April 2013 – Page 6 – NBA Blog

Houston Rockets making adjustments for Game 2 vs Thunder

The Rockets went Game 1 going one-on-one, launching deep jumpers and getting run out of the gym. That, they said, will have to end in Game 2.

The one-on-one, iso style will have to make way for drives that lead to passes, and sometimes more passes.

The Rockets never made that adjustment in Game 1. They said they will for Game 2.

“If they switch out, we have to make them pay for that,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “We have to get the ball inside. We have to move the ball and cut. To stand against (Ibaka), he’s long enough that he can play one-on-one, space you out and get a hand up. We took way too many contested jump shots off the dribble. That’s not how we want to play.

“We have some adjustments to make. The guys saw some things we did that was out of character for us. We’ll be way better tonight. I’m sure we’ll be better.”

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle

Josh Smith to start Game 2 despite ankle sprain

Josh Smith will be in Atlanta’s starting lineup Wednesday night at Indiana.

The Hawks forward sprained his right ankle after stepping on Devin Harris’ foot late in Sunday’s 107-90 loss. Indiana leads the best-of-seven first-round series 1-0.

Coach Larry Drew said before the team’s morning shootaround he expects Smith to be “full go.” Smith adds he’ll be “all right” and he’s not thinking about the injury.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Joe Johnson sits out Nets practice

Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Joe Johnson did not practice Wednesday because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot and will be listed as a game-time decision for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.

Johnson missed 10 games during the regular season because of injury — four of them the result of a sore left heel.

— Reported by ESPN New York

Metta World Peace wants Kobe to keep tweeting during games

If World Peace created a hashtag to summarize this whole Twittergate thing, it would probably be #letkobetweet

The Lakers forward said he had no problem with Bryant’s Twitter activity during the Lakers’ Game 1 loss.

“I love when Kobe tweets,” World Peace said Tuesday. “Kobe should tweet Game 2 the whole time, every possession, critique us, criticize us, chew us out. … I love Kobe. Kobe’s great.

“He should coach. Put a suit and tie on, a bow tie, put the Mamba symbol right here and get on the bench and coach. Drag that [injured] leg here. Kobe’s a great coach. Too bad he’s not going to coach after [retirement]. He would be a great coach.”

Bryant said he would not tweet about Game 2 because it received so much attention after Game 1, some of it negative. But was it really a distraction?

“Absolutely not,” World Peace said. “I’m a distraction. I’m much more of a distraction than Kobe.”

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Stephen Curry helps Warriors tie series with Nuggets

The Golden State Warriors hardly missed much of anything Tuesday night.

Not their shots.

Not their injured All-Star.

Stephen Curry had 30 points and 13 assists and the scrappy Warriors handed the Denver Nuggets their first loss at home in more than three months, a 131-117 stunner that evened their playoff series at a game each.

Rallying around injured David Lee, who cheered on the bench in street clothes, the Warriors got 26 points from surprise starter Jarrett Jack, a career-high 24 from rookie Harrison Barnes in his debut at power forward and 21 from Klay Thompson.

The sixth-seeded Warriors, who became the second road team to win in the postseason following Chicago’s victory at Brooklyn on Monday, wrested homecourt advantage from the NBA’s best home team in the series that shifts to Oakland for Game 3 on Friday night.

”They were knocking down shots,” Denver’s Andre Iguodala said in an understatement.

Better than they ever had before in a playoff game, a franchise playoff-record 64.6 percent from the field (51 of 79)…

Ty Lawson and Corey Brewer each scored 19 points for Denver and Iguodala and Miller both had 18, but the Nuggets were playing catch-up from the middle of the second quarter and couldn’t keep up with so many of the Warriors’ shots falling, negating Denver’s league-best transition game…

— Reported by Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press

Melo helps Knicks take 2-0 lead vs Celtics

The New York Knicks are heading to Boston, then perhaps finally back to the second round.

The once-mighty Celtics don’t seem capable of stopping them.

Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points, Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith added 19, and New York opened a 2-0 lead over Boston with another dominant second half in an 87-71 victory on Tuesday night.

Raymond Felton added 16 points for the Knicks, who used a 27-4 run spanning halftime to blow it open and move halfway to their first series victory since the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. This is their first 2-0 lead since sweeping Toronto in the first round that year.

”For us, we know what type of team we are,” Anthony said. ”We know when we really buckle down on the defensive end, it’s been hard for teams.”

It’s been brutally difficult for Boston.

Paul Pierce scored 18 points for the Celtics, who will host Game 3 on Friday in their first home game since the Boston Marathon bombings.

They will have to be much sharper to avoid their first opening-round elimination since 2005, before they became one of the NBA’s power teams again.

”We have to figure out the offensive side of the ball and not be so stagnated,” Boston’s Kevin Garnett said. ”Figure out ways to score more often.”

Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but battled foul trouble and spent too much time walking back to the bench with a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd finally experiencing playoff success again hounding him every step of the way.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Mike Brown is once again the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach

The Cleveland Cavaliers have named seven-year NBA veteran head coach and Cavaliers all-time winningest head coach Mike Brown as the team’s new head coach, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant and majority owner Dan Gilbert announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

According to the Akron Beacon Journal, “The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the negotiations, said the deal is for “four to five” years. The Internet news site Yahoo! Sports reported the fifth year will contain a buyout and total compensation will be in excess of $20 million. The Los Angeles Times reported Brown’s deal with the Cavs will provide the Lakers some relief (perhaps half) of the roughly $7 million they still owe him.”

Brown, 43, most recently coached the Los Angeles Lakers and was the head coach of the Cavaliers from 2005-10. He has a career head coaching record of 314-167 (.652) which is the 6th highest winning percentage in NBA history among coaches with at least 400 games coached.

“I am more than excited about Mike Brown’s return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mike has done nothing but win in this league since he was a first-year assistant many years ago. He is going to instill a much-needed defensive-first philosophy in our young and talented team that is going to serve as our foundation and identity as we continue down the path of building the kind of franchise that competes at a championship level for many years to come, ” said Gilbert.

Brown has won at least one playoff series every full season he has been a head coach in the NBA. Among head coaches who have coached in the NBA 5-years or longer, Brown and Phil Jackson are the only coaches whom have never missed the playoffs in their entire coaching career.

Brown is also the only head coach in NBA history to win the first round of the playoffs every year of his head coaching career (coached five years or longer).

During Mike’s six full years as an NBA coach with the Cavaliers and the Lakers, Brown had the 2nd highest winning percentage (.657%) among all NBA head coaches who were at the helm four years or longer.

In five seasons with the Cavs, he compiled a record of 272-138 (.663). Brown was named the 2009 NBA Coach of the Year by members of the media and compiled a post season record with the Cavs of 42-29 (.592). He led the team to at least the second round of the post season in each of his five seasons, including Cleveland’s first ever trip to the NBA Finals in 2007.

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Heat pull away late, beat Bucks for 2-0 lead

Everyone in the Miami huddle was bracing for a grind to the finish. On the other end, the sense around the Milwaukee bench was that an upset was there for the taking.

Then the Heat landed a swift knockout punch.

Dwyane Wade scored 21 points, LeBron James finished with 19 and the Heat used a frantic start to the fourth quarter to pull away and beat the Bucks 98-86 in Game 2 of the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round series on Tuesday night.

It was 68-65 entering the fourth. With James and four backups on the court, the Heat needed only 2 minutes, 22 seconds to outscore Milwaukee 12-0 and stretch the lead to 80-65 – ensuring the reigning NBA champions would take a 2-0 series lead into Game 3 on Thursday night.

”We held court,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”We protected it for two games. We did what we’re supposed to do. And that’s it.”

Chris Bosh, Shane Battier and Chris Andersen all scored 10 points for the Heat. James’ postseason streaks of 22 straight games with at least 20 points, and 16 straight games of at least 25 points, both came to an end.

Ultimately, none of that mattered.

”We didn’t get into our game like we wanted to in that third quarter,” James said. ”But we went into the fourth with a (three-point) lead and we were able to jump on them.”

Ersan Ilyasova scored 21 points for Milwaukee, which got 16 from Mike Dunleavy and 14 from Larry Sanders. The Bucks’ starting guards, Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis, combined for only 15 points – after teaming up to score 48 in Game 1.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Pablo Prigioni returns to Knicks lineup for Game 2

Pablo Prigioni is back in the New York Knicks’ starting lineup for Game 2 of their playoff series against Boston after missing the opener with a sprained right ankle.

Prigioni was hurt last Wednesday in the regular-season finale, but coach Mike Woodson says Tuesday the 35-year-old NBA rookie has practiced the last few days and seems to be moving well.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Cavaliers set to hire Mike Brown as coach

Mike Brown and the Cavaliers have reached a handshake agreement on a new deal, a league source told the Akron Beacon Journal on Tuesday. An official announcement should be made Wednesday.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

Brown is the Cavs’ most successful coach in team history and his .653 winning percentage ranks sixth all-time (minimum 450 games) among coaches. His hiring marks a fascinating return to the organization that fired him just three years ago in a futile attempt to keep LeBron James in Cleveland.

Brown is 314-167 in parts of seven seasons and his team has reached the playoffs and won in the first round in each of his six full seasons. Brown was fired five games into this season by the Los Angeles Lakers, but returns to a Cavs team that has spent the last three years rebuilding under Byron Scott, who was fired last week after compiling a 64-166 record in three years.

— Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal