Jersey's Sports Fanatic!: Heat beat Celtics at their own game in Game 1 win

Jersey's Sports Fanatic!: Heat beat Celtics at their own game in Game 1 win: "Dwyane Wade was talking about the Boston Celtics after Game 1 on Sunday. 'They make you pay for any mistakes,' he said. The Celtics are th..."

Heat beat Celtics at their own game in Game 1 win

Dwyane Wade was talking about the Boston Celtics after Game 1 on Sunday.

"They make you pay for any mistakes," he said.

The Celtics are the veteran team that takes advantage of any slip-up by their less experienced opponents. Their biggest strength is their ability to execute with precision and timeliness. Forget to box out and Rajon Rondo will sneak into the lane for an offensive rebound. Overpenetrate and Glen Davis will step up to take a charge. Turn your head to help on Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen will burn you with a three.

But in the Miami Heat's 99-90 victory in Game 1 of the conference semifinals, the Celtics made their opponent look like the veteran squad. It was the Celtics' mistakes that defined this game. And playing the role of Allen was the Heat's James Jones.

While the Celtics' offense has been its weakness over the last couple of months, this loss was about their defense. And while Dwyane Wade's offensive explosion had something to do with it, the Celtics can blame themselves for a good portion of Miami's 99 points.

Each of Jones' threes was a perfect example of how the Celtics' let their guard down defensively. On each, a different Celtic made a mistake to allow Jones to get open.

Three No. 1: Second quarter, 10:02. Culprit: Glen Davis

Chris Bosh sets an early screen for Mario Chalmers beyond the 3-point line on the left side of the floor. Davis, who was defending Bosh in transition, fails to contain or slow down Chalmers. Chalmers drives toward the foul line, forcing Jeff Green to help off of Jones, who is set up on the right wing. As Green closes, Chalmers feeds Jones for an open three.

Three No. 2: Second quarter, 9:28. Culprit: Jeff Green

In transition, Mike Miller drives into the paint from the left wing. As he does, Jones drifts from the right wing to the right corner, and nobody in green has any clue where he is. Green is the defender closest to Jones, but he never locates the shooter, even though Jones just hit a three on the previous possession. As defenders close in on Miller, he kicks the ball out to Jones, who drains a wide-open three.

Three No. 3: Second quarter, 6:58. Culprit: Delonte West

With LeBron James dribbling on the left wing, Jones cuts through the paint, defended by Ray Allen. As James comes off Bosh's screen, Delonte West gets lost trying to close out on Chalmers. As Joel Anthony screens Allen on the baseline, West is actually in good position for a switch onto Jones, but as Jones curls out to the top of the key, West realizes his man has drifted into the corner. He heads there, joining Allen in defending Chalmers, as James finds Jones all alone at the top.

Three No. 4: Second quarter, 3:35. Culprit: Ray Allen

Wade comes off a high screen and crosses over into the paint. Allen, defending Jones on the weak side, turns his head in looking to help on Wade, but doesn't do anything to actually stop him. Wade crosses the lane and finds an open Jones, who drifted to the corner while Allen was in no-man's land with his head turned.

Three No. 5: Third quarter, 3:02. Culprit: Kevin Garnett

The problems with this defensive possession aren't nearly as egregious as the four above. With Miami playing small, Garnett is defending Jones, who cuts through the paint and curls around on the weak side for a catch-and-shoot three near the top of the key. Garnett loses Jones for just a slight second on the baseline and then gets caught on Anthony's screen. With Jermaine O'Neal ignoring Anthony to help on the strong side, no one's there to switch onto Jones.

Against a Boston defense that's looking to load up on the strong side and keep James and Wade out of the paint, a weak-side shooter like Jones is critical. And this won't be the only game in which his makes (or misses) have a big effect on the outcome.

Jones' effect on the Miami offense went beyond his 25 points. When he was on the floor, the Heat scored 69 points on 50 possessions (138 per 100). When he was on the bench, they scored just 30 points on 39 possessions (79 per 100). His ability to space the floor only helps James and Wade in their quest to get to the basket.

And the Celtics' mistakes went well beyond Jones' threes or just Xs and Os. Most obvious were Paul Pierce's two technical fouls, uncharacteristic losses of cool from a veteran that knows better than to react to a little extra contact. There was also Jermaine O'Neal's unnecessary elbow to a cutting Jones, which was called a flagrant one and helped the Heat register a five-point possession.

There were sloppy turnovers, two defensive three-second violations, and a play when Wade cut to the basket from the weak side, with the only person there in the lane to defend him being Anthony, his own teammate.

For the Celtics, Game 2 on Tuesday isn't about adjustments. It's not about defending Wade differently, making changes to the rotation, or running different plays. It's about being the team that takes advantage of mistakes, not the team that makes them.

MIAMI ELIMINATE THE SIXERS 97-92 IN THIS GAME 5 THRILLER!!

It comes to know surprise to me that the Miami Heat would eliminate the Sixers in game 5.  The Sixers put up a good fight for four quarters, but in the end the team with the most experience, persistence, and perseverance prevailed.  One thing is for certain, if Doug Collins continues to develop these young players, next year Philly will be ready for any opponent in the league. This year's playoff experience will give them the confidence they may need to make it past the first round.  Without further delay here are the highlights:

Grizzlies Push Spurs to Brink of Elimination

There have been plenty of words used to describe the Spurs since they began winning championships back in 1999, but SAD was never one of them.

Sad was seeing O.J. Mayo miss a 3-pointer, Tim Duncan move in to wrap up the rebound and then Marc Gasol reach right over his head to pluck the ball way and deposit it into the basket.

Sad was looking on as Duncan groped at the ball in the paint like he were wearing oven mitts and then had teammate George Hill fumble it away out of bounds.

Sad was watching Darrell Arthur rise up as if on a hydraulic lift to reject a drive by Tony Parker and then outrace every one of the Spurs to the other end of the court to spike a lob pass from Mayo through the hoop with enough force to almost set off the tornado sirens in downtown Memphis once again.

As the Grizzlies keep coming on harder and stronger and with more confidence and swagger with each passing game, one can't help but notice the contrast.

It's not just about discovering a new way to run the plays and make shots. It's about finding a way to match the Grizzlies youthful exuberance the energy that could light up all of the neon on Beale Street.

The Spurs are looking like Willie Mays staggering around in the outfield for the Mets. They are a worn out ghost of Muhammad Ali pushed around one night in the desert by Larry Holmes.

Youth eventually is served and the Spurs are suddenly looking like the cranky old man on the block, running around in his tattered bathrobe trying to keep the neighborhood kids off his lawn.

The Spurs led 50-48 at halftime of the Game 4 that could have put their world back on its axis. But that hope was over after a 14-0 blast by the Grizzlies and the Spurs now sit at the bottom of a daunting 3-1 hole in the series.

"They were four awful minutes," Ginobili said. "They gained confidence and everything went downhill for us. It was a very embarrassing first four minutes.

It was one more example of the Spurs being able to play and compete with the Grizzlies for only 24 minutes of a 48 minute game. It was merely the latest demonstration that maybe this team that won 61 regular season games by relying more on offense than the suffocating trademark defense that won San Antonio four championships in the last dozen seasons was only using gobs of makeup to cover up age marks and wrinkles.

It's looking like there will be at least another series and another few weeks to continue celebrating this delightful Memphis story that has the fans of Memphis shaking their hips the way they did when Elvis was still living at Graceland.

But if the impending demise of the Spurs was, in a circle of life way, inevitable, nobody saw the end coming with such swiftness.

There had been enough different ways for the Spurs to rationalize their upside-down position coming into Game 4.  After all, they had turned around the regular season stats and consistently out-rebounded Memphis in the series, converted more second chance points and committed fewer turnovers.

The Spurs were telling themselves that if it weren't for late-game 3-point buckets by Shane Battier and Zach Randolph in Games 1 and 3, they might have been standing on the verge of a completing a sweep themselves.  At worst, the cumulative score through the first three games was 279-279.

Then the bottom fell out. The Spurs were outscored by a whopping 30-15 in the third quarter, managed to squeeze out just 22 points in the first 18 minutes of the second half and finished up the night with Duncan, Ginobili and Parker sitting on the bench for the final five minutes looking blindsided, dumbstruck or maybe just worn out.

The old cliché says the torch is passed, but that is rarely the case. Usually the usurper comes along to grab it and burns the old house down. What the Spurs are going to have to do before Game 5 is poke around in the embers for a spark.

The starting front line of Duncan, Antonio McDyess and Richard Jefferson shot 5-for-16 for only 10 points. The best 3-point shooting team during the regular season again was hurried and misfiring at 5-for-18.

The Spurs can't go inside because the Grizzlies are reaching, grabbing, pushing and attacking at the ball on every dribble. The Spurs can't go outside because the Grizzlies won't give their spot-up shooters a chance to spot up.

At the conclusion of each game, the Grizzlies are gathering at midcourt to remind themselves there is still work to do. Meanwhile the Spurs trudge off with a larger, louder clock ticking in their heads.

"We put ourselves in this position," Duncan said. "If we want to stay alive, we've got to win one game at a time. There's no other way to say it."

Except Ginobili's way.

Sad.

WHO HAS THE DUST PAN? THE CELTICS JUST SWEPT THE N.Y. KNICKS IN GAME 4 89-101

The stage is set.  The Boston Celtics will move on to the second round in the playoffs.  More likely than not, they will face the (2) Miami Heat.  Boston took command of the injured New York Knicks early in game 4 and never looked back.

Boston PG Rajon Rondo was the quarterback and each of the 'Big 3' were wide receivers which helped Boston keep the N.Y. Knicks on a leash throughout the game.
Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists, and the Boston Celtics swept their way into the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding on for a 101-89 victory over the New York Knicks.
Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, the first team into the second round after sweeping a series for the first time.

They had a 23-point lead cut to four in the fourth quarter, but pulled away again behind Garnett, who scored 20 after halftime.

The current Big Three of Garnett, Allen and Paul Pierce twice was extended to seven games in the first round, but this one was far easier than expected against the injury-weakened Knicks. 

The Celtics could now have a week off while they wait for likely second-round opponent Miami, which was forced to a fifth game earlier today after a late rally by Philadelphia.

The Celtics almost faced the same scenario, but a Knicks comeback attempt stalled in the final minutes.

See you at the second round ;)

Sixers Survive At Home to Force a Game 5!! Win over Miami 82-86

Well, Well, Well so the Sixers live to play another day. I thought for sure they would be sent fishing on vacation for the summer. Things just didn't go as planned for Lebron, Wade, and Bosh and the Miami Heat on this Easter Sunday.  They planned to sweep the Sixers' in four games, but instead will have a chance to wrap this series up in five games on Tuesday night in front of their home crowd at the American Airlines Arena.

This was an exciting match up from start to finish.  The combination of Sixers rookies, J. Holiday, L. Williams, and E. Turner proved that they had enough heart and skills to out last the #2 ranked Miami Heat late in the fourth quarter.  Lou Williams hit a 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds left to lead the 76ers to an 86-82 win over the Heat to avoid a sweep.
Miami was 95 seconds away from winning Game 4, holding an 82-76 lead. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Heat didn't score again.

Jrue Holiday made a 3 with 46.6 seconds left that sliced the deficit to one. Williams followed with a 3 from the top of the arc for an 84-82 lead that sent the nearly 20,000 fans into a frenzy.  

Williams and Evan Turner led the Sixers with 17 points each. Andre Iguodala added 16 points, and Elton Brand had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
James scored 31 points for the Heat and Wade 22. Bosh scored 12 points and had two blocks late in the game that seemed to seal the win for the Heat.

For the third time this series, the Sixers blew a double-digit lead. This one was a 16-point cushion that seemed as though it was never coming back.

Williams had other ideas - hitting the biggest shot of his career for the win.
James, Wade and Bosh put the "big" in Big Three for most of the game. For Bosh, it was the two blocked shots on the same possession with Miami holding a late two-point lead. He blocked Williams' layup and swatted Turner's short jumper.
On Philadelphia's next possession, James blocked Turner's shot.

James hit a step-back jumper for an 80-76 lead.

The Heat, who went on a 22-2 run in the second quarter, appeared in control.

Not for long.

Wade and James both missed in the final minute. Wade misfired after Holiday's 3 and the Sixers grabbed the rebound. With the Sixers up four, James drove and missed a 6-footer with 3.8 seconds left.  That's all she wrote.  The Sixers were packing for a game 5 in Miami on Tuesday night.  

I predict the Heat close this series out at home on Tuesday and wait on the next team in the second round: The Boston Celtics.  Win or lose on Tuesday, there is no way the Sixers will beat the Heat 3 more times.  

The Pacers Pull an Upset Force Game 5 in Chicago!

Who would have thought that I would be talking about the Indiana Pacers forcing a game 4 back at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday night.  I was almost certain Derek Rose and the Chicago Bulls' would wrap this series up in 4 games.  So much for being certain.  Today fan favorite and MVP candidate, D. Rose nearly had Bulls' fans and the film crew of  The Oprah Winfrey Show on edge after watching there hero twist his ankle in the 1st quarter.  Yes, I said the Oprah Winfrey Show.   The film crew was there at Conseco Field   in Indiana filming a special on Chicago's own Derek Rose.  Too bad the ending of this series didn't play out as planned.  Back to Chicago they go to try to end this series in front of their home crowd. Here are the game's exciting highlights:

Top Scorers for Chicago Bulls':
D. Rose - 23 pts, 3 assists, and 5 rebs
L. Deng - 21 pts, 6 assists, and 6 rebs


Top Scorers for Indiana Pacers:
D. Granger - 21 pts, 2 assists, 4 rebs
D. Jones - 11 pts

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