May 21, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) reacts in game two of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at AT

The Chicago Bulls may be out of the NBA playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the NBA is over entirely. Here’s what happened last night.

Down 1-0 in the Western Conference Finals, the Memphis Grizzlies went into game two against the San Antonio Spurs knowing a loss would put them in a difficult hole to climb out of. Of course, they trailed by double-digits for much of the second half, so that was bad.

However, the Grizzlies rallied from 18 down to force overtime. They pounded San Antonio inside and on the glass, overcoming a dismal shooting night along the way.

Of course, it wasn’t meant to be. San Antonio took the lead in overtime and led by 3 points with 10 seconds remaining after Tony Parker split a pair of free throws. Unfortunately for the visitors, Jerryd Bayless bricked a three on the ensuing possession, and Cory Joseph split his own pair of free throws to put the game away.

Here’s how Ricky O’Donnell of Blog-A-Bull put it:

Leave it to the guy who looks just like Carlos Boozer to blow it in the playoffs

— Ricky O’Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) May 22, 2013

(Don’t believe him? Here’s Boozer, and here’s Bayless. Or is it the other way around?)

Rip City Project explains:

Just to clear up some issues on the effect an offer sheet has on Portland’s cap space, here’s two sections from the NBA Salary Cap FAQ:

There can be no compensation given to a team in return for their not matching an offer to a restricted free agent. For example, Houston could not sign Golden State’s restricted free agent, then send Golden State a draft pick in exchange for their not matching the offer and retaining the player.

…and the team’s cap room is tied up while the offer sheet is outstanding

This essentially means the Blazers can’t do anything involving the Jazz during the seven days Utah has to match the offer sheet (so no three-way trades to get Boozer to Chicago and Hinrich to Portland) and can’t make any deals that would make use of their cap space. So unless they find a balanced deal they like somewhere (and Blake/Outlaw for Hinrich doesn’t sound likely anymore), the next seven days will be quiet.

So if a Hinrich deal happens, it won’t be for at least a week. An interesting scenario would be for Utah to match the offer to Millsap, and then complete the 3-way deal with the Bulls and Portland.

I’m still a bit perplexed by Portland’s reported pursuit of Hinrich. Hinrich is a solid all-around player and you can do worse at the point. But they already have Blake and Bayless. They traded Jarrett Jack and others for Bayless during the 2008 draft. Are they already convinced he is not the answer — even as a backup? It’s even more odd considering there are reports that the Blazers are balking on including him in the rumored Hinrich deal.

After taking all this in, do you believe this rumored 3-way deal has any teeth? Doubtful.