Tuesday, 08 May 2012 09:03

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

After starting 62 of 64 games during the regular season, former Pitt star DeJuan Blair saw his role change dramatically in San Antonio’s sweep of Utah in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Blair came off the bench in the Utah series and averaged just 13 minutes per game after averaging 21 minutes per game in the regular season.

Blair played just seven minutes in the Spurs’ Game 4 victory Monday night. The top-seeded Spurs will now wait on the outcome of the other Western Conference series before knowing which team they will play in the second round.

It could be that Utah’s front line was a bad matchup for the 6-foot-7 Blair. Boris Diaw started in his place and Tiago Splitter played before Blair off the bench on some occasions.

Depending on the second-round matchup, Blair could find his way back into the starting lineup.

During the regular season, Blair averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in the four contests against the Jazz.

Sam Young isn’t playing at all for the 76ers in their first-round series against top-seeded Chicago in the Eastern Conference.

Young, who was traded by Memphis during the regular season, has not played in the past three games. He played one minute in Game 1.

It’s a far cry from last season when Young had a regular role for the Grizzlies throughout the playoffs. He averaged 9.5 points per game in Memphis’ first-round upset of the Spurs and finished the post season averaging 7.5 points per game.

Young averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 35 regular-season games with the 76ers and Grizzlies.

The 76ers, the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, can complete the upset of the Bulls tonight in Chicago.

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jmcd0210, May 08, 2012 - 04:17 PM

I thought Dejuan played very well in his 7 minutes yesterday, was very productive to close half for Spurs.

+3