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Pacers beat Heat 107-96, take 1-0 East Conference Finals lead


Paul George scored 24 points, David West had 19, and the Indiana Pacers protected their home court with a 107-96 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Indiana led wire-to-wire and never even gave the Heat a chance to tie the score after starting the game with a 5-0 lead.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Indiana. The home team has won all five meetings this season.

Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and LeBron James had 25 for the two-time defending NBA champions, who lost for only the second time in 10 playoff games.

Indiana had a 30-point first quarter for the first time since Feb. 27, extended the lead to 19 in the third and Miami couldn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way.

For months, people wondered what happened to the Indiana team that dominated the first half of the NBA season.

On Sunday, those Pacers suddenly reappeared.

— Associated Press

The Heat committed 26 fouls compared to 15 for the Pacers. The worst of it, of course, was a flagrant by Mario Chalmers on Watson with 9:22 left in the game. Chalmers first hit Watson with a common foul as Watson drove the basket. The Heat’s starting point guard then pushed Watson into press row, which was located on the baseline.

Chalmers was assessed a flagrant foul for the unnecessary shove and Watson was awarded four foul shots. His free throws gave the Pacers a 15-point lead.

An 18-foot turnaround jumper by Lance Stephenson put the Pacers ahead by 13 points with 7:37 to play and Indiana led by double digits for the remainder of the game.

— Miami Herald

It didn’t take 30 minutes of basketball Sunday for all five Pacers starters to reach double figures in scoring, and each starter made an impact in his own way.

Hill knocked down shots early. West punished the Heat inside on mismatches, ignoring his trusted jump shot to bully his way into the post. Paul George picked off shots in the flow of the offense, and Lance Stephenson provided crucial buckets in a big second quarter in particular. Miami struggled all game with Hibbert, who was never dominant but always present, scoring and rebounding consistently.

Starters combined to score 94 of Indiana’s 107 points in Game 1.

— Indianapolis Star

Knicks may trade Raymond Felton this summer

Here’s ESPN New York reporting on the Knicks:

Knicks may trade Raymond Felton this summer

New York Knicks president Phil Jackson recently told point guard Raymond Felton that he will look to trade him in the offseason, a league source said.

Felton has two years remaining on a four-year, $15 million contract with a player option in the final season, so it may be difficult to find suitors for him.

But Jackson told Felton in a conversation the two had during exit interviews last month that he would explore trade possibilities involving the 29-year-old.

“He was pretty honest with him,” the source said. The conversation was first reported by SNY.tv.

Miami Heat arena agreement reached

Here’s the Miami Herald with some Heat arena news:

The Miami Heat would receive $42 million in subsidies to play at the AmericanAirlines Arena for an extra five years and end a profit-sharing arrangement in favor of $23 million in payments to Miami-Dade’s parks department, under a deal reached by Mayor Carlos Gimenez and owner Micky Arison.

Miami-Dade would retain its ability to profit from the arena’s naming-rights agreement once the current deal with American Airlines expires in 2020, though the arrangement includes a provision to resolve disputes over how much of that sponsorship windfall would go to the county and how much would stay with the team, Gimenez said Friday.

While Arison was seeking a 10-year extension through 2040, Gimenez said the proposed deal only secures the team through 2035 out of fear the higher subsidies would cut into hotel taxes needed to pay off massive payments due from the 2009 Miami Marlins deal. Under the proposed agreement, Miami-Dade’s current $6.4 million subsidy to the Heat would increase by $2 million a year between 2031 and 2035.

Future of Trevor Ariza and Wizards is unclear

Here’s CSN Washington on the difficult scenario where a player enjoys the team he just played for, and had a big role, and enjoyed success, yet may wind up moving on because that’s things often work:

Future of Trevor Ariza and Wizards is unclear

Whether or not Trevor Ariza comes back to the Wizards won’t be decided by one factor. Everyone knows that he loves the West coast, that he wants to win now and that his families mean everything to him. Yes, both.

“My family is definitely the most important thing to me before basketball, everything. That plays a big factor into a log of things,” Ariza said Friday after he packed up his locker and prepared to leave Verizon Center following the Wizards’ playoff elimination to the Indiana Pacers the previous night. “But when you build something with people that’s hard to let go, too. What we built in this locker room this season, this is a beautiful thing to me. I really enjoyed playing with those guys. I love those dudes like they’re my brothers.”

Ariza, who made $7.7 million, will be an unrestricted free agent and will have options.

Stan Van Gundy has interesting Pistons roster to work with

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the Pistons and new head coach Stan Van Gundy:

Stan Van Gundy has interesting Pistons roster to work with

Stan Van Gundy said he didn’t want to get into publicly evaluating his Detroit Pistons players before they even had a chance to work together, but the glib new president of basketball operations and head coach couldn’t help himself when asked specifically about two of the more polarizing Pistons, Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings.

Van Gundy endorsed Smith, with the caveat that he has to be in the right role, which was an open question during the veteran forward’s first year with the Pistons.

Same with Jennings — as long as his shot selection improves.

“The questions are his decision-making ability — not so much that he’s a high-turnover guy, but it’s his shooting percentage you get concerned about,” Van Gundy said at his introductory press conference Thursday. “One of the things I like to do with guys in terms of shooting percentage is ask them why. Why 37 percent? I want to hear the answer on that. But I know he’s a very, very talented guy.”

Serge Ibaka injured, out for rest of playoffs

Serge Ibaka injured, out for rest of playoffs

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka underwent an MRI today that confirmed he suffered a left calf injury during the third quarter of last night’s contest against the Los Angeles Clippers, the team announced. Ibaka is expected to miss the remainder of the 2014 postseason.

This is a huge blow to OKC. Ibaka provides toughness, defense, and on offense he is able to stretch the floor thanks to solid range on his jumpshot. The San Antonio Spurs, who will face the Thunder in the 2014 Western Conference Finals with Game 1 Monday night, caught a break here. Though they still face a very tough opponent who certainly can still win.

Ibaka is averaging 12.2 points on 69-of-112 (.616) shooting from the field, 7.3 rebounds and 2.23 blocks in 13 postseason games.  During the 2013-14 regular season, Ibaka notched career-highs with 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds, while leading the league in total blocks for the fourth consecutive season with 219 blocked shots.

“We are obviously disappointed for Serge, as he is a tremendous competitor, and we know how badly he wants to be on the court with his teammates,” said Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. “At this point it is important that our team directs its concentration and energy towards preparation and execution for our upcoming series.  As with all teams, our group has confronted different challenges. It is our collective experience that we will call on to ensure that we play to our capabilities.”