Daily NBA Fix 4-23-14: We’re All (Almost) Even

Daily NBA Fix 4-23-14:

Welcome to the Daily NBA Fix for Wednesday, April 23, the morning after we watched (almost) every series that has played two games result in a 1-1 tie! In Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, the Indiana Pacers looked like a real basketball team for the first time in weeks, even if it was just against the Atlanta Hawks…at home…in a must-win game. The Toronto Raptors also successfully tied up their series thanks to DeMar DeRozan showing up and the second straight playoff double-double for Jonas Valanciunas. But at the United Center, the gritty Chicago Bulls that we’ve all been praising all season fell short against the Washington Wizards, a franchise that has been notorious for falling on its face for decades. Just like we all predicted, right?

That being said, all three road teams still have home court advantage from here on out and are three (or in Washington’s case, two) wins away from advancing. The Pacers now head to a building where they’ve struggled the last few years (and that’s putting it lightly), the inexperienced Raptors will face a hostile playoff crowd for the first time and the Bulls head to D.C. to try and stave off elimination in front of a Washington fan base that smells blood in the water.

On today’s Daily NBA Fix, we’ve got game highlights from last night, game summaries, the five best and worst players of the night and the Goose Egg, Clean and Sober and Ironman Awards. We’ll also throw in some random tidbits and we’ll even throw in the daily lines with some predictions for the gamblers out there.

Check out the video highlights first and then start on the game capsules (home team in CAPS).