Month: April 2010

Game 3: Pierce at Buzzer, Celtics beat Heat

The AP reports:

Pierce at Buzzer, Celtics beat Heat

Paul Pierce’s 21-footer at the buzzer Friday night gave Boston a 100-98 win over Miami in Game 3 of the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round series. The Celtics lead 3-0, and will try for a sweep in Miami on Sunday afternoon…

Game tied at 98, less than 20 seconds left, the Heat had exactly what it wanted—the ball in Dwyane Wade’s hands. The 2006 NBA finals MVP tried a straightaway 3-pointer and missed with 14 seconds left, which is where the game and perhaps the season slipped away from Miami. Wade crumpled to the court in a heap, his left calf cramping for the second time in the final quarter…

Pierce finished with 32 points and Ray Allen added 25 for the Celtics, who got 17 from Rajon Rondo and 16 from Kevin Garnett.

Wade finished with 34 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Heat, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Michael Beasley scored 16 points, Wright scored 15 and Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers each scored 10 for the Heat.

Game 3: Ginobili, Spurs take 2-1 series lead over Mavs

The AP reports:

Ginobili, Spurs take 2-1 series lead over Mavs

Blood dripped from Manu Ginobili’s nose. He had caught an elbow from Dirk Nowitzki, then disappeared into the locker room while leaving a trail of red blotches behind him on the tunnel floor.

He didn’t know yet his nose was broken. That diagnosis would have to wait.

Ginobili still had work to do, so he patched up his gushing nose with a bandage and came back late in the third, then scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 94-90 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night…

Dirk Nowitzki made good on his vow after the Game 2 loss to hit the looks he got last time, scoring 35 points…

But Caron Butler never left the bench in the second half on Friday as coach Rick Carlisle instead went instead with Barea in the backcourt…

Aside from Game 4, Sunday is also when Duncan turns 34—but so far in this series, he’s looked practically ageless. He scored 25 points for the second straight game, and has the Spurs in position to possibly celebrate a commanding lead in this series if they can win on his birthday.

Tony Parker had 23 points off the bench while continuing to thrive in the sixth man role that Ginobili held for so many years.

Game 3: Millsap explodes, Jazz beat Nuggets

The AP reports:

Millsap explodes, Jazz beat Nuggets

Paul Millsap led a surge early in the second quarter that got Utah back into Game 3 after a disastrous start, then the Jazz took control of the game and their Western Conference playoff series with a 105-93 victory Friday night.

“That’s what we do, especially coming off the bench,” said Millsap, who finished with career highs of 22 points and 19 rebounds…

Millsap’s 18 points in the second quarter gave the Jazz a chance to recover after Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams struggled early. Once Williams and Boozer got going, the Nuggets never recovered in their first road playoff game of the series.

Utah limited Denver’s Carmelo Anthony to 25 points and flustered him into five fouls. He also had just four free throw attempts after taking 19 while scoring a combined 74 points in the series’ first two games.

Anthony and Chauncey Billups, who also scored 25 points, were the only Denver players to score in double figures.

Judging Flip Saunders as Wizards coach

Mike Jones of CSN Washington reports:

Judging Flip Saunders as Wizards coach

A winner everywhere he’s been, Saunders was supposed to come in and take the Wizards from the middle of the playoff pack to the ranks of the league’s elite. But, like his talented roster, he came up short. It’s difficult to give Saunders’ coaching this season a precise grade because there were so many derisive elements involved this season.  He – like his players – talked about the need to set egos aside and sacrifice for the greater good, but when things got going, Saunders couldn’t get the Wizards to play together.

Saunders was heralded as an offensive genius, but we never really saw him work his magic on the Wizards. Because he wanted to give Arenas, Butler, Jamison and Haywood time to get used to play together again, Saunders didn’t make them run much of his system. Over-estimating his players, he admittedly let them freestyle while they got back into the groove. But they never got there. The player that suffered the most was Butler, who often looked lost in the system. Was that because Saunders didn’t use him effectively, or was it a result of a lack of focus on Butler’s part, or his bad chemistry with Arenas?  It turned out not making Arenas play within a system was a terrible decision because he wasn’t capable of running the show and balancing scoring with distributing. And so, the Wizards’ never clicked.

How much of it was Saunders’ fault, though? With the agendas that the Wizards had, would the coach have had any success if he did direct them to play within his system? By December, Saunders was publically criticizing his players for terrible shot selection and not playing together, “In all my years of coaching…I have never had to yell at a player for taking bad shots…until this year,” said Saunders, who also stressed improved ball movement.

Lakers must keep feeding Gasol

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Lakers must keep feeding Gasol

It probably could be argued that Pau Gasol has been the best Laker in the postseason.

He had been averaging a double-double in the first two games, 22 points and 12.5 rebounds. He had been making 53.6% of his shots.

And yet, the Lakers went away from Gasol in the fourth quarter of their 101-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round opener at the Ford Center.

“We tend to settle sometimes a little too much,” Gasol said. “We have to create penetration. We have to take advantage of our size.

Deron Williams not afraid of being trapped

Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reports:

Deron Williams not afraid of being trapped

The new-look, super-trapping Nuggets were in EnergySolutions Arena this morning, going over last-minute preparations on their game plan for tonight’s Game 3.

The plan is simple: Don’t let Deron Williams go berserk.

To keep that from happening, the Nuggets are expected to press and trap Williams to get the ball out of his hands, forcing someone else to beat them.

Williams, however, shrugs off the Nuggets’ much-hyped new strategy, saying he and the Jazz can handle it.

“Just find the open guy,” Williams said. “If they want to trap me and take me out of the game, we have plenty of guys on this team that can score the basketball. Especially when it’ll be four-on-three, because two people are going to be on me.”

Spurs recall Alonzo Gee, Curtis Jerrells from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have recalled guard/forward Alonzo Gee and guard Curtis Jerrells from the Austin Toros, the NBA Development League team owned and operated by the Spurs.

Gee, who was named D-League Rookie of the Year and All NBA D-League Second Team, appeared in 36 games for the Toros this season and averaged 21.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 38.2 minutes. In six playoff games he averaged 21.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.16 blocks in 38.7 minutes.  Gee also appeared in 11 games for the Washington Wizards where he averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 16.5 minutes.

Jerrells appeared in 50 games this season with the Austin Toros and averaged 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 40.2 minutes and was named All NBA D-League Third Team. He was selected as the NBA Development League Performer of the Week twice this season, most recently for games played during the week of March 15 when he averaged 32.7 points, 6.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds.  Jerrells also appeared in five preseason games for San Antonio, averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 assists in 14.8 minutes.

Kyle Korver steers Kyrylo Fesenko away from techno music

Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Kyle Korver steers Kyrylo Fesenko away from techno music

Kyle Korver confirmed he encouraged Kyrylo Fesenko to switch from listening to thumping European techno to something softer in the hopes it would help Fesenko better focus now that he’s starting at center in Mehmet Okur’s absence.

“I told him to chill out and find some new music,” Korver said. “Before the game, he’s like, ‘Kyle, I think I am too mellow right now. I need to get more excited.’ I was like, ‘Once the game starts, you’ll be fine, believe me.’ ”

Not only does Fesenko regularly play his techno at louder than loud volumes, he often sings along too, Korver said.

David Stern urges NBA coaches to stop criticizing referees

The AP reports:

David Stern is fed up with NBA coaches criticizing referees and said he would not back down from penalizing them. In fact, in his perfect world, he could impose steeper penalties.

“I wish I had it to do all over again, starting 20 years ago; I’d be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for the games they play in the media,” Stern said Thursday before the Lakers and Oklahoma City played Game 3 in their first-round series.

“As you guys know, our referees go out there and knock themselves out and do the best job they can. But we’ve got coaches who will do whatever it takes to try to work them publicly. What that does is erode fan confidence.

“So our coaches should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don’t like it they should go get a job someplace else.”