of more than 138,000 designers and writers.

crowdSPRING has worked with athletes, sports organizations, some of the world's best brands, many of the world's best agencies, and tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and startups.

As a savvy entrepreneur, Mark wanted to see many creative entries and knew crowdSPRING could help. Mark liked the idea of the project on crowdSPRING and was looking forward to seeing the submitted designs. 

First, Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri bolted for the Toronto Raptors.

Then Coach of the Year George Karl was shown the door.

Now Pete D'Alessandro has become next in line to exit the Mile High City.

The former Denver Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Pete D'Alessandro will be officially named the new General Manager of the Sacramento Kings according to numerous reports, with D’Alessandro taking over for the Kings’ longtime GM Geoff Petrie.

The announcement is expected to come from the Kings on Monday.

A salary cap guru, D’Alessandro becomes the second major addition to the organization by new owner Vivek Ranadive, who signed Mike Malone as Sacramento’s head coach to a four-year deal two weeks ago. Both Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace and former Indiana Pacers GM David Morway (among others) were under consideration for the position before Ranadive named D’Alessandro as Petrie’s successor.

Entering Game Five, the question among Spurs fans was just how much Manu Ginobili had left in his tank. Was the Ginobili who averaged 7.5 points per game and shot 34.5 percent and seemed like he was forcing everything to do what he used to be able to do was the Ginobili of now and the Ginobili the Spurs would have for the remainder of this series.

Or would it be the Ginobili that entered the starting lineup for the first time on Sunday night and put on one of the great resurrections in NBA Finals history.

From his first shot, a step-back jumper with his toe on the line, this was a different Ginobili. A Ginobili capable of scoring and passing at will and flying easily into the lane.

Manu Ginobili set the tone on his way to 24 points and 10 assists on 8-for-14 shooting. Danny Green finished it off as San Antonio used a 19-1 run in the third quarter to take the lead and hold off Miami 114-104 in Game Five of the NBA Finals, taking a critical 3-2 series lead heading back to South Florida.