May 2012 – Page 10 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Thunder rally past Lakers, take 3-1 series lead

Kevin Durant stood above the 3-point line and watched the shot clock dwindle in the final seconds of Game 4. When Metta World Peace backed up slightly on defense, Durant hesitated only an instant before launching a 26-footer.

”It left my hand, (and) I was thinking, ‘If this doesn’t go in, it’s going to be a terrible shot,”’ Durant said.

The three-time scoring champ trusts his instincts and his silky-smooth jumper. Neither let him down while he and Russell Westbrook engineered yet another late comeback that pushed a frustrated Kobe Bryant to the brink.

Westbrook scored 10 of his 37 points during a stirring fourth-quarter rally, Durant added 31 points and hit that tiebreaking 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left, and the Thunder seized control of their second-round series with a 103-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.

Serge Ibaka scored 14 points and the second-seeded Thunder took a 3-1 series lead with a rally from a 13-point deficit in the final 8 minutes, moving one win away from their second straight trip to the Western Conference finals…

Oklahoma City improved to 7-1 in the postseason with a tenacious rally on the second night of back-to-back games against the Lakers and Bryant, who scored 38 points but struggled in the fourth quarter of Los Angeles’ fifth loss in seven games. After Durant put the Thunder ahead with his shot-clock-draining 3-pointer, Kobe couldn’t match it with 10 seconds left…

The Thunder finished Game 4 on a 22-8 run, punctuated by Durant’s dramatic 3-pointer and two late free throws from James Harden, who had 12 points…

Andrew Bynum had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who led 92-81 with 7:45 to play before Westbrook went to work with a furious series of drives to the hoop. The UCLA product scored nine points in just over 2 minutes, and Kendrick Perkins capped the 17-4 run on a putback layup with 1:16 left, putting Oklahoma City up 98-96 with its first lead since the first quarter…

Bryant shot poorly in the first three games of the series, but went 10 for 18 in the first three quarters of Game 4 before managing only a 2-of-10 effort in the fourth, including a meaningless bucket at the buzzer.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

Spurs beat Clippers to take 3-0 series lead

Nothing was going to rattle the calm, cool and collected Spurs. Not even a 24-point deficit.

Tim Duncan scored 19 points, helping engineer a defining 24-0 run in the third quarter, and San Antonio defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 96-86 on Saturday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

”We didn’t plan on being down that much,” said Duncan, who at 36 is hungry to win the team’s fifth NBA championship and first since 2006-07. ”We stuck with it.”

Led by Tony Parker’s 23 points and his defense on an ailing Chris Paul, the Spurs kept running their plays even as Blake Griffin’s early offensive assault buried them in a huge hole. Griffin missed three shots in the first half, when he scored 20 points and carried his team to a 24-point lead despite a left hip injury and a sprained right knee…

Griffin had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and reserve Mo Williams added 19 points for the Clippers, who face some daunting NBA history heading into Game 4 on Sunday at Staples Center. No team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series…

Rookie Kawhi Leonard added 14 points and Manu Ginobili 13 to help the top-seeded Spurs win their 17th in a row and improve to 7-0 in the playoffs…

San Antonio led by 11 points early in the fourth before the Clippers got within seven on consecutive baskets by Williams. Gary Neal hit a 3-pointer to launch a 13-9 spurt, capped by Parker’s 3-pointer, that extended the Spurs’ lead to 89-78. Paul, so dominant in the final period during the regular season, was limited to four points…

The Spurs were 9 of 22 from 3-point range, with Leonard hitting three…

The Clippers have lost 29 of 33 games against the Spurs dating to Dec. 1, 2003.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Kobe Bryant does not seek your approval

Ball in his hands, season on the line, and failure promised Kobe Bryant a summer of scorn. For everything that comes with the responsibility of greatness, Bryant can live with the cutting criticism, the besmirching of his legacy, the volume rising on those determined to diminish him in the context of his contemporaries. In losing, he could live with it all – except allowing that barrage to barricade him behind a wall of hesitancy and reluctance.

“I don’t give a [expletive] what you say,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports late Friday. “If I go out there and miss game winners, and people say, ‘Kobe choked, or Kobe is seven for whatever in pressure situations.’ Well, [expletive] you.

“Because I don’t play for your [expletive] approval. I play for my own love and enjoyment of the game. And to win. That’s what I play for. Most of the time, when guys feel the pressure, they’re worried about what people might say about them. I don’t have that fear, and it enables me to forget bad plays and to take shots and play my game.”

Deep down, Bryant does care, because the ingesting of the feeding frenzy that comes with his struggles doesn’t so much pollute his air, as it does become oxygen tanks of rage on his back. Eighteen trips to the free-throw line on Friday, and 18 times the ball dropped into the basket. Eight trips to the free throw line in the fourth quarter borne out of a brilliant footwork, an unending array of fakes and, yes, the generosity of a referee’s whistle.

“In the pressure situations, you’ve always got to want to go to the line,” Bryant told Y! Sports. “You can try to avoid contact, because you don’t want to go to the free-throw line in those pressure situations. Me, I enjoy it.”

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

Kobe Bryant lets his guard down after mismatch with Derek Fisher

After the Lakers’ 99-96 win, Bryant and Pau Gasol exchanged a few laughs about that stretch while sitting next to each other on the interview podium.

Gasol was asked by a reporter if he was surprised that Bryant scored so easily on Fisher.

Before Gasol could complete a sentence, Bryant interrupted.

“Surprised,” Bryant said incredulously. He then dropped his head down, laughing.

“Dude, come on, Fish is like 5-2,” Bryant said of the 6-foot-1 guard.

Gasol attempted once again to give a diplomatic response.

“He did a great job scoring on Derek tonight when he had the opportunity to,” Gasol said.

— Reported by Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times

Greg Oden recently underwent a controversial knee procedure

In an effort to revive his NBA career, Greg Oden recently underwent the controversial knee procedure that superstars Kobe Bryant and New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez say helped prolong their careers, according to sources.

Oden, whose career with the Portland Trail Blazers was derailed by four knee surgeries, had the noninvasive procedure done in New York two weeks ago to accelerate the healing process on his left knee, which was operated on in February.

“Greg had long planned to have this procedure done,” one of the sources said. “He thought he’d wait until his knee was completely healed, but the doctor said Greg would get the greatest benefit by doing it now because it would help his recovery.”

Bryant underwent the procedure, known as Orthokine, in Germany last offseason to relieve pain in his right knee and left ankle and returned to have a historically productive year in this, his 16th NBA season. Under Bryant’s advice, Yankees superstar Rodriguez flew to Dusseldorf to have the procedure done in December. Gilbert Arenas also had the procedure done.

— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine

Brian Scalabrine hopes to continue NBA career

Paul Pierce glanced across the dressing room before yesterday morning’s shootaround and spotted Brian Scalabrine, microphone in hand, interviewing Greg Stiemsma.

“Smooth transition,” said Pierce. “Smooth transition.”

Scalabrine is still technically a reserve forward for the Chicago Bulls, a designation that will last at least until the end of next month when his contract runs out. And while he still plans to play, it is clear that even after retiring from active duty, we will not have seen the last of the former Celtic.

“I’ll play in the NBA as long as I can,” said Scalabrine, who’s working the Celts playoffs for CSN now that the Bulls have been eliminated. “I’ll get cut one day. That’s just the only way I can really go. To just retire would be like quitting to me. They’ll have to kick me out.”

At 34, he has had ample time to consider his hopes and options. During his five years in Boston, Scalabrine seemed to go back and forth on whether he’d pursue coaching. But that now seems like his direction.

— Reported by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald

Suns assistant Bill Cartwright will not return

The Suns plan to match offers to restricted free agent Robin Lopez in July but would have someone different mentoring the center if he returns next season. After four seasons with the Suns, assistant coach Bill Cartwright’s contract will not be renewed.

Cartwright was hired by then-General Manager Steve Kerr, a former teammate, and then-coach Terry Porter in 2008 to help Amar’e Stoudemire’s defense, rebounding and post-up game.

— Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Kobe leads Lakers past Thunder in 99-96 thriller

With their Game 2 collapse still fresh in their minds, the Los Angeles Lakers avoided a sequel with the only game plan they’re confident will work against the younger, faster Oklahoma City Thunder.

They got slow. They got into the paint. And they got to the free-throw line 42 times, incredibly making all but one of those shots.

Kobe Bryant knows it isn’t pretty. He also knows it’s probably the only way the Lakers can pull the high-flying Thunder down to their level.

Bryant scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied late for a 99-96 victory in Game 3 on Friday night, cutting the Thunder’s second-round series lead to 2-1…

The Lakers were close to a historically insurmountable playoff deficit when the Thunder went ahead 92-87 with 3 minutes left. Instead, they finished on a 12-4 run, scoring six points on free throws in the final 33 seconds and earning the chance to even the series in Game 4 on Saturday night…

”We continued to work, even when they got the lead a couple of times in the fourth quarter,” said Pau Gasol, who had 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists…

Durant scored 31 points before missing his last shot for Oklahoma City, which seemed poised to move to the brink of its second straight trip to the Western Conference finals. Instead, the Thunder lost for the first time in the postseason – but they didn’t exactly appear shaken by their late struggles…

Westbrook and James Harden scored 21 points apiece for the Thunder, who couldn’t match the Lakers’ late-game execution after soundly out-executing the Lakers in Game 2…

Bynum had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who got 12 points apiece from Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake. The Lakers still got uncomfortably close to an 0-3 deficit, which has never been overcome in NBA history.

— Reported by the Associated Press

76ers beat Celtics 92-83 in Game 4, tie series

Andre Iguodala snapped a tie game with five straight points in the final 90 seconds to help the Philadelphia 76ers storm back from 15 points down and stun the Boston Celtics 92-83 on Friday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Sixers were a team reborn in the second half and played like a squad that refused to roll over for the championship-tested Celtics. They tied the series at 2-2 and guaranteed a return home for one more game.

Iguodala, one of the more maligned athletes in recent Philadelphia history, put the Sixers ahead 85-83 and buried a 3-pointer for a five-point lead.

Game 5 is Monday in Boston.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

The Celtics jumped out to a 14-0 lead in Game 4, silencing a Philadelphia crowd that was hoping their team would come out with a better focus in their attempt to even the series. Instead, the Sixers struggled to put the ball in the ocean. They shot 23 percent from the field in the first half, negating the benefit of 21 free throw attempts and failing to take advantage of a six-minute stretch in which the Celtics didn’t score a single point. Sixers guard Evan Turner was 2 of 14 before halftime.

But the Celtics went almost seven minutes without a field goal to start the third quarter, a drought that allowed the Sixers to get right back into it. The Celtics went 5 for 18 from the floor in the third and sent the Sixers to the line nine times. Philadelphia attempted 36 free throws Friday night after shooting 63 in the first three games of the series combined.

A four-point lead at the end of the third quarter quickly evaporated as the Sixers took their first lead of the game. Usually the better closing team, the Celtics were out-closed by the Sixers down the stretch as Andre Iguodala caught fire from the perimeter. Lou Williams chipped in his first big game off the bench with 15 points.

— Reported by Gary Dzen of the Boston Globe (Blog)

The game was nearly 4 minutes old before the Sixers scored their first points. Their offensive possessions appeared CYO-like, though that may be more of a knock on CYO teams (and a tribute to the Boston defense). The one bright spot was the Sixers’ ability to get to the foul line, as they did 21 times in the first half. But that was negated by the fact that they were only able to make 62 percent of them (13).

At least in Wednesday’s 16-point blowout loss, the Sixers scored 33 points in the first quarter. Friday, they scored 31 points in the first half.

The Sixers, though, thrillingly provided the crowd with the excitement they were aching for in the third quarter when they started it with an 18-8 run to close the gap to just 54-49 after a Lou Williams three-pointer with 4:42 remaining in the third. Four straight points by the Celtics upped the lead back to nine, but another Sixers spurt cut it to 58-54 on a conventional three-pointer by Williams. The lead stayed at four at the end of the third at 63-59.

— Reported by Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News

Atlanta Hawks exercise 2012-13 option on Coach Larry Drew

Atlanta Hawks Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund announced today that the Hawks have exercised Head Coach Larry Drew’s contract option for the 2012-13 season.

“Larry did an outstanding job this season in guiding our team to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, despite a condensed schedule and unfortunate injuries,” said Sund. “The Hawks have reached the postseason in each of his years on the bench, and we feel Larry’s experience, expertise and dedication to the game were a key ingredient to our success.”

In two seasons with the Hawks, Drew’s led the franchise to consecutive playoff appearances and a record of 84-64 (.567). Despite significant injuries to key players during this past season, Drew coached Atlanta to a 40-26 mark, the team’s first winning record on the road in 13 y