6/22/12
Jersey's Sports Fanatic!: Heat rally to beat Thunder, 104-98, and take comma...
Jersey's Sports Fanatic!: Heat rally to beat Thunder, 104-98, and take comma...: LeBron James better get well fast. He's about to play for a championship. Hardly able to move, James returned from a left leg injury to ...
Heat rally to beat Thunder, 104-98, and take commanding 3-1 lead
LeBron James better get well fast. He's about to play for a championship.
Hardly able to move, James returned from a left leg injury to make the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:54 remaining and the Miami Heat held off Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 104-98 victory on Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
With James watching the final moments, Mario Chalmers finished off a stellar 25-point effort that matched Dwyane Wade. James had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, only missing a triple-double because he was on the bench at the end after hurting his leg in a fall near the Thunder basket.
Game 5 is Thursday night and James will have a chance to finish a championship chase that started in Cleveland before he famously -- or infamously -- left for South Florida before last season. No team has blown a 3-1 lead in the finals.
Westbrook scored 43 points for the Thunder, who wasted an early 17-point lead but were never out of the game because of their sensational point guard. Kevin Durant had 28 points but James Harden threw in another clunker, finishing with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. Westbrook and Durant were the only Thunder players to score in the last 16:46.
James stumbled to the court on a drive midway through the fourth quarter, staying on the offensive end of the floor as the Heat regained possession on a blocked shot, and he made a short jumper that made it 92-90. After Westbrook missed a jumper, the Heat called timeout as James gingerly went to the court. Unable to walk off, he was carried to the sideline by a pair of teammates.
He returned to a huge roar with a little over 4 minutes left and the Heat down two, and after Chris Bosh tied it, James slowly walked into a pull-up 3-point attempt — perhaps doing so knowing he couldn't drive by anyone.
That made it 97-94, and when Wade followed with a layup with 2:19 left, the Heat finally enough room to withstand Westbrook, who kept coming all night.
"Whatever it takes. No excuses," said Wade, who had to shake off his own aches and pains after landing hard on his back in the first half following a spectacular block by Serge Ibaka. "You don't want to leave this arena saying you missed opportunities."
Chalmers sure didn't. The player who was struggling so badly that the Thunder put Durant on him in hopes of avoiding further foul trouble made 9 of 15 shots, scoring more points than he had in the previous three games.
"Mario Chalmers is a winner," Wade added. "He's due for a big game and he came through for us."
The Heat couldn't have done it without James, who refused to let any pain prevent him from taking the biggest step of his career.
The Heat never got past their second finals victory last year, with James' struggles their biggest problem as they lost the last three to Dallas. But he was at his brilliant best in this one, keeping up his scoring surge but also willingly kicking it out to open teammates whenever he was double-teamed.
He tried to play through the pain, but the Heat had to call another timeout and remove him for good shortly after his go-ahead basket. There was no immediate word on the extent of his injury.
Bosh finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, who quickly climbed out of the 17-point hole by scoring 16 straight points, with Chalmers and backup Norris Cole helping steady them until James and Wade got going.
James and Durant sat alone on their benches moments before the game, Durant staring quietly toward the floor and James saying something to pump himself up. Then they went out to start, and this time Durant stayed away from him.
In foul trouble the last two games, he began the game covering Chalmers, an adjustment that freed him from the burden of defending James. It kept Durant safe from fouls — but the Thunder probably didn't count on the scoring explosion from Chalmers after he had totaled just five over the previous two games.
Neither team could gain separation during a dizzying middle two periods, one score quickly answered on the other end as Miami took a 79-75 lead to the final 12 minutes.
Westbrook hit his first four shots and the Thunder made six of their first seven in a 13-3 burst out of the gate. A run of six straight made it 23-12 against the stunned Heat, who started 5 of 17, and it grew to 33-17 on Harden's fast-break layup with 21 seconds left.
The Heat found their spark in Cole, who hit a 3-pointer and then opened the second quarter with another to kick off a 16-0 burst, and the Heat would come all the way back to tie it at 35 on Wade's 3-pointer with 7:57 remaining in the half.
With the crowd back in it, Bosh get them even more fired up by diving on the floor for a loose ball, then leaping up after he was fouled and screaming toward the fans.
Yet the Thunder never gave up the lead, Westbrook constantly coming through with a bucket every time the Heat seemed to get within one point in the final minutes. The Thunder took a 49-46 lead into the break after Shane Battier missed a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.
Miami finally went in front again in the third, Wade hitting a pair of free throws and James rifling a pass to him after a rebound for a basket that made it 50-49, and the Heat would play from in front for most of the remainder of the period.
With James watching the final moments, Mario Chalmers finished off a stellar 25-point effort that matched Dwyane Wade. James had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, only missing a triple-double because he was on the bench at the end after hurting his leg in a fall near the Thunder basket.
Game 5 is Thursday night and James will have a chance to finish a championship chase that started in Cleveland before he famously -- or infamously -- left for South Florida before last season. No team has blown a 3-1 lead in the finals.
Westbrook scored 43 points for the Thunder, who wasted an early 17-point lead but were never out of the game because of their sensational point guard. Kevin Durant had 28 points but James Harden threw in another clunker, finishing with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. Westbrook and Durant were the only Thunder players to score in the last 16:46.
James stumbled to the court on a drive midway through the fourth quarter, staying on the offensive end of the floor as the Heat regained possession on a blocked shot, and he made a short jumper that made it 92-90. After Westbrook missed a jumper, the Heat called timeout as James gingerly went to the court. Unable to walk off, he was carried to the sideline by a pair of teammates.
He returned to a huge roar with a little over 4 minutes left and the Heat down two, and after Chris Bosh tied it, James slowly walked into a pull-up 3-point attempt — perhaps doing so knowing he couldn't drive by anyone.
That made it 97-94, and when Wade followed with a layup with 2:19 left, the Heat finally enough room to withstand Westbrook, who kept coming all night.
"Whatever it takes. No excuses," said Wade, who had to shake off his own aches and pains after landing hard on his back in the first half following a spectacular block by Serge Ibaka. "You don't want to leave this arena saying you missed opportunities."
Chalmers sure didn't. The player who was struggling so badly that the Thunder put Durant on him in hopes of avoiding further foul trouble made 9 of 15 shots, scoring more points than he had in the previous three games.
"Mario Chalmers is a winner," Wade added. "He's due for a big game and he came through for us."
The Heat couldn't have done it without James, who refused to let any pain prevent him from taking the biggest step of his career.
The Heat never got past their second finals victory last year, with James' struggles their biggest problem as they lost the last three to Dallas. But he was at his brilliant best in this one, keeping up his scoring surge but also willingly kicking it out to open teammates whenever he was double-teamed.
He tried to play through the pain, but the Heat had to call another timeout and remove him for good shortly after his go-ahead basket. There was no immediate word on the extent of his injury.
Bosh finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, who quickly climbed out of the 17-point hole by scoring 16 straight points, with Chalmers and backup Norris Cole helping steady them until James and Wade got going.
James and Durant sat alone on their benches moments before the game, Durant staring quietly toward the floor and James saying something to pump himself up. Then they went out to start, and this time Durant stayed away from him.
In foul trouble the last two games, he began the game covering Chalmers, an adjustment that freed him from the burden of defending James. It kept Durant safe from fouls — but the Thunder probably didn't count on the scoring explosion from Chalmers after he had totaled just five over the previous two games.
Neither team could gain separation during a dizzying middle two periods, one score quickly answered on the other end as Miami took a 79-75 lead to the final 12 minutes.
Westbrook hit his first four shots and the Thunder made six of their first seven in a 13-3 burst out of the gate. A run of six straight made it 23-12 against the stunned Heat, who started 5 of 17, and it grew to 33-17 on Harden's fast-break layup with 21 seconds left.
The Heat found their spark in Cole, who hit a 3-pointer and then opened the second quarter with another to kick off a 16-0 burst, and the Heat would come all the way back to tie it at 35 on Wade's 3-pointer with 7:57 remaining in the half.
With the crowd back in it, Bosh get them even more fired up by diving on the floor for a loose ball, then leaping up after he was fouled and screaming toward the fans.
Yet the Thunder never gave up the lead, Westbrook constantly coming through with a bucket every time the Heat seemed to get within one point in the final minutes. The Thunder took a 49-46 lead into the break after Shane Battier missed a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.
Miami finally went in front again in the third, Wade hitting a pair of free throws and James rifling a pass to him after a rebound for a basket that made it 50-49, and the Heat would play from in front for most of the remainder of the period.
6/19/12
MIAMI HEAT TAKE A 2-1 SERIES LEAD AGAINST OKC
It wasn’t just another Lebron at the line in the final 16 seconds, whether he could make at least 1 of 2 free throws to make this a two-possession game. Or Thabo Sefolosha inexplicably throwing away a pass seconds later, killing Oklahoma City's last real chance.
For so many unsightly minutes Sunday night, they slogged through an eyesore of a basketball game. Dwyane Wade shot an air ball in the first half and Miami made just three jump shots outside the key through 24 minutes. The Thunder headed into the final minutes of Game 3 of the NBA Finals having missed nine free throws and ended the third quarter having made less than 38 percent of its shots.
The great mano-a-mano duel between LeBron James and Kevin Durant was put on hold. This star-power series was reduced to who chipped the most paint off the rim and who would work harder and longer to cover their sudden disappearance of skill.
This was the night glam became grit at the NBA Finals, the night the elbow grease that used to define the Miami Heat, oh, more than a decade ago, surfaced. In a show of toughness and resilience, the Heat outworked Oklahoma City for a 91-85 victory and a 2-1 series lead before 20,000 or so in white T-shirts who walked happily into the South Beach night knowing LeBron and Wade and their teammates could be called a lot of things, but “soft” was not one of them.
Too often when its stars don’t make jump shots, don’t waltz out to a lead at home, the Heat get in trouble. But Miami rebounded, grabbed second shots, defended, did all the things Pat Riley teams used to do in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, circa 1990s.
The patriarch of the franchise sat across from the Miami bench at American Airlines Arena, maybe four rows back, taking in his 11th NBA Finals as either a coach or an executive. Riley, the Heat’s president, had to be encouraged about the direction of these Finals three games in.
Riley teams always had cornered the toughness market. Even when their skill players weren’t going well, somehow enough will and perseverance camouflaged any and all of the poor execution on offense.
Sunday night, this Heat team suddenly morphed into one of those old Riley teams, only coached by Erik Spoelstra, a Riley disciple who worked his way from a video coordinator in the organization in the 1990s and any day now might get credit for a win for the first time in his career. (I don’t know about you, but if I hear one more “Spo’s gotta go” after each Heat loss and nothing but “Wade and LeBron did it again” after each Heat victory, I’m going to officially campaign for Spoelstra to win NBA Coach of the Year next season so he will at least have one person with a pen in his corner.)
“I think we only shot 30 percent, but we built up some toughness now that we can find different ways, resourcefulness, to win,” Spoelstra said afterward. “And we had to because we didn’t have a lot of great offensive possessions in the second half, but we had enough stops, enough timely scores, still able to get some free throws down the stretch, to find a way to grind a win.”
Miami looked like toast midway through the third quarter but refused to give in to a very determined Thunder squad that had not lost two games in a row in these playoffs since San Antonio knocked them off in Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference finals.
This was the Thunder’s game until Wade did something an old vet struggling from the perimeter needs to get back on track.
Noticing Durant was on him — knowing that Durant already had three fouls — he drove to the rim and forced Oklahoma City’s best player to pick up his fourth foul with 5 minutes 41 seconds left in the third and the Thunder ahead 60-53.
Without Durant out, chaos reigned in the form of Wild, Wild Russell Westbrook. He took a bad shot, committed an offensive foul and threw away a pass in the lane because he does what Westbrook does: Gets too excited and forgets to value possessions when his team is ahead.
Trailing 64-54 late in the third, the Heat went on a 17-3 run. It marked the sixth time this postseason Miami has come back from a double-digit deficit to win. For all the film-at-11 dunks, Miami is the first team the Thunder has faced with a top-five defense. And after that run, the Heat dug in and pulled it out.
The Heat has heart. What a concept, no? It’s something that used to be taken for granted with Pat Riley at the helm and now it appears to be in vogue in South Beach again.
It’s crazy to think that Sunday night was the 18th anniversary the night O.J. led the nation on a car chase while the Knicks were grinding out a 91-84 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against Houston. The coach of that defensive-laden Knicks team is now the president of an organization still playing the same nails D in June.
Change the faces, but the Riley Way still largely remains the same.
For so many unsightly minutes Sunday night, they slogged through an eyesore of a basketball game. Dwyane Wade shot an air ball in the first half and Miami made just three jump shots outside the key through 24 minutes. The Thunder headed into the final minutes of Game 3 of the NBA Finals having missed nine free throws and ended the third quarter having made less than 38 percent of its shots.
This was the night glam became grit at the NBA Finals, the night the elbow grease that used to define the Miami Heat, oh, more than a decade ago, surfaced. In a show of toughness and resilience, the Heat outworked Oklahoma City for a 91-85 victory and a 2-1 series lead before 20,000 or so in white T-shirts who walked happily into the South Beach night knowing LeBron and Wade and their teammates could be called a lot of things, but “soft” was not one of them.
Too often when its stars don’t make jump shots, don’t waltz out to a lead at home, the Heat get in trouble. But Miami rebounded, grabbed second shots, defended, did all the things Pat Riley teams used to do in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, circa 1990s.
The patriarch of the franchise sat across from the Miami bench at American Airlines Arena, maybe four rows back, taking in his 11th NBA Finals as either a coach or an executive. Riley, the Heat’s president, had to be encouraged about the direction of these Finals three games in.
Riley teams always had cornered the toughness market. Even when their skill players weren’t going well, somehow enough will and perseverance camouflaged any and all of the poor execution on offense.
Sunday night, this Heat team suddenly morphed into one of those old Riley teams, only coached by Erik Spoelstra, a Riley disciple who worked his way from a video coordinator in the organization in the 1990s and any day now might get credit for a win for the first time in his career. (I don’t know about you, but if I hear one more “Spo’s gotta go” after each Heat loss and nothing but “Wade and LeBron did it again” after each Heat victory, I’m going to officially campaign for Spoelstra to win NBA Coach of the Year next season so he will at least have one person with a pen in his corner.)
“I think we only shot 30 percent, but we built up some toughness now that we can find different ways, resourcefulness, to win,” Spoelstra said afterward. “And we had to because we didn’t have a lot of great offensive possessions in the second half, but we had enough stops, enough timely scores, still able to get some free throws down the stretch, to find a way to grind a win.”
Miami looked like toast midway through the third quarter but refused to give in to a very determined Thunder squad that had not lost two games in a row in these playoffs since San Antonio knocked them off in Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference finals.
This was the Thunder’s game until Wade did something an old vet struggling from the perimeter needs to get back on track.
Noticing Durant was on him — knowing that Durant already had three fouls — he drove to the rim and forced Oklahoma City’s best player to pick up his fourth foul with 5 minutes 41 seconds left in the third and the Thunder ahead 60-53.
Without Durant out, chaos reigned in the form of Wild, Wild Russell Westbrook. He took a bad shot, committed an offensive foul and threw away a pass in the lane because he does what Westbrook does: Gets too excited and forgets to value possessions when his team is ahead.
Trailing 64-54 late in the third, the Heat went on a 17-3 run. It marked the sixth time this postseason Miami has come back from a double-digit deficit to win. For all the film-at-11 dunks, Miami is the first team the Thunder has faced with a top-five defense. And after that run, the Heat dug in and pulled it out.
The Heat has heart. What a concept, no? It’s something that used to be taken for granted with Pat Riley at the helm and now it appears to be in vogue in South Beach again.
It’s crazy to think that Sunday night was the 18th anniversary the night O.J. led the nation on a car chase while the Knicks were grinding out a 91-84 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against Houston. The coach of that defensive-laden Knicks team is now the president of an organization still playing the same nails D in June.
Change the faces, but the Riley Way still largely remains the same.
5/24/11
MIAMI HEAT'S DEFENSE PROVES TO BE TOO MUCH FOR THE CHICAGO BULLS! THE HEAT WINS THE GAME 3, 96-85
Yes, that was Chris Bosh, thumping the Bulls in Game 3, along with his own chest after celebrating a nifty spin move and dunk that brought the house down and put the Heat up in the best-of-seven. Yes, that was Bosh, almost matching the scoring total of the more celebrated of the Big Three, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Wait. This was the same player who wondered aloud during the Boston series if he was too intimidated by the surroundings?
The same player who missed 17 of 18 shots against the Bulls during the regular season, which of course happened so long ago and therefore means little to nothing at this point?
The same player who's always publicly referenced as the No. 3, the caboose, the Ringo of the group and even downgraded as the half man (as in 2 ½ men)?
The final slap, or dig, or whatever you want to call it, to be applied to Bosh's ego and reputation came by Carlos Boozer, who before the series spoke about facing "their two great players." Um, just like those two players, Bosh played in All-Star Games and was a member of Team USA and was a solo star in Toronto, but such is the price paid when constantly compared to LeBron and Wade.
Yes. Whatever. Laid back and even gentle by nature, Bosh was on his toes from the opening tip and made it look like he was back with the Raptors, doing whatever necessary to carry his club.
Miami is a dangerous team when Bosh is as engaged and involved as The Other Two, and in Game 3 they were unbeatable. What's more, the Heat are unpredictably hard to defend in that situation, putting teams in a pick-your-poison dilemma, essentially deciding between taking an uppercut, a roundhouse right or a hard jab.
Given what Wade and LeBron did in Game 2, the Bulls decided to take their chances with Bosh and absorbed a 96-85 loss, and now trail 2-1.
This was the second time in three games Bosh led the Heat in scoring, getting 30 in Game 1, when Miami took a 21-point beating. He made 13 of his last 15 shots in Game 3. It is always about intensity when it comes to Bosh, who brings out his best -- his beast? -- when the spirit moves him. Check out the highlights:
The Bulls can still win this series, although you wonder how they can, at this point. The Heat are still undefeated in the playoffs at home and host Game 4 on Tuesday. Derrick Rose is being forced by Wade and LeBron to either give up the ball or take tough shots. Cracks are starting to show in the Bulls' composure, with Joakim Noah whining about calls and even lashing out at a fan in the first half (and possibly uttering the same word that got Kobe Bryant fined weeks ago). Mainly, Miami is giving the Bulls a dose of their own medicine, using defense the last two games to keep the Bulls from coming anywhere close to the 102 points scored in the opener.
Finally: If Miami is going to get this much from Bosh, and now with Udonis Haslem healthy and frisky, can the Heat possibly lose three of the next four? It will take a lot more than shaky shooting (41 percent in Game 3) for the Bulls to pull that off.
As much abuse as LeBron took last summer not only for leaving Cleveland but the way he left, few of his critics ever called his talent into question. Not so with Bosh, who endured a season where his talent and manhood was constantly being judged from the outside. Even fellow NBA players chimed in, which is normally taboo, mostly famously when Kevin Durant mocked Bosh for being a "fake tough guy."
Nothing fake about Game 3 from Bosh, though. It all seemed authentic.
It's all coming together. For Bosh. For the Heat. They are halfway to reaching their stated goal of playing for a championship, their Big Three seemingly standing on equal ground. Good job guys.
5/11/11
LEBRON JAMES SCORES 35 TO LEAD THE HEAT OVER THE CELTICS IN OT, 98-90
It's no surprise to me that the Miami Heat was going to win this game. It only comes as a surprise to those who are not witnesses. Boston Celtics fans. Most Celtics fans believe that the past victories over Lebron James (Cavs) and Dwayne Wade (Heat) were suppose to take place again this season when these two All-Stars joined forces. All of you thought wrong.
Last night Lebron James and D. Wade took the challenge of defeating their nemesis personally. Miami Heat toppled the Boston Celtics in OT at TD Garden in Boston finally. Here's how it went down.
The Heat shut the defending Eastern Conference champs down last night in game 4, holding them to just 90 points on 98 possessions in an eight-point, overtime victory, which gives them a commanding 3-1 lead in this conference semifinal series.
For the Miami Heat, this wasn't their first signature win, but it was their biggest. Since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived in Boston, the Heat had never won a game at the TD Garden. And perhaps it was appropriate that they ended that streak by out-defending the Celtics. The Celtics certainly helped the Heat out, especially down the stretch. Rajon Rondo missed a bunny with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter and Allen and Garnett failed to execute the play Doc Rivers' called on the final possession of regulation, leaving Paul Pierce to force a long, contested jumper at the buzzer. Which he missed.
There were mistakes and miscues, for sure. But the Heat played a big part in the Celtics' inability to execute offensively. The Miami defense was active and disruptive for most of the night.
This win didn't come without some offense from the Heat. Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 83 points, and the Heat are now 30-3 when the big three combine for 75 or more. Bosh's performance, capped by a dagger tip-in in overtime, was especially critical. But make no mistake. This series was always about LeBron and redemption from last season's series with the Celtics, when a segment of the basketball world turned against him. And after coming up big Monday, he is one victory from distancing himself from that previous series, his lowest professional moment. Which I won't go into. Let's just say redemption is sweet.
LeBron was a driven man in Game 4, because he knew the stakes, which were steep. You saw in the way he demanded the ball and played with a passion. You saw when, after Ray Allen put the Celtics up three points with 2:28 left, how LeBron immediately responded with a 3-pointer of his own.
In OT he drew an offensive foul on Pierce, the first charge of the postseason for LeBron, that swung momentum and ultimately the outcome in Miami's favor. Thirty-five points and 14 rebounds only begins to explain the effort of a player who badly wants to move on in the playoffs.
Well next game is on Wednesday on TNT at 7pm ET. We'll see if the Boston Celtics have enough gas in their tanks to get a win in South Beach. I seriously doubt if the Celtics will beat Miami three more games, but this is the NBA so we can only wait and see.
5/5/11
THE MIAMI HEAT CRUSH THE CELTICS AT HOME IN GAME 2 VICTORY, 102-91
Yes, too much LeBron and Wade, who combined for 63 points, with Chris Bosh thrown in, and Miami is looking like the team to beat not only in this series, but the post season.
Just take a close look at the playoff landscape and judge for yourself where the Heat fit. The Bulls were beaten at home by the Hawks, who were 6-18 during the regular season against 50-win teams, and who are without Kirk Hinrich, their best defender for Derrick Rose, the just-minted MVP. And anyway, the Bulls looked less than formidable in their first-round series against Indiana.
The Lakers are down 0-1 to the Mavericks and may get the urge to send out a search party soon for Pau Gasol, now the lesser of the Gasol brothers. That's because Marc helped the Grizzlies surprise Oklahoma City in the opener of that West semifinal, which is weighed in the Thunder's favor, given the Grizzlies are without Rudy Gay, their leading scorer.
As for the Heat? True, they were sloppy against the Sixers. Their first round was hardly inspiring; too many slow starts and gruesome-looking finishes. But two games against the defending East champion Celtics in American Airlines Arena have lacked much suspense or doubt. Miami is the only team in the conference semis not to drop a game at home.
Well, the Celtics haven't yet figured out the Heat, especially Miami's defense. Boston shot 37 percent in the first half of Game 2 and never really recovered. A 14-0 run after an 80-80 deadlock with 7:10 left, fueled by LeBron's 12 points, put the Celtics to bed.
LeBron scored 35 points (14-for-25 shooting), following up the 38 by Wade (14-for-21) in Game 1, giving the Heat the two best players on the floor in this series so far. They've been especially hellish on Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, who are offering little defensive resistance against the quicker Miami players. LeBron played a clean game, with no turnovers in 44 minutes.
Each had a signature play in Game 2: LeBron putting a spin move on a flopping Rajon Rondo for a dunk, while Wade zig-zagged past Garnett for a swoop layup.
The Celtics look old. They can't catch LeBron and Wade streaking downcourt for baskets. Pierce hardly atoned for his Game 1 ejection, offering a mild 13-point performance and will go to Boston looking to recapture his first-round touch, which was blistering against the Knicks. Just the same, Garnett hasn't looked dominant, getting only six rebounds in Game 2 after managing only two baskets in Game 1.
Allen, Pierce and Rondo all left the game with various ailments, not a good sign for Boston.
Jeff Green was productive, getting 11 points off the bench. But unless the Celtics win it all, or at least reach the NBA Finals, there will always be a lingering question: Was the Kendrick Perkins trade helpful or hurtful here in the short term?
The answer in this series so far is a shrug. Jermaine O'Neal, now starting in place of Perkins and Shaquille O'Neal, has been functional through two games and damaged Miami on the offensive glass (five) in Game 2. And did anyone see Perkins with his new team the other night, when the Thunder were destroyed in the paint by Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph? While Perkins was certainly useful for the Celtics, helping them to two trips to the Finals, he was never an All-Star and did have his flaws.
Still, the Celtics traded a starter for a backup, a big man for an undersized power forward, a player who was making an impact now versus a player whose time is tomorrow. Maybe the Celtics wouldn't have been able to sign Perkins in the offseason, but they're built to win now and worry about tomorrow well, tomorrow.
Next up is Game 3 at TD Garden, where the Heat played the Celtics tight, losing by eight points in the season opener and then by three right before the All-Star break. The atmosphere at the Garden will be more of what Miami endured all season, to the point the Heat are immune to the poison. This should be a good game. Either Boston will bounce back and redeem themselves with a must win at home or the Miami Heat will go up 3-0, either way the onus is on Boston. I can't wait for the results of Game 3. We'll soon see...
5/3/11
LAKERS LOSE TO THE MAVS IN GAME 1 OF THE SEMI-FINALS 96-94
The Mavericks will be glad to have that composure conversation, now that they survived the longest seven-tenths of a second in team history, now that, in the end, they did a lot more than survive Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
They were on the road, in the third different city in as many outings, facing an opponent that knows all about winning in the clutch, and were down 16 points early in the third quarter and heading toward a blowout loss. Worst of all for the Mavericks, they were coming unhinged, making foolish decisions.
Then, they made a stand.
The big deficit disappeared, followed by the premature celebration around cavernous Staples Center. Dallas would beat the Lakers 96-94 in this West semifinal opener because it didn't follow the first instinct of collapsing into the swamp that formed around both sides of halftime. It dug in for a comeback victory that has to be a confidence boost for a team that surely can use one in these situations.
The postseason has been tortuous territory for the Mavericks. From coughing up the commanding 2-0 series lead and a 13-point cushion in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the Heat in the 2006 Finals, to shrinking into the history books with a meek showing against the Warriors in a first-round mega-upset in 2007, to as recently as April 23. That was the Brandon Roy Game, except it was also the day Dallas updated its resume by wasting a 23-point lead on the Trail Blazers in a loss.
There has always been another recovery for these Mavs, so far. They responded to the gut check in Portland by winning the next two games to advance and clinching that series on the road, before coming to Los Angeles and climbing off the mat again, and on the road again.
The flash moment at the end of the first half and the start of the second, that was more like it, the kind of disintegration that has come to define the postseason Mavericks. Jason Terry made a ridiculous decision by challenging Lamar Odom and fouling deep in the backcourt with seven-tenths of a second on the clock as Odom was flinging up a no-chance shot. Odom made three free throws. And when Dirk Nowitzki whipped an elbow while positioning for a potential rebound on the last attempt from the line, he was called for a technical, Kobe Bryant converted that, and Dallas had handed over four unnecessary points when it should have been in the locker room trailing only 49-44.
When the Lakers opened the second half with a 7-0 burst, the two-time defending champions had a 60-44 cushion in this one.
In perfect position to wilt again, the Mavs instead stepped up. They shot 61.1 percent in the third quarter, overcame seven turnovers, and closed to within three late in the period before trailing 78-71 heading into the fourth. Once there, they shot 52.6 percent, didn't have a turnover and the Lakers managed just 31.8 percent. The comeback was complete as Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his team-high 28 points in the decisive 12 minutes.
Of course he did. In just the first round, Nowitzki hit the Trail Blazers for 18 points in the fourth of Game 1, 14 in the same stretch of Game 2 and 14 in the quarter of the Game 6 clincher, all Dallas victories. All moments of composure.
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